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Mountaineers clinch share of SoCon title
Appalachian State fends off Elon 24-16 on blustery day
Mark Mitchell Photo
Tavaris Washington of Appalachian State races down the sideline for a big gain.
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Published: November 16, 2008
BOONE - Appalachian State found a different way to win yesterday, but the celebration worked the same.
The Mountaineers didn't score a lot of points for a change but stood strong on defense on a wet and blustery day, and clinched a share of a Southern Conference championship for the fourth straight year with a 24-16 victory over Elon.
The Mountaineers (9-2 overall, 7-0 SoCon) secured the SoCon's automatic berth for the NCAA Football Championship playoffs, and can win the SoCon title outright with a victory at Western Carolina next Saturday or with a Wofford loss to Furman. Elon (8-3, 6-2) will try to put itself in position for an at-large playoff berth when it closes the regular season with a nonconference game at nationally ranked Liberty.
The Mountaineers had averaged 60 points in their past two games, but managed just three touchdowns yesterday -- all on Armanti Edwards passes. It was enough.
"It just shows how good our defense is," Edwards said. "You can't see how good our defense plays when we're up 35 points. When you need them, they always come through."
Edwards missed most of the fourth quarter as result of injuries. He bruised his right knee on a first-half flip and clearly was hampered by a hip injury suffered when he was hit after a third-quarter run, although he did return for the Mountaineers' final series.
Freshman DeAndre Presley took over for Edwards with the Mountaineers clinging to a precarious 21-16 lead and led a 12-play, 68-yard march for a 24-yard field goal by Jason Vitaris that increased the lead to eight points with 9:03 left.
Elon, led by workhorse running back Brandon Newsome, had two chances in the final nine minutes.
The first one ended on a fourth-and-inches play from the Elon 40-yard line when Jacque Roman altered Newsome's path and D.J. Smith and Lanston Tanyi stuffed him for no gain.
The final one began at the Elon 20 with four minutes left. Quarterback Scott Riddle scrambled for 15 yards on a third-and-10 play, and picked up two yards on a fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive.
But three straight incomplete passes left the Phoenix facing a fourth-and-10 situation at the ASU 32.
Cornerback Cortez Gilbert of the Mountaineers came through for the second straight play, with tight coverage on top receiver Terrell Hudgins leading to a game-sealing incompletion with 38 seconds left.
"They did a good job," Riddle said. "They knew he's our go-to guy and they stacked a guy on top of him. "
Hudgins, the SoCon's all-time leading receiver, caught a 13-yard touchdown pass early in the second half that gave the Phoenix a brief 16-14 lead, but caught only two other passes.
"I was extremely pleased with our secondary," Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers said. "Elon's got good receivers and a kid that can really throw the ball. I was proud of our defense."
ASU took the lead for good at 21-16 with 9:49 left in the third quarter, capping a 53-yard drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Brian Quick.
Edwards finished with 104 yards rushing on 12 carries, and completed 12 of 14 passes for 147 yards.
Riddle completed 20 of 39 passes for 196 yards for the Phoenix. Newsome rushed for 118 yards on 25 carries.
Coach Pete Lembo of Elon credited his team's defense for holding the Mountaineers to their lowest point total in a SoCon game in two years.
"Obviously we're not quite where they're at, but it's pretty exciting to see how far we've come," said Lembo, whose program won six SoCon games for the first time since it joined the league in 2003. "That is the three-time national champion, the premier football program at this level, and to know that we can go toe to toe with them is pretty exciting…. We absolutely played our tails off."
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
Elon 0 10 6 0 -- 16
Appalachian 7 7 7 3 -- 24
First Quarter
ASU--Jorden 13 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick), 4:02.
Second Quarter
ASU--Cline 33 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick), 12:29.
Elon--B.Williamson 55 pass from Riddle (Wilcox kick), 9:11.
Elon--FG Wilcox 21, :18.
Third Quarter
Elon--Hudgins 13 pass from Riddle (kick failed), 11:10.
ASU--Quick 22 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick), 9:49.
Fourth Quarter
ASU--FG Vitaris 24, 9:03.
A--24,831.
TEAM STATISTICS
Elon ASU
First downs 23 18
Rushes-yards 39-165 39-202
Passing 196 165
Comp-Att-Int 20-39-1 13-18-0
Return Yards 0 29
Punts-Avg. 3-44.3 3-36.3
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 3-2
Penalties-Yards 7-66 5-55
Time of Possession 32:27 27:33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Elon, Newsome 25-118, Riddle 11-30, Camp 2-13, Shuman 1-4. Appalachian State, Edwards 12-104, Welton 13-54, Presley 4-22, Jackson 7-20, Cline 1-4, Hillary 1-2, Team 1-(minus 4).
PASSING--Elon, Riddle 20-39-1-196. Appalachian State, Edwards 12-14-0-147, Presley 1-4-0-18.
RECEIVING--Elon, Jeffcoat 7-71, B.Williamson 5-84, Hudgins 3-23, Newsome 3-7, Applegate 1-8, Camp 1-3. Appalachian State, Quick 3-40, Jorden 2-31, Washington 2-30, Hillary 2-17, Courman 2-5, Cline 1-33, Jo.Johnson 1-9.
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