Football Recaps from October 27
APPALACHIAN STATE 34, FURMAN 27
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Armanti Edwards passed for 211 yards and a touchdown and ran for 126 yards and a pair of scores to help nationally 10th-ranked Appalachian State hold off Furman, 34-27, in Southern Conference football action Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.
Edwards, a sophomore from Greenwood, S.C., completed 16-of-24 passes and rushed 28 times to finish with 337 yards in total offense for the Mountaineers (6-2, 2-2 SoCon), who claimed their third straight win over Furman but only their fifth victory in 18 clashes in Greenville.
Furman, which trailed 24-7 at halftime, rallied in the second half and moved to the Appalachian State 29 on the game’s final possession before ASU’s Corey Lynch sealed the result with an interception at the Mountaineer 3-yard line on the game’s final play.
Gray, the first cousin of the Mountaineers’ Edwards, passed for 154 yards and ran for career high 103 yards to lead Furman (3-5, 1-3 SoCon).
“It was a typical Appalachian-Furman ballgame,” said Appalachian State head coach Jerry Moore. “I’m proud of our players and coaches because we needed a win over a good team to stay in the hunt for a conference championship, and we were able to do that.”
“Probably the big key for us were the three, three-and-outs in the first half,” said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. “We certainly didn’t control the football very well in the first half, and you can’t fail in that area like we did against a team like Appalachian State. We made some adjustments at halftime and got going in the second half, but it was ultimately too big a hump to get over.”
Appalachian State rolled up a 511-402 advantage in total offense.
After both teams traded touchdowns to open the game, Appalachian State’s defense clamped down and its offense took control with a 19-yard touchdown strike from Edwards to Batichon, a 32-yard Julian Rauch field goal, and a 1-yard scoring run by Devon Moore midway through the second quarter to build a 24-7 lead.
Furman opened the second half with a quick three-play, 79-yard drive highlighted by a 50-yard touchdown run by Mike Brown to slice the Appalachian State advantage to 24-14.
The Mounainteers answered with a 10-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with Edwards’ second touchdown of the contest, a 7-yard run with 10:02 to go in the third quarter to give ASU a 31-14 lead.
A pair of Scott Beckler field goals made it 31-20 before Julian Rauch countered with his second field goal of the contest from 27 yards out with 7:18 remaining to give ASU a 34-20 lead.
Furman was forced to punt on the ensuing possession but capitalized on a fumble by Mountaineer running back Devon Moore at the ASU 47. Six plays later fullback Jerome Felton bulled over from 1-yard out, and Beckler’s PAT made it 34-27 with 3:27 to go.
Appalachian State drove to the Furman 24, but Clifton Dortch blocked Rauch’s 42-yard field goal attempt to give the Paladins one last chance.
From its own 24, the Paladins advanced to Appalachian State 29 before Lynch stepped in front of Gray pass attempt at the Mountaineer 3 and returned it to the 50 as time expired.
Lynch paced Appalachian State with 12 tackles, a tackle-for-loss, an interception, and a pass deflection.
Andrew Jones topped Furman’s tackle chart with 12 tops, including two for-loss, and a sack.
Kevin Richardson added 124 yards rushing for ASU, and Brown ran for a career high 83 yards for Furman. Felton’s two rushing touchdowns extended his school career record tally to 58.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 21, THE CITADEL 17
STATESBORO, GA. ? Jayson Foster ran for a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns and the Georgia Southern defense held The Citadel in check during the second half, rallying for a 21-17 Homecoming win at Paulson Stadium Saturday afternoon (Oct. 27).
In a match-up of two of the nation’s top scoring offenses, it was the defense for both teams setting the tone. The Eagles were averaging 41 points per game (third nationally) while Citadel was close behind at 40.1 ppg. Georgia Southern held the Bulldogs to three points and 128 total yards in the second half.
Georgia Southern (6-2 overall, 3-2 Southern Conference) finally hit the endzone with 12:36 left in the game, staging a 9-play, 52-yard drive. The Eagles, who entered the game second nationally in fourth down conversion, got another one thanks to Foster who picked up two yards on 4th-and-1. Just three plays later the senior quarterback faked a handoff and raced 15 yards for a score. Foster hit Raja Andrews for the 2-point conversion to cut the deficit to 17-14.
