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Appalachian pulls away in 4th, beat UTC 35-20
Saturday, 07 November 2009
Linebacker Jacque Roman and defensive back Mark LeGree bring a Chattanooga player to the ground during the first half of Saturday's game. Photo by Holt Menzies
by ROB JENKINS
Sports Editor
Appalachian State got two fourth
quarter touchdown runs from Devon Moore as the Mountaineers downed the Mocs of
Chattanooga 35-20 Saturday.
“The number one thing is that’s a
good win,” ASU head coach Jerry Moore said. “Chattanooga is a team that I was very
concerned about coming in.”
Linebacker D.J. Smith intercepted
UTC quarterback B.J. Coleman on the Mocs’ first offensive possession and
returned the pick to the two-yard line.
“Something told me to keep my
eyes on the quarterback,” Smith said. “On that call, my responsibility is to
sprint out to the flats and fortunately it went off [Jacque Roman’s] hands and
I was there for the pick.”
Two plays later, D. Moore plowed
into the end zone to make the score 7-0 with 12:51 left in the first quarter.
Quarterback Aramanti Edwards leaps over the Chattanooga defensive line in the third quarter of Saturday's game. Photo by Holt Menzies
Roman picked off Coleman on the
next Chattanooga
drive, but the Apps were unable to convert and were forced to punt.
After a three-and-out by the
Mocs, the Mountaineers pushed their lead to 14-0 on a three-yard touchdown run
by Armanti Edwards.
Devin Radford scored on a
three-yard run to make the score 21-0 before the first quarter was over.
ASU struggled its way through the
second quarter, turning the ball over three times. D. Moore fumbled the ball once, and Edwards
threw two interceptions.
Edwards’ interception with 7:22
left in the second was the first pick he had thrown in 141 attempts.
“You got to let it go, if you sit
there and mope about mistakes, you’re going to make more so it’s important to
have a short-term memory,” Edwards said.
The Mocs scored their first
touchdown of the game on a quarterback sneak by Coleman after Moore’s fumble cut the lead to 21-7 at the
half.
Coming out of the locker room
after halftime, Chattanooga
went for an onside kick and recovered it at their own 45.
Seven plays later,
Craig Camay kicked a field goal to bring the Mocs within 11 points, 21-10.
Junior tight end Ben Jorden attempts to stop Chattanooga defensive back Jordan Tippet after an interception. Photo by Tommy Penick
On the ensuing kickoff, UTC
kicked another onside kick and recovered it.
“After the field goal, I saw the
guys in the huddle and I could tell what they were thinking, so I said, ‘OK,
let’s try it again,’” Chattanooga
head coach Russ Huesman said.
The Mocs pulled the score to
21-17 when Coleman found Blue Cooper in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown
pass with 3:34 left in the third quarter.
Chattanooga’s defense played lights-out in
the third, holding the Mountaineers to only two offensive yards on nine plays
in the quarter.
UTC’s next drive lasted 12 plays
and took 6:11 off the game clock. The Mocs had a fourth-and-one from the ASU
20, and opted for a field goal rather than going for it.
“The kids wanted to go for it, I
wanted to go for it,” Huesman said. “But it got to the point where there was so
much indecision about how we were going to try to get the yard; I decided to
kick the field goal.”
The field goal was good, making
the score 21-20 with 10:43 left in the game.
The Mountaineers responded on
their next drive, going 63 yards in nine plays. The drive ended with a
touchdown run by D. Moore to push the lead to 28-20.
Coleman threw his third
interception of the day on the next drive, as Mark LeGree jumped the route to
get his fourth pick of the year.
“I was really proud of our defense, I thought
our defense did a great job especially in the fourth quarter when we had to get
stops,” coach Moore
said.
Appalachian scored three plays
later to increase its lead to 35-20.
D. Moore lead the way on the ground, racking up
74 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries.
Edwards passed for 140 yards and
ran for 52 and one touchdown.
Matt Cline caught seven balls for
64 yards. No other Mountaineer had more than two catches.
With the win, the Apps stayed
perfect in Southern Conference play, moving their record to 7-2 (6-0 SoCon).
Chattanooga fell to 5-4 (3-4).
ASU returns to action next
Saturday at No. 6 Elon.
Photos by Holt Menzies & Tommy Penick | The Appalachian
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