No. 5 Appalachian State 20, No. 7 South Carolina State 13
Final Stats
BOONE, N.C. - Dominique McDuffie's (Chattanooga, Tenn./Red Bank) 50-yard fumble return for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in No. 5 Appalachian State University's 20-13 triumph over No. 7 South Carolina State in Saturday's opening round of the 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
With its 14th victory in its last 15 postseason games, Appalachian (10-2) advances to next Saturday's national quarterfinals where it will face fourth-seeded Richmond (11-1) for the third-straight year. The defending national-champion Spiders edged visiting Elon, 16-13, on Saturday to move on to the quarterfinals. Next Saturday's game will be played at UR Stadium in Richmond, Va. at a time to be determined on Sunday.
S.C. State was lined up for a potential go-ahead field goal with less than eight minutes left to play on Saturday when long snapper David Davis launched the ball past holder Matt Washington and kicker Blake Erickson. A scrum ensued near midfield and McDuffie came away with the ball. With a line of blockers to his left, he scampered untouched down the right sideline to turn a likely 16-13 deficit into a 20-13 advantage with 7:42 remaining in the contest.
The decisive score was indicative of the somewhat sloppy ballgame, as the teams combined to commit 10 turnovers (each with a season-high five) that led directly to 17 of the game's 33 points.
ASU was especially schizophrenic in the first half, as it scored on three of its six possessions and turned the ball over on the other three. The third miscue did the most damage, as SCSU's Rafael Bush returned Armanti Edwards' (Greenwood, S.C./Greenwood) second interception of the afternoon 46 yards to knot the contest at 10-10 with 1:34 to go before halftime.
The Mountaineers got a break after the score, however, as the Bulldogs picked up an excessive celebration penalty after the long return and a personal foul on the extra point, forcing them to kick off from their own eight yard line.
Devin Radford (Fayetteville, N.C./E.E. Smith) fielded the kick at the ASU 36 and returned it 31 yards to the SCSU 33. Eight plays later, Jason Vitaris (Seneca, S.C./Seneca) booted a 24-yard field goal to send Appalachian into the locker room with a 13-10 lead.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 13-13 with a field goal on their first possession of the second half but that would have to go down as a small victory for the Mountaineer defense, which limited the 'Dogs to the 19-yard field goal after they had first-and-goal on the three yard line.
The tide seemed to turn entirely in SCSU's favor on ASU's next series when defensive tackle Ronnell Ferguson scooped up a fumble by Edwards and rumbled 35 yards down the right sideline. However, ASU wide receiver Matt Cline (Thomasville, N.C./Glenn) made a game-changing play of his own when he chased down Ferguson and stripped the ball from his grasp. Matt Ruff (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) fell on the loose ball to regain possession for the Mountaineers.
The teams traded the ball back and forth over the next five series before Davis' errant snap changed the complexion of the game for good. After McDuffie's go-ahead score, ASU's defense limited S.C. State to minus-21 yards and, behind running back Cedric Baker (Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover), the Mountaineers were able to milk 4:29 off the clock to essentially seal the victory.
As has been the case for much of the last month, the story of the day was the Mountaineer defense. In addition to collecting four of the Bulldogs' five turnovers, ASU limited SCSU to just 229 total yards, including only 22 by the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's all-time leading rusher, William Ford. S.C. State is the fourth-straight opponent that Appalachian has held to 20 points or fewer, a feat it hadn't achieved since Oct. 21-Nov. 11, 2006.
Ed Gainey (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mt. Tabor) led the way with nine tackles and one of the Mountaineers' three interceptions. McDuffie was right behind with eight stops while Lanston Tanyi (Shelby, N.C./Shelby), Malcolm Bennett (College Park, Ga./Banneker), Jacque Roman (Kingsland, Ga./Camden County) and D.J. Smith (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) added six apiece.
Offensively, Edwards returned from a knee injury sustained two weeks ago at Elon to complete 19-of-30 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. He was the victim of a handful of drops but his three interceptions were a season high. Additionally, his minus-one rushing yards were his fewest in 47 career starts.
Brian Quick (Columbia, S.C./Ridge View) was Edwards' favorite target on the afternoon with six catches for 92 yards and an ultra-athletic eight-yard touchdown catch on which we went high in the air to snag a bullet from Edwards and tight-rope the end line as he came down in the back of the end zone. Blake Elder (Duncan, S.C/Byrnes) overcame a vicious second-quarter hit to set career highs with five receptions and 57 yards.
Oliver (Tre') Young led S.C. State offensively with seven catches for 92 yards and linebacker Julius Wilkerson led all tacklers with 15.