On the Bulldogs’ ensuing drive they marched inside the red zone but the drive stalled. Mike Adams hit the left upright on his 29-yard field goal attempt and missed. Foster and the Eagles quickly took advantage.
He overthrew Andrews on a pass down the right sidelines, but on second down broke through the left side and was off to the races for an 80-yard touchdown run with 7:28 remaining, which proved to be the final margin. That sprint tied for the sixth-longest run from scrimmage in program history, matching an 80-yard run he recorded in 2004 against Johnson C. Smith.
The Bulldogs took over on their own 33 with 3:36 remaining. After picking up nine yards on first down, Citadel had two incomplete passes, including one drop, and the Eagle defense held Tory Cooper to no gain on fourth down as the GS offense took over. Facing another 4th-and-1 Foster called his own number for a 2-yard gain and the Eagles were able to take a knee and end the game.
“He (Foster) did a great job. He made two big plays in the fourth quarter. That’s his job, to make big plays. The first touchdown he said he saw something, so I told him to huddle up. We didn’t know what the play was going to be. He called his own play, and sure enough, he made it work,” said Eagles head coach Chris Hatcher. “All day I thought our defense played well. That’s what I was so disappointed in at halftime. Our defense had practiced well all week ? our offense had our least-focused practice all season along. I was very, very worried, and we played like that in the first half and I think that’s why I was so disgusted going into halftime.”
For the eighth straight game Georgia Southern scored first. The Eagles drove 46 yards on nine plays, capped by Jesse Hartley’s 23-yard first quarter field goal.
The Citadel (5-3, 3-2) responded with a 73-yard drive. Duran Lawson found Andre Roberts on a 3-yard touchdown pass and the Bulldogs took a 7-3 lead in the final minute of the first quarter. That TD pass gave Lawson sole possession of the school’s career TD record.
Daniel Jordan had his punt attempt blocked midway through the second quarter. It marked just the second time in 166 career attempts he had a punt blocked (2004 the other time). Citadel took advantage, needing six plays to reach the end zone. Lawson found Tory Cooper on a 4-yard touchdown pass, resulting in a 14-3 lead with 5:20 left in the first half.
The Bulldogs drove late in the half. Lawson’s pass was deflected and E.J. Webb came up with his first career interception. However, the Eagles came away scoreless. In fact the three first half points were the lowest total since the Eagles were held scoreless at Appalachian State in 2005. Citadel held a 230-180 edge in total yards but the second half was a different story.
Chris Rogers bobbled the kickoff to start the second half but recovered, and in his first career return raced 30 yards to the GS 40. The Eagles drove down to the Citadel one but Mike Hamilton was stopped for a 2-yard loss on second down and the Eagles had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Hartley.
Mike Adams’ 37-yard field goal made it 17-6 late in the third quarter.
“The Citadel came in with the best defense in the conference. They play very, very good. We missed some opportunities ? we had some guys running wide open ? I had a flashback to Elon in the first half because we were missing chances, especially with our defense playing so well,” said Hatcher. “We made some plays when we needed to... We didn’t play our best game, but sometimes you have to give credit to the other team. They were very prepared, they were very well coached and they played extremely hard. But the exciting thing was, we made more plays than they did and came up with a big fourth-down stop at the end of the game, got a first down, kneeled on it twice and the game was over.”
Foster registered his 16th career 100-yard rushing game, 157 yards on 23 carries, while completing 11-of-16 passes for 106 yards. He also returned two punts for 13 yards.
Andrews and Irving Campbell each caught four passes totaling 53 and 26 yards, respectively. Lamar Lewis rushed for 82 yards on 18 carries.
Sophomore Chris Rogers earned the start and made a career-high nine tackles. Quentin Taylor added a season-high eight stops. Webb and Harland Bower added six tackles each.
Lawson finished 14-of-26 passing for 153 yards and the two TDs to go with the one interception. The senior quarterback rushed for 109 yards but did not play the final two series after suffering a knee sprain.
