Chattanooga comes from behind, takes win from Appalachian

Appalachian has too many penalties and not enough yards of offense, UTC capitalizes on our misfortune

Chris Boyce Varsity Sports

McKinney's 55-yard punt was ruled a touchback, setting up what would be the Mocs' game-winning drive from their own 20-yard line with 3:57 left in the fourth quarter.

Chattanooga drove 57 yards in eight plays to give UTC kicker Matt Vick a chance to pull of a miraculous upset.

The drive started disastrously for Chattanooga after the first snap of the drive sailed over Sander's head and was recovered by the Mocs at their own 3-yard line.

With the ball at the Chattanooga 10-yard line and the Mocs facing third-and-20, Appalachian was called for pass interference against Chattanooga's Richmond Flowers.

The penalty breathed new life into the UTC drive and gave the Mocs a first- and-10 at their own 25-yard line.

With only three seconds remaining in the game, Vick's 40-yard kick was perfect as time expired.

After the game, Moore was impressed with the effort from Chattanooga and disappointed with the Mountaineers' performance.

"They played hard and did all the things you need to do to win,Ó said Moore. "They made a lot of key plays when they had to make them. I think over the last three or four weeks we've really played pretty good. We didn't even resemble that kind of football team today."

Chattanooga quarterback Chris Sanders had a remarkable game, completing 25 of 46 pass attempts for 371 yards and two touchdowns. Sanders hooked up with a variety of receivers but the two most devastating to Appalachian hopes were Flowers and Ronnie Strickland.

Strickland finished the game with four catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns, and Flowers finished the match with seven catches for 91 yards, including the 32-yard bomb from Sanders that was key to UTC's last drive.

The first half was played closely, highlighted by big plays from Strickland on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Sanders at the end of the first quarter to give the Mocs a 11-5 lead, and Daniel Wilcox, whose 24-yard touchdown reception from Joe Burchette put Appalachian up 19-11 with two minutes remaining in the half.

Strickland struck again with 4:42 left in the third quarter on a 42-yard bomb from Sanders, giving the Mocs a 20-19 advantage.

But the Mountaineers battled back, compiling a nine-play, 56-yard drive culminated by a one-yard touchdown run by Neil Cornatzer to give Appalachian the 27-20 lead with 49 seconds to go in the third quarter.

It was Chattanooga's determination and execution in the end from Sanders and Flowers that made the difference. "I don't think they were any more determined than we were, they just made plays.

I'm not second-guessing our effort. Our effort was fine, it's just that some of the things we did in the process of that effort weren't up to par,Ó said Moore.

"This one's a shocker to me," said Appalachian State linebacker Wes Hunter. "We just didn't put everything together to win the game. I feel that we have one of the best secondaries but I don't know what happened.

They threw for 300 some-odd yards on us, slinging the rock all over the place, and I guess they won from that." "We had a couple of mistakes, but they just found a way to get open underneath," said Appalachian defensive back Steve Kitchens. "The quarterback had a really good game just finding the open receiver."

Mountaineer quarterback Joe Burchette was less effective this time around in his third start of the year, completing 19 of 30 passes for only 152 yards and one touchdown. "Our heads weren't here and thereÕs no excuse for what happened out here today," said Burchette.

"Chattanooga played us well and you have to tip your hat to them. They were the better team today." Injuries further contributed to the Mountaineer woes with tailback Karim Razaak on the bench with a sprained MCL and the loss of Appalachian StateÕs starting receiver, Joey Gibson, whose career is likely over after tearing his left ACL in the second quarter.

"I felt like this was one of those games that somebody needed to make a big play and I think if I'd been in there I might've been able to make a big play," said Razaak about watching from the bench.

"When youÕre watching there isnÕt much you can do but root your teammates on." Up next for the Mountaineers is VMI on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Congratulations to men's and women's cross country teams for their outstanding performances in Saturday's SoCon championship meet

Andrea Barrows - Sports Minor

The Appalachian State University men's cross country team captured the Southern Conference (SoCon) Championship held on Saturday at State Farm Fields.

The men won the 2000 season title with a total time of 2:09:22.49 and totaled 43 points. The women finished second behind Furman University, losing by only six points and trailing by a mere 2.41 seconds.

The women ran first. Mountaineer Mary Jayne Harrelson took the early lead and never released it. Harrelson, the 1999 cross country All-American, won the race for a fourth consecutive year and became the second female ever to win the SoCon Most Outstanding Performer in three consecutive years.