No. 4 Richmond 16, No. 9 Elon 13
Final Stats
RICHMOND, Va. -- The ninth-ranked Elon Phoenix faced an early deficit, but battled valiantly and had a chance to send the game to overtime before falling 16-13 to the fourth-ranked and fourth-seeded Richmond Spiders in the first round of the 2009 NCAA FCS playoffs. Elon concludes its season with a 9-3 overall record while Richmond improves to 11-1 on the year and advances to the quarterfinals. The nine wins for the Phoenix are the most for the program since 1999.
"This game pretty much played out the way we thought it would," stated Elon head coach Pete Lembo. "Our goal was to keep it close and be in position to make a few plays at the end. Our players gave tremendous effort."
In the first quarter, the Spiders faced a third and eight from their own 35 before Eric Ward found Kevin Grayson over the middle for 17 yards and a first down. Justin Forte followed by gaining 13 yards on two carries over the next three plays as Richmond moved to the Phoenix 25. Forte carried to the Elon 15 on the next play before Elon forced a third and 11. The Spiders gained six on the third down play and settled for a 27-yard field goal from Andrew Howard to put Richmond on top 3-0 with 3:43 to play in the quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Ward busted off a 74-yard touchdown run as the Spiders built a 10-0 advantage. The drive covered 88 yards on just five plays and took 2:12 off the clock. Elon faced a third and 10 from its own 20 before Scott Riddle found Lance Camp over the middle for a 19-yard gain and a Phoenix first down at the 39. After an A.J. Harris carry gave the Phoenix another first down at the 49, Riddle connected with Camp again for another 17-yard strike. On the next play, Riddle found Hudgins for 23 yards to move to the Richmond 11. A catch by Hudgins put the ball at the seven to give Elon a third and six before Adam Shreiner got Elon on the board with a 24-yard field goal with 9:43 to play in the first half. The Phoenix drive went 11 plays and 73 yards in 5:06.
The Spiders answered quickly, driving to the Elon 13 on Ward completions of 11, 20 and 26 yards. The Phoenix defense clamped down there and forced Richmond to kick a 33-yard field goal by Howard to make the score 13-3. Richmond looked to add to its lead and had driven to the Elon 22 before Karlos Sullivan picked off a Ward pass and Elon took over at its own eight with one minute to play in the first half. The pick gave Sullivan 11 for his career (tying Elon's NCAA Division I mark) and five for the season (a new NCAA Division I program record).
After Elon had to punt, Richmond looked to throw deep, but Terell Wilson picked off the pass and the Phoenix went into halftime down 13-3 after surrendering 289 yards of offense to the Spiders over the first 30 minutes of play.
On the first possession of the second half Elon stared down a third and 18 by completing a deep ball to Hudgins for 37 yards and a first down at the Richmond 33. Riddle found Hudgins again for another eight yards and a personal foul against the Spider gave the Phoenix a first down at the 13 yard line. On second down and 10, Harris bowled his way to the one yard line and an Elon first down. After the Spiders held on three plays the Phoenix cut its deficit to 13-6 on an 18-yard Shreiner field goal.
Richmond had driven down to the Elon eight before Wilson came up with his second pick of the afternoon at the two yard line. The interception of Ward was his third of the game, doubling his previous seven-game playoff total.
On its next possession, the Spiders tacked on another three points when Howard drove a 42-yard field goal through the uprights with 12:19 to play in the game as Richmond's lead grew to 16-6.
Elon came right back with an eight-play, 68-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Riddle to Hudgins to close within a field goal at 16-13. On the drive, Andre Labinowicz had two catches for 16 yards.
The Phoenix got the ball back with 3:43 to play at its own 29. After a 19-yard completion to Camp, Riddle found Hudgins on the next three plays for a combined 42 yards to move to the Richmond 17. On fourth down, Elon looked to tie the game with a 27-yard field goal, but Shreiner missed wide right.
Elon got another shot when the Spiders were forced to punt. Taking over with 35 seconds on the clock at its own 39, the Phoenix marched to the Richmond 31 on two catches by Camp and another by Hudgins. With just seven second showing on the clock, Shreiner lined up for a 48-yard game-tying field goal, but Richmond's Parker Miles got a hand on the ball and it fell in the end zone, securing the Spider victory.
Hudgins set a new FCS record thanks to his 12-catch, 167-yard performance. He ended the year with 123 receptions, breaking the mark of 120 set by Brown's Stephen Campbell.
Riddle finished the afternoon with 309 yards passing, completing 25 of 42 passes. It was the 17th time Riddle threw for 300+ yards in his career. Camp snared seven balls for a career-best 109 yards.
For Richmond, Ward became just the second 100-yard rusher allowed by the Phoenix this season as he carried 10 times for 136 yards. Forte added 96 yards on the ground for a rushing attack which generated 260 yards. Ward also threw for 140 yards.
The Phoenix defense was led by Brandon Wiggins' 13 tackles and career-best 12 stops by Dale Riley. Elon had three tackles for a loss, but failed to record a sack for just the second time this season.