Mountaineers square off against traditionally tough foe Saturday night

ASU coach predicts close game; hints at return of injured quarterback

Chris Boyce - Sports Beat

It would seem hard to gather much constructive criticism about the Mountaineers most recent outing, a 61-14 drubbing of Southern Conference punching bag The Citadel, but ASU Head Footbll Coach Jerry Moore sees room for improvement, especially in the area of special teams.

"We'd like to do a little better of a job downing the ball inside of the 10-yard line and keeping them backed up," said Moore. "We didn't get to do that Saturday so obviously we'll work hard at it this week."

The Mountaineers (2-1, 1-0 in in the Southern Conference) will try to ride the momentum of The Citadel game into Johnson City, Tenn., Saturday for a 7:00 p.m match-up in the Memorial Center.

East Tennessee State University (ETSU) has played historically tough against the Mountaineers and has much to prove after losing to Appalachian 23-19 last season at Kidd-Brewer Stadium.

The Buccaneers came into Boone last season 4-0 and ranked in the top 20 of Division I-AA schools but watched their season derail after the Mountaineer loss followed by losses in three of four games.

The Bucs come into the game 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference. ETSU opened its season with a 37-20 victory over Liberty and then lost 41-7 at Colorado State University. In ETSU's most recent action, the Bucs lost to Western Carolina 39-27.

"Traditionally, they're one of the hardest teams we play all year. There's a lot of rivalry there. You can't go by, 'Okay we beat the Citadel, The Citadel beat Western, Western beat East Tennessee,' " said Moore.

"It's like The Citadel game. You go play tomorrow and it certainly wouldn't be 61 points. That thing just got out of control, out of hand. But with East Tennessee State, it's always a huge ballgame for both of us...We'll catch they're very best shot Saturday night."

Leading the Bucs this season is senior quarterback Todd Wells. Wells is ranked 16th in the Division I-AA passing efficiency with a mark of 145.49 and is averaging 224 yards passing per game.

"Todd's been a good quarterback for them. I voted for him for freshman of the year back when he was a freshman, so obviously I have a lot of respect for him. He's a senior player with lots of experience and a real gutsy, heady type of quarterback," said Moore.

A major plus for the Mountaineers going into the game will be the Apps dominant ground attack, averaging 191.7 yards per game on the ground compared to 168.5 yards for the Bucs.

Moore likes the depth the Mountaineers have a running back, and the various positives each bring to the table.

"They're different in different ways," said Moore. "(Jerry) Beard is more of a slasher, he's got great acceleration out of his stance. (Jimmy) Watkins is more of the quickness, change of directions. Karim (Razaak) has got a little bit of the power and he's got the acceleration in his feet. The speed of all of them is about the same. Jose's (White) kind of a shifty, change of direction runner."

After Saturday's showing, Appalachian will try hard to get all four backs involved.

"We'll just work all four of them in like we have been," said Moore. "The thing that Karim's got a little edge in is he knows our offense. For those guys there's more to it than just running the football. There's blocking assignments particularly in pass protection and Karim's very knowledgeable in that."

Saturday's game may or may not usher in the return of recovering quarterback Daniel Jeremiah, whose ankle injury has sidelined him the last two games.

"We've got a week's worth of work to see, but I think we'll have a pretty good indication this week of how well he'll be next Saturday," said Moore. "He could've played Saturday, but he could not have run the option Saturday. Fortunately we didn't need him and it would've been foolish to play him. I think from this point on, he should be okay."

Special teams will be the key for Appalachian's gameplan, but troubles with consistency in the kicking game could be a thorn in the Mountaineers side.

Kicker Mark Wright's recent troubles, three missed extra points in three games and a missed short field goal against The Citadel, could open the opportunity for sophomore Erik Rockhold.

"I'll just go with the guy that I think at that time is kicking well," said Moore. "Both of them made balls that they didn't hit particularly well, but they're both good kickers and I think we can win with both of them."

Moore feels that persistence, not committing penalties, and the kicking game will be the major factors in Appalachian's game against the Buccaneers.

"The kicking game will be important and not getting a lot of goofy penalties, the things that generally keep you from winning close ballgames," said Moore.