Harrelson finished the 5,000 meter course in 17:17 with Furman's Jill Bradley behind in second place, finishing at 17:39. Mountaineers Sarah Primeau and Johanna Allen finished fourth and 10th respectively to make the All-Conference team.

Despite Appalachian's strong representation in the top 10, Furman finished two in the top 10 and had three runners finish in 11th, 12th and 13th places to give them 47 points and the SoCon title.

Harrelson wasn't the only individual female Mountaineer recognized in the awards ceremony. Allan was awarded the Freshman of the Year award for her outstanding efforts this season.

In the men's race, senior Ben Bissette finished second with a time of 25:17.10 in the 8,000 meter race. He was outrun by Ryan Kendall of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Kendall finished the race in 25:13.14. Appalachian's depth earned them the championship.

The Mountaineers placed three runners in the top 10 Ñ Bissette in 2nd place, sophomore Franklin Manchester in 8th, and junior Shawn Evans in 10th. Just shy of making the All-Conference team were standout freshman Joe Halin, in 11th place with a time of 26:04.33, and junior Brad Ferguson in 12th.

Appalachian finished the race with 43 points to second-place Chattanooga's 91 points. The menÕs race came down to the teamsÕ fifth runners' places to determine the winning team.

Appalachian's fifth man finished 12th and UTC's fifth man finished 62nd. This was the difference in the race, undeniably giving the Appalachian men the title. Appalachian's Joe Halin won Freshman of the Year honors.

Kendall, of UTC, won the Most Outstanding Performer Award. Mountaineer Head Coach Mike Curcio received the Coach of the Year Award following his teams' excellent performances.

Mountaineers fall victim to the Mocs' air raid

Ty Brueilly - Sports Minor

It was a beautiful 80-degree day in downtown Chattanooga, Tenn. at Max Finely Stadium, home of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Moccasins. The wind was calm, the sun was bright and the Appalachian State University Mountaineers went into the city Ñ as well as the football game Ñ with expectations of keeping a 12-year winning streak against the Mocs alive.

But the Mocs showed up with something the Mountaineers lacked: a high-caliber quarterback.

The Mocs' quarterback, Chris Sanders, is one of 16 NCAA Division I-AA football players in the running for the Walter Payton Award.

The Walter Payton Award is the I-AA version of the Heisman Trophy, and like the Heisman, the Payton honors the top football player in the division.

Mountaineer quarterback Joe Burchette had a tremendous load on his shoulders, which in the end weighed him down too much, too soon.

The load that was put on sophomore Burchette was to single-handedly push the Mountaineers to a win. Single-handedly because both senior backup quarterbacks, David Reaves and Daniel Jeremiah, were nursing injuries. Head Football Coach Jerry Moore said, "We didn't have anybody else. We are letting the others [Reaves and Jeremiah] heal and if we would have stuck them in there, it would have defeated that purpose."

This was the first game since the beginning of the season in which Burchette showed his inexperienced side. Both Moore and Burchette had one word to describe BurchetteÕs performance: "rough." This season Burchette was forced to step up mainly because of the injuries to Reaves and Jeremiah. Against the Mocs, Burchette had 30 attempted passes. In his entire freshman year, Burchette attempted only 11 passes.

Another tough load thrown onto BurchetteÕs shoulders was that not only were the other two quarterbacks nursing injuries, but junior running back Karim Razzak suffered from a bruised knee, possibly a MCL sprain, limiting him to a few plays.

And in a devastating turn of events in the second quarter in Chattanooga, senior wide receiver Joey Gibson caught BurchetteÕs 8-yard pass, landed in the wrong position on his left knee and tore his ACL. The injuries to the quarterbacks forced Burchette to play the entire game, because as Moore said, the Mountaineers had no one else to go to at that position. With the injuries to Razzak and Gibson, Burchette's offensive possibilities were limited.

The Mocs, on the other hand, took their possibilities to another level. Moccasin quarterback Sanders showed the crowd of 4,012 exactly why he was chosen as one of the candidates for the Walter Payton award. Sanders threw three interceptions but didn't hesitate to heave the same type of passes over and over again.

This led to numerous points on the scoreboard. Another way Sanders showed his caliber was by completing difficult passes. Numerous times it seemed that the Mountaineers had sufficient defensive coverage but Sanders threaded the needle into the receiverÕs hands, devastating the Mountaineer defense. ASU defensive back Steve Kitchens said, "They are real disiplined.

