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Mountaineers knock off Eagles 38-35 |
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Tuesday, 04 December 2007 |
 Quarterback Armanti Edwards stiff-arms an Eagles defender Saturday. Edwards totaled 347 yards in the 38-35 win to advance to the national semifinals. Photo by Derek DeSha
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by RYAN WIXTED
Sports Editor
Appalachian State University kept their hopes for a third national championship alive Saturday, defeating Eastern Washington University 38-35 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals.
The Mountaineers’ offense led the way with 529 total yards.
ASU
sophomore quarterback Armanti Edwards was able to do most of his damage
with his arm, throwing for 221 yards and two touchdowns.
“We watched film on them and we knew we would have some shots down the field,” Edwards said after the game.
With a little over six minutes left in the first quarter, the
Mountaineers were able to draw first blood, when Edwards ran it in from
four yards to give Appalachian the early 7-0 lead.
The Mountaineers’ defense was able to hold Eastern Washington’s pass-oriented offense to just 185 yards passing.
The defense frustrated the Eagles’ sophomore quarterback Matt Nichols throughout the game.
“They blitzed quite a bit and they weren’t showing it before the snap,”
Nichols said. “So it was pretty difficult to tell when they were
blitzing.”
Eastern Washington’s head coach Paul Wulff believed the different
schemes and uncharacteristic blitzing by the Mountaineers’ defense
prevented his offensive squad from getting any confidence.
“Their defense did a great job of keeping us off balance and never allowing us to get into any rhythm,” Wulff said.
The defense was able to keep the Eagles’ offense grounded throughout the first half, holding them to just 139 total yards.
The Mountaineers were able to push their lead to 14 early in the second
quarter, when Edwards connected with senior wide receiver Dexter
Jackson on a 41-yard touchdown pass.
Eastern Washington was able to respond when sophomore wide receiver
Nicholas Ramos returned a kickoff 82 yards to the Mountaineers’ 14-yard
line.
A few plays later, Nichols found sophomore wide receiver Aaron Boyce in
the back of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown pass, to make the score
14-7.
Prior to halftime, ASU was able to score on a 15-yard pass from Edwards
to senior wide receiver Hans Batichon, to make the lead 21-7.
In the second half, the Eagles’ special teams were able to keep them in
the game. Eagles’ senior defensive back Bryan Jarrett took a direct
snap on a fake punt and ran for a 51-yard touchdown to bring the Eagles
within a touchdown.
Appalachian responded when senior kicker Julian Rauch made a 21-yard field goal to push the Mountaineer lead to 10.
However, Eastern Washington’s junior running back A.J. Jimerson
returned a kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown, to pull the Eagles within
three, 24-21.
Rushing touchdowns by ASU sophomore running back Devon Moore and senior
running back Kevin Richardson pushed the lead to 38-21 midway through
the fourth quarter.
Eastern Washington made a run late in the fourth quarter, scoring two
quick touchdowns, but was unable to get an onside kick with 28 seconds
left in the game.
“I thought that our team played hard and when you play hard like that,
you find a way to win,” ASU head coach Jerry Moore said. “We beat a
good football team today.”
Appalachian advances to the FCS semifinals for the third straight year
and will play host to the University of Richmond Friday at 8 p.m.
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