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Mountaineers squash spiders, look to defend title |
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Saturday, 08 December 2007 |
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 Senior Dexter Jackson sprints past a Richmond defender in Friday's 55-35 victory. Photo by Derek DeSha
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by RYAN WIXTED
Sports Editor
Appalachian State University will look to go for its third consecutive Football Championship Subdivision title, after defeating the University of Richmond 55-35 in Friday night's FCS semifinals.
Once again, the Mountaineers were led by sophomore quarterback Armanti Edwards who rushed for an FCS quarterback record 313 yards and four touchdowns.
"Armanti Edwards is the best player we faced this year," Richmond head coach Dave Clawson said after the game. "He's very elusive, [he]
makes plays with his feet, makes plays with his arms, and when it's all said
and done, he was the difference."
In the first quarter, Richmond
learned just how elusive Edwards was, rushing for 104-yards and two touchdowns,
as Appalachian was able to jump out to a 14-0 lead.
The first Mountaineer touchdown came early in the first quarter when Edwards
connected with senior wide receiver Dexter Jackson on a 52-yard touchdown run.
 Sophomore Armanti Edwards set FCS rushing records for a quarterback with 313 yards and four touchdowns in Friday's win. Photo by Derek DeSha
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The Mountaineers defense was able to hold Spiders' senior running back Tim
Hightower to just 85-yards on 22 carries.
The team was able to prevent the Spiders' rushing attack from gaining any
momentum.
"We struggled a little bit in the beginning," Hightower said about
the Spiders' offense. "Then we found some rhythm, but we weren't able to
put a drive together in the end."
Edwards was able to keep the Mountaineers' offense in a rhythm, scoring three
more times to push Appalachian's lead to 35-21, at halftime.
"He's fast. Containing him was extremely difficult," Richmond senior defensive lineman Bryan
DeMoss said. "The guy can beat you with his legs just as well as he can
beat you with his throw. Battling a dynamic player like that was truly
great."
In the second half, Richmond was able to take their opening possession and
march 78-yards down the field, as sophomore quarterback Eric Ward connected
with tight end Joe Stewart on a 17-yard touchdown reception, to cut
Appalachian's lead to a touchdown, 35-28.
On the ensuing kick-off ASU freshman wide receiver CoCo Hilary fumbled the ball
allowing the Spiders to put together a nine play drive ending with a Ward
five-yard touchdown run to tie the score 35-35.
Able to come back from a 21-point deficit in the ballgame Clawson believed the squad had a fighting
chance.
 After the game, fans rushed the field, ripped down the goal posts, and marched them up to Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock's house. Photo by Derek DeSha
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"Story of our season, all year," he said. "Just a really
resilient group of guys that battled back from a lot of adversity, injuries
[and] a tough loss. We have a bunch of competitors on our team and I couldn't
be more proud of them. A lot of teams in this atmosphere with that type of
deficit could have folded up, but our guys just kept fighting and kept
battling."
"I am proud of the effort, we are disappointed in the result, but we had a
great season and we lost to a team that was better than us," he said.
With the score tied late in the third-quarter, Edwards was able to ignite the
offense and move them 69-yards down the field, to end the drive with a
three-yard touchdown run by senior running back Kevin Richardson, and allow the
Mountaineers to regain the lead 42-35.
The Mountaineers were able to solidify the win and their third consecutive trip
to Chattanooga,
when Edwards connected with senior tight end Nic Cardwell for two receiving
touchdowns late in the fourth quarter.
The push led to the final score of 55-35.
"I think number one, it was a great night for our program, a great night
for our school," ASU Head Coach Jerry Moore said about the Mountaineers
heading back to Chattanooga.
"You can't just say enough about our team, and just the resilience [that
they have]."
Appalachian becomes only the third program in NCAA Division 1-AA/FCS history to
advance to three consecutive championship games.
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