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Tuesday, 28 November 2006 14:33 |
BOONE ÇƒÓ No. 1 Appalachian State University racked up 356 yards of offense in the first half alone, 179 of them on the ground, to open up an insurmountable 31-0 halftime lead and went on to coast to a 45-28 victory over No. 13 Coastal Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship last Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
With the triumph, top-seeded Appalachian (11-1) hosts Montana State (8-4), a 31-13 winner over Furman last Saturday, in this Saturdayës national quarterfinals at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Kickoff will be at 4 p.m. The game will be televised live nationally on ESPN2.
A Kidd Brewer Stadium postseason-record crowd of 16,223 witnessed Appalachianës fifth-straight playoff win, dating back to beginning of last yearës national championship run. ASU stretched its home winning streak to 25 games, the longest in NCAA Division I Championship Subdivision football.
Mountaineersë
quarterback Armanti Edwards ran for 172 yards, Walter Payton Award
finalist Kevin Richardson added 156 on the ground and the duo combined
to account for all six Mountaineer touchdowns to lead the Apps to 45
points on 560 yards of total offense, both school playoff records.
Appalachian
came into the contest averaging 33.5 points and 399.5 yards per game
(good for seventh and eighth in the nation, respectively), but nearly
matched those marks with its 31 points and 356 yards in the first half
alone.
Touchdown
catches of 13 and 29 yards by reserve tight ends Nic Cardwell and
Dominique Wilson, sandwiched around a 33-yard Julian Rauch field goal,
gave the Mountaineers a 17-0 advantage after just one quarter.
Richardson scored from six yards out early in the second period and the
Apps closed the half with a five-play, 66-yard drive that took just 41
seconds, capped by a 36-yard catch-and-run from Edwards to T.J. Courman
with 15 seconds left to play before the intermission.
For the ninth time in 12 games this season, ASUës defense did not allow a touchdown in the first half.
Appalachian limited CCU to just 115 yards before halftime en route to pitching its fifth first-half shutout of the year.
Coastal Carolina
(9-3) came out of the locker room strong, as Payton Award finalist
Tyler Thigpen accounted for the first 13 points of the second half with
a one-yard touchdown run and a 14-yard scoring strike to Jerome Simpson
(the two point conversion attempt failed).
However,
Edwards kept the Chanticleers from getting too close with touchdown
runs of 15 and one yards in the final 17 minutes of the contest.
In all, the 560
yards of total offense and 45 points were both all-time bests for the
Mountaineers in 23 all-time NCAA Division I Football Championship
(formerly Division I-AA) playoff games.
Edwardsë 398
yards of total offense fell just five yards shy of the ASU playoff
record of 403 set by Richie Williams in last yearës quarterfinal win
over Southern Illinois. The true freshman completed 14-of-28 passes for
226 yards, no interceptions and three scores. The three touchdown
passes also tied a school playoff record set by Williams in last
seasonës wins over Lafayette and SIU.
Additionally,
Edwardsë 172 rushing yards were the most ever by an ASU quarterback and
the fifth-best mark for any Mountaineer in a playoff game. Richardsonës
156 on the ground are tied for the eighth-best rushing performance in
ASU playoff history.
Defensively,
Buck Buchanan Award candidate Marques Murrell registered 1.5 sacks,
giving him 8.5 for the season. Defensive tackle Daniel Orlebar led the
squad with seven stops and linebacker Monte Smith added six tackles,
including 1.5 behind the line of scrimmage. |
