No. 1 ASU snares 34-21 win over tough, stubborn NAU

BOONE ó Trey Elder amassed 298 yards of offense and Walter Payton Award candidate Kevin Richardson set career highs with seven receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns to lead top-ranked Appalachian State University to a 34-21 victory over Northern Arizona last Saturday afternoon at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

An overflow crowd of 27,104, the second-largest in KBS history, saw ASU (3-0) rack up a season-high 429 yards of total offense in the win.

However, the Mountaineersí 17th-straight victory and 29th in-a-row at home didnít come easy, as Northern Arizona (1-2) pushed the Apps from the beginning. NAU forced the Mountaineers into three straight three-and-out series to start the game and were out-gaining the Apps 125-19 at one point en route to a 3-0 lead through one quarter.

The damage could have been worse, but the Black and Gold defense held Northern Arizona to just three points on two trips inside the ASU 15-yard line in the opening period.

Appalachian got on track at the end of the first quarter, as it marched into Lumberjack territory before Elder found Richardson on a 34-yard catch-and-run to give ASU a 7-3 lead on the first play of the second period.

After the Lumberjacks responded with another field goal, Elder marched the Mountaineers right back to paydirt, going 59 yards in nine plays, culminating with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hans Batichon that made it 14-6.

Thanks to a blocked field goal on the final play of the first half by Jerome Touchstone, Appalachian took the 14-6 advantage into the locker room. The field-goal block was Appalachianís fourth in three games this season.

Julian Rauch capped the Mountaineersí first two possessions of the second half with field goals to stretch the ASU lead to 20-6. However, NAU drew back within seven points on an acrobatic 18-yard touchdown pass from Lance Kriesien to Skyler Moore with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The score remained 20-13 until Richardson hauled in his second touchdown reception of the afternoon, a 47-yarder from Elder that gave ASU a 27-13 advantage with less than 10 minutes to play. Five minutes later, Appalachian put the game on ice when Trey Hennessee separated NAU punt returner K.J. Gerard from the ball and Cortez Gilbert scooped up the loose ball and returned it 32 yards to give ASU a 34-13 lead.

A one-yard touchdown rush by Kriesien and two-point conversion in the waning minutes accounted for the final margin.
Making his second-straight start in place of banged-up starter Armanti Edwards, Elder completed 15 of 22 passes without an interception for 216 yards and three scores. He also ran 19 times for 82 yards.

Richardson went over the 1,000-yard receiving mark for his illustrious career with the 122-yard performance. He added 58 yards on 15 carries to finish with 180 all-purpose yards, the fifth-highest output of his career.

Jacque Roman led the Appsí defensive effort with a game-high 14 tackles. Corey Lynch added 10 stops and a pass break-up and defensive tackle Anthony Williams chipped in with nine tackles, including two behind the line of scrimmage and a sack.

Kriesien led the Lumberjacks with 300 yards of total offense (171 passing, 129 rushing).

Next, Appalachian will open defense of its back-to-back Southern Conference championships when it visits perennial league-title contender Wofford at 3:30 p.m.† Saturday. The contest will be televised live on SportSouth.

MHC remains undefeated
with 28-point, 2nd-half rally

WILLIAMBURG, Ky. ó Undefeated Mars Hill College rebounded in the second half with 28 points to cuff University of the Cumberlands 35-17 in football last Saturday.

Trailing 17-7 late in the second quarter, MHC (3-0) staged its successful rally behind Ricky Spradling, who threw for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Also adding spark on offense was George Washington, who played in his first game of the year, rushing for 96 yards and one touchdown. Washington had been slowed by a preseason injury.

Meanwhile, the Lionsí defense was led by Nathanial Smith and Xavier Jordon, who combined for 21 tackles.

Next, MHC will host West Liberty State at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Meares Stadium.

After a slow start, Georgia
ignites to whip WCU 45-16

ATHENS, Ga. ó The No. 23 Georgia Bulldogs suffered through a lackluster first quarter, but caught fire after that to stomp winless Western Carolina 45-16 last† Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium.

For the WCU (0-3), highlights included the performance of junior kicker Jonathan Parsons, who connected on all three field goal attempts; and senior tailback Mike Malone, who slipped in for WCUís first rushing touchdown of the season. With the loss to the Bulldogs, the Catamounts concluded their three-game road swing to open their schedule.

