Albany State Golden Rams to honor Adonis Butler at Fountain City Classic

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - A bus stop at Albany State University has been memorialized for Adonis Butler.

The football player who was killed in a bus accident Monday. This weekend is the biggest game of the year for the Rams and the only goal is to play hard for Adonis.

Head Coach Gabe Giardina said, “We’re in the middle of the healing process. It was great to practice yesterday, it was like therapy. We’re all just trying to play for him. We’re going to put his number on the back of our helmets and we are just going to play hard and enjoy the fact that we get to go out and compete and have fun and represent our university in the right way.”

Adonis Butler was hit and killed by a City of Albany transportation bus, according to Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler.

Butler was pronounced dead at the scene. He was a sophomore linebacker on the Golden Rams football team.

“Loving each other is so important right now, but they’re already a team that’s been doing that and that’s what makes these guys so special and so inspirational.”

Coach Giardina told me this team has an unbreakable bond and they find peace knowing their next game is a special one.

“We are playing for bragging right and the fact that there is a lot on the line. But it’s also the fact that we’re two HBCU’s located in south Georgia and there’s a comradery within this rivalry that transcends universities,” Giardina said.

Going up against a stout high flying defense in Fort Valley, Giardina knows ball security is key.

“Let’s take care of the ball, that thing is precious, we didn’t treat it real precious last Saturday. But we gotta do that this week and we gotta find a way to get stops and play the same kind of defense we’ve been playing all season,” Giardina said.

Giardina added, “If we don’t show up and play well, we’ll get beat. And I’ll hear about it for 365 days and I don’t want those phone calls.”

This is an ongoing investigation and we will continue to update you as we gather more information.

The kick-off is set for 2p against Fort Valley for the annual Fountain City Classic.