"We will work on things not necessarily based on The Citadel game. It's based partially on The Citadel game and partially on things that we knew needed to be polished before we even played the Citadel. Schemes and plays and things that we've wanted to do that you are constantly working on regardless of the outcome of the ballgame," said Moore.

VMI proves to be too slow, Mountaineers win again

VMI may be tough in menÕs soccer, but ASU proves to be tougher in the end

Andrea Barrows - Sports Minor

The men's soccer team held their second home game of the season Tuesday night at Kidd-Brewer Stadium and defeated Virginia Military Institute (VMI) 4-2.

ASU Coach Aidan Heaney was pleased with his team and said, "It was a hard game, VMI is always a difficult game. We wanted to get out with a win and get back on track."

Appalachian's first goal of the game came at 27:11 in the first half by freshman Caleb Riska, assisted by Jordy Broder.

Broder scored two goals in the game. His first came at 26:17, just under a minute after Riska's goal, giving the Mountaineers a 2-0 lead.

With 14:12 remaining in the first half, VMI's Jason Seagle scored a goal to bring them within one goal at the half.

In the second half of play John Simmons, the goal keeper for VMI, went down with and injury and was carried off the field. The injury appeared to be serious and it was speculated that he twisted his knee. Simmons was replaced by freshman Morgan Harris.

Appalachian quickly attacked the new goalkeeper and at 33:35, freshman Roddy Chisholm scored the Mountaineers' third goal off of an assist by freshman Josh Foltz. Broder gave Appalachian its fourth goal at 22:39 off an assist by Andy Simpson.

With 2:46 left, Jonathan Rios scored a second goal for VMI, but it was too late for a comeback.

The men's soccer team adds another win to its record, making the record 4-4-1.

The next home game will be tomorrow night at Kidd-Brewer Stadium at 7:30 p.m. against Georgia Southern University.

Ty Brueilly - Sports Minor

Last Monday, on a night that seemed perfect for flag-football weather, no one was able to play due to the decision of cancellations. This made it the second week in a row for the intramural games to be cancelled.

Jeff Collins of team Booyah said, "I don't understand why we aren't playing in this weather; it's perfect, the best type of football weather. ...It's not raining hard enough for it to be cancelled."

There are so many teams in the flag-football league that it's impossible to reschedule the two weeks of missed games. Most of the teams have already cancelled three games out of the four weeks of possible play.

For some teams, there will only be two more games and the season will be over.

Brian Fortune, also from team Booyah said, "We've only played one game so far and the season is almost over; all other types of football teams like high school, college and professional teams all play in the rain.

"It makes it more fun. Also, it makes me mad that the whole team went all the way to State Farm only to hear the game had been cancelled."

Men's flag football will hopefully resume on Monday, with games starting at 7 p.m.

Ty Brueilly Sports Minor Beat

"So far so good, if we keep working hard and improving like we have been so far, we should be strong enough to compete in the conference tournament," said Appalachian State University Head Volleyball Coach Chris Redding.

With the 3-0 victory over Wofford Sunday, Sept. 24, the team is backing Redding's statement of "so far so good." Redding also said, "We didn't come out as crisp and sharp, but we did come out consistent and that was the difference."

Redding was refering to Appalachian trailing in the first game 13-10, before the help of senior Carrie Gibson who had three straight service aces which tied the game up at 13. ASU then kept the heat on, ending the first game with a final score of 16-14.

The second half of the first game set the tone for the last two because Appalachian came out steaming hot and did not trail. The Mountaineers ended the second game with a final score of 15-5 and ended the third game with a final score of 15-3.

The team was lead by Junior Karen Nielson with a match high eleven kills along with nine digs. Sophomore Robyn Trumbower tallied four service aces, while Carrie Gibson and Starla Gustafson had three each. Senior Tiffany White gave up a high 28 assists.

With the win on Sunday, Appalachian improved their record to 6-7 overall and 3-0 in conference play. They continue conference play next against Furman. Redding said about the rest of the season, "we are working hard, just starting conference play, in the next couple of games we should find out where we should be and where we are at in the conference."

"We are concerned about siding out consistently, we need to work on this so that we can be consistently successful," said Redding.

But with a 3-0 record in the Southern Conference these Lady Mountaineers have done exactly what Redding said, "So far, so good."