Cooper added 60 rushing yards. Tim Higgins caught five passes for 60 yards. Joshua Lawson recorded a game-high 14 tackles while Trevar Broughton and Andrew Rowell added 13 and 12 tackles, respectively.
ELON 38, CHATTANOOGA 28
ELON, N.C. ? Scott Riddle passed for 359 yards and three touchdowns while setting four new program records, pacing No. 16 Elon to a 38-28 Southern Conference football triumph over Chattanooga Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium.
The Phoenix (6-2 overall, 4-1 SoCon) retained a first-place tie for the league lead with Wofford (7-2, 4-1) and clinched its first winning record in seven seasons. Elon has fashioned its first four-game winning streak since claiming four consecutive contests during its 7-4 campaign in 2000. The Phoenix last started out at 6-2 in 1999 en route to a 9-2 finish.
“We’re all very happy to get a meaningful win,” Elon coach Pete Lembo said. “It’s not easy to get wins in this league as we all know, but at the same time, we feel like we didn’t play our best football. I think we showed flashes of it at times in all three phases, but we were somewhat sluggish defensively in the first half and offensively in the second half.”
Riddle established new Elon single-season milestones for the most completions (254), most touchdown passes (23), most passing yards (2,606) and most touchdowns responsible for (28). In the process, he extended his own Southern Conference record by registering his seventh consecutive contest in which he passed for 300 or more yards.
The Mocs (2-6, 2-3) jumped onto the scoreboard first when Blue Cooper hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Antonio Miller early in the first quarter. Later in the opening period, the Phoenix evened the score at 7-7 on a five-yard touchdown run by Dontay Taylor.
There were six touchdowns scored in the second stanza ? four by Elon and two by Chattanooga. Terrell Hudgins gave Elon the edge at 14-7 when he caught a seven-yard touchdown toss from Riddle at the beginning of the quarter. Riddle scored on a four-yard run to stretch the advantage to 21-7.
Miller reeled in a 33-yard touchdown heave from Clint Woods to cut the deficit in half at 21-14, but Hudgins scored on a 51-yard pass play by Riddle to push the Phoenix lead to 28-14. Bryan Fitzgerald’s eight-yard touchdown run pulled the Mocs within 28-21, but Riddle’s five-yard touchdown toss to Bo Williamson gave Elon a 35-21 halftime advantage with 1:20 to go before the break.
A 37-yard yard field goal by Andrew Wilcox awarded the Phoenix the largest lead of the contest at 38-21 in the third quarter. Miller’s three-yard touchdown toss to Jordan Hazard in the fourth quarter determined the final score.
“I thought we were decently effective for a while, but they made adjustments,” Chattanooga coach Rodney Allison said. “I thought we played better in the second half. I thought we had a good plan for what they were doing in the second half. There were several plays that we just didn’t make. You have to make plays.”
Amassing 156 yards on nine catches with two scores, Hudgins extended his own Elon single-season reception record to 83 catches as the home team emerged victorious for the first time in the five-year history of the series. Hudgins caught his 12th touchdown pass of the year to close in on Richard McGeorge’s program plateau of 13 touchdown receptions in 1969.
“We lacked a little bit of that killer instinct I think that you need to have in a game like this at this point of the season,” Lembo said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that to get a win on the road next week in Greenville (versus Furman), we are going to have to play better, more physical and with more intensity.”
Riddle completed 36 of 51 passes with one pick while Michael Mayers made 11 catches for 114 yards and T.J. Clegg rushed for 59 yards for the Phoenix. Mayers ended up with 205 all-purpose yards, including 91 on four kickoff returns.
Miller converted 27 of 46 passes for 268 yards with two scores and one interception while Woods snagged 11 receptions for 94 yards and Erroll Wynn rushed for 65 yards. The Phoenix rolled up 445 net yards, but yielded 430 to the Mocs.
“I think it would be foolish to get too hung up on statistics because statistically there’s a lot of things that you would look at and say that maybe we shouldn’t be at where we’re at right now,” Lembo said. “I think what’s more important is that we’re finding a way to win. That’s probably the most important statistic.”