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John Bethune | The Appalachian
ASU's cheerleading squad escort Yosef and the football team onto the field before Saturday's bout against Texas State. |
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John Bethune | The Appalachian
ASU safeties Jeremy Wiggins (8) and Nygel Rogers (30) wrestle with a Texas State receiver for a pass during Saturday's game. |
Freshman QB leads ASU to win over Texas State, 41-34
by Hugh Kellenberger
Associate Editor
Appalachian State proved Satuday that they do not need Richie Williams and a dominating performance from Davon Fowlkes to win a football game.
True freshman quarterback Trey Elder filled in for Williams admirably, rushing for three touchdowns and throwing for a fourth in a 41-34 win over Texas State.
Appalachian won by picking their spots and overcoming a Texas State offense that rolled up 426 yards of total offense and did not say die until an onside kick attempt fell into the hands of William Mayfield with 2:45 left in the game.
“I am proud of the way we played the last six or seven minutes of this ballgame,” ASU coach Jerry Moore said. “I was very pleased how we finished the ballgame.”
Texas State quarterback Barrick Nealy played for the first time in three weeks and kept the Bobcats in it with 219 yards passing and 120 rushing.
Terrell Harris rushed for 48 yards and put in all four Bobcats touchdowns.
“We have to get a mentality in our program … tough teams win. We have got to be a tough team,” Texas State coach David Baliff said.
Elder said he didn’t feel comfortable until after the first quarter. However, he still went 12 of 20 passing for 249 yards and rushed for 44 yards on 12 carries in his first career start.
“My main goal was just to try to come out and lead us to a victory, so I am happy with that,” Elder said.
He did fumble the ball twice and threw a costly interception in the fourth quarter that made the game 34-24.
“The first time I ever met him the first thing that crossed my mind was leadership,” Moore said. “I didn’t know he could run like that.”
Elder was named the starter Wednesday with Williams suffering from a sprained knee he injured in the Northwestern State game last week. Whether or not he would play was determined at 10 a.m. Saturday morning, Moore said.
“He was just not physically able,” Moore said.
Moore stressed the running game this week in practice and followed up on that with 42 rushing plays. Alan Atwater ran 16 times for 55 yards and a touchdown to lead the team.
Kevin Richardson also carried the rock 12 times for 39 yards.
Fowlkes often faced not only a cornerback but also a linebacker and safety on pass coverage during most of the game. He caught two balls for 62 yards and a touchdown.
He came into the game with 34 receptions and 607 receiving yards in four games.
On third and 11 from their own 35-yard line, Elder found Fowlkes streaking down the field with no one within five yards. The end result was a 65-yard touchdown that gave the Mountaineers some much-needed breathing room.
“We brought six and exposed our free safety,” Baliff said. “It was a calculated risk that didn’t pay off.”
Baliff said that the blitz was to try to get to Elder and would have not been called if Williams were under center.
Jeremy Wiggins led the defense with an 86-yard fumble recovery, a pair of pass break-ups and nine tackles.
The Bobcats tested the young ASU corners Jerome Touchstone and Justin Woazeah early and often. Woazeah came through with an interception and four pass break-ups.
The ASU defense was noticeably better at tackling than in previous weeks.
“We went back Monday and started doing little tackling drills. We had a really good practice Wednesday as a team. Everybody was flying around, communicating. That was the main focus, wrap up and tackle,” Brad West said.
West had nine tackles, one for a six-yard loss on a critical third down play in the third quarter.
Williams is expected to be back for next week’s home game against Furman. Kick-off is slated for 3:30 p.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
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John Bethune | The Appalachian
ASU defender Jill Parsons fights for the ball against UNCG defender Nicollette DeLaine. |
UNCG kicks women's soccer off balance
by Nick Coulapides
Staff Writer
ASU women’s soccer has had an up and down year throughout the first half of the season. Losing three of their first four games, then winning four of six.
This time, the Lady Mountaineers ended up on the wrong side of their see-saw season. UNC-Greensboro picked up three of the four total second half goals leaving ASU on the shallow end of a 3-1 defeat.
Amy Carnell for Greensboro tapped the first two scores of the game. The first coming just three minutes into the second half off a loose ball in the Mountaineer box with an assist from Rakel Logadottir. Carnell didn’t wait long for her second score, 16 minutes later off another assist from Logadottir increase their lead to 2-0.
Appalachian seemed poised for a comeback when Courtney O’Brian got fouled inside the Greensboro box, leaving her with a free penalty kick she took advantage of.
However, O’Brian’s kick was ‘much ado about nothing’ when three minutes later UNCG iced the game with another score, this time by Emilie Stewart from a pass by teammate Jessie Jay.
After that first score, Coach Bob Popoola knew he had to play defensive to scramble for a goal.
“They didn’t change at all in between halves,” Popoola said. “They got a loose ball in our box that gave them their first goal and we had to change and go after the goal.”
This was a game to erase from memory for senior goalkeeper Breland Meany. In ASU’s last six games, their prolific goal-stopper has given up the same amount of goals combined as she did Sunday afternoon.
The Mountaineers deflated their record to 5-5 on the year, 1-2 in Southern Conference play. The Mountaineers will have the rest of the week to rest up for SoCon rival the Citadel on Friday evening at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
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