They didn't have many yards after their catch, [but] the quarterback was persistent and was able to deliver the ball when he found the crease and move the ball down the field on us." "We pressured [Sanders] a bit," said Moore, "and he kept on.

He does that. ThatÕs one of the things that's hurt him at times during the season, but today it paid off." Sanders kept up this type of play all game, ending with 46 pass attempts, 25 completions and three interceptions. Even though he only connected on a little over half of his passes, he still made the plays that led to the Mocs' victory.

Moore said, "They made a lot of key plays when they had to make them. I couldn't say enough to compliment their players."

Sanders' biggest play was in the fourth quarter, during the Mocs' final drive of the game. To start the drive, the Mocs recovered their own fumble and lost 17 yards. This was prime time for the Mountaineers to capitalize and show their defensive skills. Sanders didn't let up at all and passed for 7 yards to move them to a third down-and-20.

Coach Moore said about this line of UTC's offensive plays, ÒThem overcoming the second-and-28, that's the break that you need. We let them off the hook right there. It was critical, we gave them an automatic first down. It doesnÕt get any more critical than that."

On third down, Sanders went back to pass for an incomplete, but pass interference was called on the Mountaineers. After the interference, Sanders used the exact same play twice, passing to receiver Richmond Flowers, a transfer from Duke University.

The two plays gave Chattanooga 45 yards. After two more identical rushing plays, the Mocs were in field-goal position with three seconds left in the game.

UTC kicker Matt Vick gave Appalachian its fatal wound by scoring the final three points, enabling the Moccasins to defeat the Mountaineers for the first time in 12 years, by a score of 30-27.

Moore said about the Mocs' offense, "They did all the things that you need to do to win. They had a good plan, and we could not shut or slow them down. They made a lot of big plays Ñ and when I mean big, I mean key plays Ñ and they did that time and time again."

Even though Burchette was more or less forced to play the entire game against Chattanooga, Sanders gave Burchette Ñ as well as the rest of the Mountaineers Ñ something to think about.

Men's Soccer Wins Final Two Regular Season Matches

Andrea Barrows - Sports Minor

In the final home match of the Appalachian State University men's soccer team held Thursday, Oct. 27, the Mountaineers went out of the season in style, defeating the Campbell University Camels 5-2.

The first half brought a plethora of goals. First to strike was Chris Weddle, who was assisted by Bobby Maloney and Roddy Chisholm at 6:14. Ray Soporowski was assisted by ASU leading scorer Jordy Broder and scored the second goal for Appalachian at the 8:34 mark. At 12:29, Soporowski returned the favor by finding Broder open in front of Campbell's goal.

The Mountaineers continued to play strong and at 26:53 they struck again. This time it was freshman Caleb Riska who scored off of an assist by senior Eric Daughtry and Maloney.

At the 37:39 mark, the Camels' Rafael Guanaes managed to squeeze a goal out of the Mountaineers.

ASU Head Coach Aidan Heaney said, "The beauty of tonightÕs game is that we got some early goals, which gave us a great opportunity Ñ we got to rest a lot of guys, and the guys who haven't seen a lot of playing time were able to play."

The second half was scoreless until Daughtry scored another Appalachian goal at 84:50. With only 30 seconds to go, Jason Bailey scored a second goal for Campbell, but it was just too little, too late for the Camels.

Thursday's match was also Senior Night. Team veterans Weddle of Winston-Salem, Daughtry of Greensboro, David Holland of Charlotte, and Andy Simpson of Franklin, Tenn., were recognized for their dedication to the Appalachian State men's soccer program.

The ASU men traveled to Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday to play their final regular season match against the Wofford College Terriers and defeated the pups 4-0.

The win gave the Mountaineers a 6-2 Southern Conference (SoCon) record and placed them in a three-way tie with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Davidson College for second place in the conference.

In the first half of action, Broder put the Mountaineers on the scoreboard first with 4:16 remaining to give Appalachian a 1-0 advantage in the first half.

The second half began on a more fast-paced note with another goal by Broder in the first minute, which put the Mountaineers up 2-0. At 52:58, Daughtry scored Appalachian's third goal with an assist from Broder. The Mountaineers' final goal was scored by Brian Fowler at 64:19 to put up ASU 4-0.

Mountaineer goalie Chris Robinson had another outstanding performance, racking up six saves and helping Appalachian earn another shut-out victory.