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Elder leads Appalachian to 48-7 victory |
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Monday, 10 September 2007 |
 Senior quarterback Trey Elder threw four touchdowns and ran in another to help the Mountaineers win, 48-7. Photo by Bryan Tarnowski
| by RYAN WIXTED Sports Editor
Appalachian State University senior quarterback Trey Elder’s college career hasn’t gone exactly as planned.
Losing
the starting quarterback position last season to sophomore quarterback
Armanti Edwards could have been a frustrating situation, but Elder was
able to turn it into a positive and put the team first.
However, last Saturday vs. Lenoir–Rhyne College, Elder displayed why he is so well respected by his teammates and coaches.
Elder got the start after Edwards was held out of the game with a sore shoulder.
“He needed that [game],” Moore said of Elder. “We have two good
quarterbacks on this football team that everyone respects. They believe
in them, and they believe either one of those guys can win.”
In front of a record crowd of 28,208 at Kidd Brewer Stadium, Elder
gained more respect leading the Mountaineer offense to a dominating
performance.
ASU accumulated 403 yards of total offense, 276 of that came in the first half.
“It was awesome,” Elder said of leading the offense. “It was good to
get back home and play at The Rock. We love playing here at home and I
think we did a good job preparing all this week, even with the
distraction we had,” he said. “We had a good game plan and executed
early.”
Execution is what the Mountaineer offense did Saturday.
Elder was able to get things going early, orchestrating a seven-play,
43-yard drive, ending it with an 18-yard touchdown pass to senior wide
receiver Dexter Jackson.
The Bears defense had no answer for the Mountaineers offense. ASU scored on their first six offense possessions.
Elder played a big role in all of those scoring drives. On four of the
six possessions Elder threw a touchdown pass connecting with three
different receivers.
“Trey Elder did a nice job,” Bears head coach Fred Goldsmith said. “Any
team that has a back-up [quarterback] like him and a back- up like ours
(freshmen Daniel Anderson) ... can be pleased.”
The confidence of Elder’s play showed throughout the game, not only in passing but in the rushing game as well.
Elder led the Mountaineers in rushing with seven rushes for 53 yards.
In Saturday’s post-game press conference, Moore and Elder could be seen joking about that statistic.
“I told Armanti after the game I had been watching him trying to pick
up some of his moves,” Elder said with a laugh. “I tried to use some of
them today.”
The Mountaineers will play host to Northern Arizona University this week and Edwards is expected to start.
However, Moore and his staff are confident that if needed, Elder will be able to come through for the team.
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