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Appalachian punches ticket for playoffs |
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Tuesday, 07 November 2006 |
 Active Image | David Mulvaney | Chief Photographer
Marques Murrell (l) and Julian Rauch (r) celebrate with the Southern Conference trophy after Saturday’s 42-13 win over The Citadel. The Appalachian Mountaineers face Western Carolina Saturday.
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by ERIK RHYNE
Sports Editor
In “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.”
The Appalachian State University football team agreed, ending its home schedule undefeated with a 42-13 win against The Citadel.
The win gave ASU its second straight Southern Conference Title.
Appalachian was also the first Division I-AA team to punch its ticket
for the playoffs.
“I told them at the pre-game meal that they have a chance to be an
awesome football team,” ASU head coach Jerry Moore said. “It’s kind of
hard to talk about because last year’s team put the target on these
guys’ back…They’re catching everyone’s best shot.”
The Bulldogs were able to stay with ASU until The Citadel’s first drive of the second quarter.
Senior ASU defensive end Marques Murrell stripped the ball from Bulldog
tailback Tory Cooper. Junior safety Corey Lynch picked up the ball and
ran 25 yards for the touchdown putting ASU ahead 14-3.
Murrell added another forced fumble in the second quarter, which gave
him 15 career forced fumbles putting him first in school history.
Murrell said ASU had not been wrapping up tackles early in the game. As
Murrell tackled Cooper, he wrapped him up and Murrell’s head hit the
ball popping it loose.
After the score, The Citadel could only manage eight yards the rest of the half as the Mountaineers pulled away.
“It was a big play obviously,” The Citadel head coach Kevin Higgins
said. “Going in we said we would need to force three or four turnovers
and we could not be able to give the ball up. You can’t turnover the
ball against a good team like ASU and expect to win.”
On ASU’s third play of the game, junior running back Kevin Richardson
ran a 79-yard touchdown, a career long, to put Appalachian up for good.
He finished the day with 17 carries for 148 yards and three touchdowns.
“That was a big positive to see him come out and pop one like that,”
Moore said. “On the other side of that, it kind of bothered me that we
scored like that instead of driving it. The next thing we did was scoop
[up a fumble for a touchdown]. I was apprehensive about if we could
move the ball.”
The Citadel came back with a 38-yard field goal.
With the score 14-3, freshman ASU quarterback Armanti Edwards completed
a 24-yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end Dominique Wilson. It was
Wilson’s first career catch.
Edwards finished the day 16-21 for 174 yards and one touchdown. He
added 41 yards on the ground with one rushing touchdown in the third.
Richardson added two touchdowns to finalize ASU’s scoring.
Bulldog quarterback Duran Lawson connected with receiver Andre Roberts
for a 59-yard touchdown in the fourth to close the scorebook.
Higgins said the Bulldogs knew they would have to play a perfect game to win.
“We knew going in that we would have to play the best game of our lives,” he said.
Mountaineer defensive lineman senior Daniel Orlebar led the Mountaineer
defense with nine tackles. Murrell added eight tackles and one sack.
Lynch came up with ASU’s only interception but had to be taken to the
hospital for surgery after injuring his right elbow. His status for the
playoffs is uncertain.
For the Bulldogs, Cooper led the offense with 120 yards of total offense.
The Mountaineers travel to Western Carolina University Saturday to try to claim sole possession of the SoCon Title.
Moore said the team will not look past WCU.
“We’ll prepare for [WCU] like we would anyone else,” Moore said.
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