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Tuesday, 29 November 2005 08:52 |
ELON ?? Appalachian State University captured its first outright Southern Conference championship in football since 1995 and earned the No. 2 seed in the I-AA playoffs, hammering Elon University 52-14 last Saturday evening at Rhodes Stadium.
In what was a complete demolition from the start, Appalachian (8-3, 6-1
SoCon) scored on each of its first six possessions to take a resounding
38-0 lead.
The Mountaineers were also dominant on defense, holding Elon (3-8, 0-7
SoCon) to only one first down in the first half and 43 total yards
through three quarters. The Phoenix??s first touchdown came on a 95-yard
kickoff return when trailing 45-0 in the fourth quarter, and its only
other score came on a 13-yard pass on the last play of the game.
In all, Appalachian out-gained Elon 445-138, which included advantages of 226-42 in the air and 219-96 on the ground.
Running back Kevin Richardson scored three of the Mountaineers?? four
first-half touchdowns to help lead the Apps to a 31-0 halftime
advantage. Richardson finished the evening with 176 all-purpose yards,
including 89 on the ground.
ASU quarterback Richie Williams amassed 149 yards of total offense (95
passing, 54 rushing) and threw two touchdowns in just one half of
action.
Backup quarterback Trey Elder completed 7-of-11 passes for 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a quarter-and-a-half of work.
Richardson, Zach Johnson, William Mayfield and T.J. Courman all caught
touchdown passes, with Johnson and Mayfield leading all receivers with
four catches apiece.
Defensively, Pierre Banks led ASU??s effort with seven tackles, while
backup defensive back Titus Howard returned his first-career
interception 70 yards for the final score.
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