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Mountaineers lose second conference game of season |
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Tuesday, 23 October 2007 |
by ASHLEY DAVIS
Sports Reporter
A “blacked out” stadium in honor of Appalachian State University’s “Black Saturday” was supposed to be a tool of intimidation.
However, the tradition seemed to turn on the Mountaineers as fans left the stadium following a 38-35
loss to Georgia Southern University, the black having turned to a uniform of mourning.
Georgia Southern snapped the Mountaineers 30-game home winning streak with a victory that was only
secured in the last seconds of the game.
The Eagles’ offense started strong with a breakaway 56-yard touchdown run coming from senior
quarterback Jayson Foster only a minute into the first quarter.
Shortly after, sophomore defensive back Carson Hill scored the Eagles’ second touchdown on an
intercepted pass from Mountaineer sophomore quarterback Armanti Edwards.
 Sophomore quarterback Armanti Edwards lies on the ground Saturday after being tackled by a Georgia Southern defender during ASU's 35-38 loss.
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The start against Georgia Southern was Edwards’ first since the team’s game against Lenoir-Rhyne
Sept. 8, due to a lingering shoulder injury.
“He did a great job,” Appalachian Head Coach Jerry Moore said of Edwards. “He didn’t play afraid to get
hurt.”
Edwards led the team in rushing with a career-high 220 yards, and also in passing with 10 completions
for 178 yards.
Edwards’ rushing yards surpassed Foster’s 175, who currently leads the Southern Conference in
rushing.
Appalachian entered the second half trailing by 14 points, and improved their situation with a 32-yard
field goal by senior kicker Julian Rauch during the third quarter making the score 31-20.
Unfortunately, the Eagles responded in the fourth quarter with a 15-yard touchdown run by senior
running back Lamar Lewis.
Invoked by the 28,020-person crowd filling Kidd Brewer Stadium, the Mountaineers put forth a last
effort led by senior quarterback Trey Elder.
Elder rushed for a 19-yard touchdown with seven minutes left in the game, cutting the deficit to 38-27.
With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, sophomore running back Devon Moore infused the crowd’s
hope with a one-yard touchdown run.
Elder was able to pull the Mountaineers within three when he connected with senior wide receiver Hans
Batichon on a two-point conversion.
The score stood at 38-35 in Georgia Southern’s favor, as the clock continued to run until, after two
more possessions and a penalty, the Eagles claimed a victory despite a still fighting Appalachian
team.
“We are what we are,” Georgia Southern Coach Chris Hatcher said. “This is a win we had to have
today; we treated today like a playoff game. We cut down on a lot of mistakes and were very
fortunate.”
Moore realized this would be a tough loss for his team to swallow, but understands they still have four
SoCon games ahead of them.
“That was a tough game,” Moore said. “We have to go now and win four games and hope we’re in the
playoffs.”
Coach Moore expressed his pride in the team, yet also acknowledged that a tone of realism must be
taken when looking at the rest of the season.
“We can’t lose another ball game,” he said.
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