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Tuesday, 12 December 2006 18:54 |
BOONE ÇƒÓ Led by 100-yard performances from running back Kevin Richardson and quarterback Armanti Edwards, No. 1 Appalachian State University racked up 353 yards on the ground and secured its second-straight berth in the NCAA Division I national championship game with a resounding 49-24 victory over fourth-seeded Youngstown State last Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
With its school-record 13th win of the season, ASU (13-1) is set to square off with No. 3 Massachusetts (13-1), with kickoff at 8 p.m. Friday at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. Ticket information is available at GoASU.com. The game will be televised live on ESPN2.
Last
Saturdayës attendance of 18,040 at 16,650-seat Kidd Brewer Stadium was
an ASU postseason record. The previous record of. 15,307 was set in the
2005 semifinal against Furman.
With 145 and 110
rushing yards, respectively, Richardson and Edwards both topped the
100-yard mark for the third-consecutive week. Prior to the duo
accomplishing the feat for the first time on Nov. 25 versus No. 13
Coastal Carolina, ASU hadnët had two 100-yard rushers in the same game
since 2003.
Behind Edwards
and Richardson, the Mountaineers dominated from the outset. Richardson,
the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year, notched 141 of
his 145 yards and Edwards, the leagueës Freshman of the Year, totaled
178 yards of offense on nine rushes and 7-of-7 passing to spark the
Apps to 343 yards before the break and a 28-14 halftime lead. The duo
accounted for all four Mountaineer touchdowns in the first half ǃÏ
Edwards on an 18-yard pass to Hans Batichon and a six-yard run and
Richardson on runs of one and 18 yards.
Things continued
to go downhill for Youngstown State (11-3) after halftime. Thanks to
Marques Murrellës second sack of the afternoon, YSU was forced to punt
from its own end zone on its first possession of the second half. The
snap on the fourth-and-23 was low and YSU punter Joe Bishop was only
able to get off an eight-yard punt. One play later, Edwards scored from
10 yards out and the rout was on.
Appalachian
scored twice more in the final period on a 25-yard touchdown run by
true freshman Devon Moore and Edwardsë career-high third rushing
touchdown of the game, an eight-yarder that stretched the lead to
49-17. YSU added a late touchdown to account for the final margin.
In addition to
the 110 on the ground, Edwards completed 10-of-12 passes for 164 yards.
The performance gave the Greenwood, S.C., native 2,105 passing yards
and 1,072 rushing yards for the season, making him just the second
freshman and fifth player overall in NCAA Division I history to throw
for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in a single season.
Not to be
overlooked by ASUës playoff-record 517 yards of offense was the
performance turned in by the Mountaineer defense. The Apps held the
Penguins without a first down until early in the second quarter and
held YSUës Marcus Mason, the nationës second-leading rusher coming in
with 1,726 yards coming in, to 121 yards, 38 below his average.
Fifty-eight of the Walter Payton Award finalistës 121 yards came after
Appalachian had opened up a three-touchdown lead.
Murrell led the defensive effort with two sacks, a forced fumble, a quarterback hurry and a pass break-up.
The win was
Appalachianës 27th-straight at home, sending its senior class out
without a loss in four years at The Rock. ASUës last home loss came in
the first round of the 2002 playoffs, a 14-13 setback to Maine.
The
Mountaineersë 27-game home winning streak is the longest in the NCAA
Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS ÇƒÏ formerly I-AA) and
second-best in all of Division I, behind only Southern California (32
games).
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