By pushing across the late touchdown, WCU became the first team to post a second half touchdown against Georgia this season. Also, the Catamountsí 16 points were the most the program had scored against a Southeastern Conference foe since tallying 25 at South Carolina in 1986 (L, 45-25) and the most against a NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team since tallying seven at Louisville in 2001 (L, 31-7).

ìI thought we played very hard today, especially in the first half,î WCU head coach Kent Briggs said. ìWe did not put ourselves in the best positions in the second half as Georgia came out and did some things offensively from which we could not recover. But I could not be more proud of our football team and the effort they put forward.î

Briggs added, ìWe did not embarrass our selves ó we played with pride and played hard.î

Parsons, who improved to 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) on field goals this season, was perfect from 29, 40 and a career-long 46 yards.

Again utilizing two quarterbacks, senior Todd Spitzer earned the starting nod and received the majority of the snaps on Saturday. The Greer, S.C., native completed 6-of-10 passing in guiding WCU on a pair of scoring drives. Adam Hearns also orchestrated two scoring drives, including a nine-play, 69-yard drive inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter that resulted in WCUís lone TD of the game ó a two-yard plunge by Malone.

Six Catamount receivers hauled in passes, led by Malone with four catches, while sophomore Marquel Pittman had a team-best 41 yards on three receptions. Sophomore Willie Harper accounted for 20 of WCUís 63 yards of rushing, while Hearns added 18.

Trailing 3-0 after limiting the Bulldogs to a field goal on its first possession, Westernís defense forced its first turnover of the season which led directly to the Catamountsí first score. On third and three near midfield, sophomore Gene Singletary - who was credited with an eight-yard sack on the play - broke free and blindsided Georgia QB Matthew Stafford, jarring the ball loose. Junior Jeff Bradley nearly scooped up the loose ball on the run but was unable to corral the bouncing orb.

However, with the ball bounding closer to the `Dog end zone, WCU senior Meko Watson came out of the pile with the ball and great field position for the Catamounts at the Georgia 14-yard line.

Three plays later, Parsons was called upon to split the uprights from 29 yards out, knotting the game at three apiece where it stood through one quarter of play.

As the second quarter opened, Georgia drove down for a touchdown, moving 65 yards in 11 plays to surge ahead, 10-3. On the ensuing kickoff, Malone raced out of his own end zone on a season-long 46-yard return to give the Catamounts possession near midfield. WCU captured its first, first down of the game two plays later after an eight-yard pass to Nick Miller and a seven-yard spurt by Willie Harper. The Catamounts drove 31 yards in eight plays with Parsons connecting from 40 yards out to trim the deficit to four, 10-6.

That was as close as the Catamounts would get, however, as Stafford drove the `Dogs down the field on the next possession, moving 62 yards on four pass plays before a 15-yard TD strike from Stafford to Sean Bailey pushed the advantage to 11.

Just before intermission, Western (0-3) was again able to trim the deficit with a 13-play, 40-yard drive that culminated with Parsonsí career-best field goal of 46 yards, pulling the Catamounts to within eight, 17-9. However, just before the half, Stafford drove the Bulldogs 65 yards in three plays for a touchdown to push the advantage to 24-9 at halftime.

In the second stanza, Georgia scored on two of its first three possessions en route to building an insurmountable 45-9 lead until the Catamounts were able to punch one in during the fourth.

Guided by Hearns, Western moved the ball 69 yards in nine plays, highlighted by a pair of wide receiver screens to Pittman - one for 12 yards and another for 22 yards - and two L.J. Davis runs for 14 yards to post its first rushing score of the season.

Defensively for Western, sophomore Chris Collins led the Catamount attack which was missing four defensive starters. The High Point, N.C., native finished with 10 total tackles, including eight solo stops, while junior Quinton Phillips finished with six tackles, five solos.

Georgia starting QB Matthew Stafford completed 14-of-20 passes for 174 yards and a pair of scoring strikes to lead the Bulldogs. Back-up signal caller, Joe Cox, completed 3-of-6 for 48 yards, adding one touchdown. Led by Knowshon Moreno with 94 yards, Georgia combined to rack up 140 yards of offense on the ground.

Dating back to last season, three of Westernís last four games ó all on the road ó have been against SEC foes as the Catamounts faced eventual national champion, Florida, in the Swamp in late November and Alabama to open the 2007 season.