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Edwards has record day in 37-21 win over Bulldogs
Journal Photo by Bruce Chapman
Appalachian State’s Armanti Edwards (14) gains ground before being brought down by Matt Key of S.C. State (98).
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Published: November 30, 2008
BOONE -- Armanti Edwards' hip is fine.
So is his arm.
Edwards, kept on the sideline with a bruised hip in Appalachian State's final regular-season game on Nov. 22, roared back yesterday in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs and set a school record with 433 yards passing.
Appalachian, aiming for a fourth straight national title, moved on with a 37-21 victory over S.C. State on a cold and wet day at Kidd Brewer Stadium. The second-seeded Mountaineers (11-2) will next face Richmond (10-3) in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
The Mountaineers didn't have it easy yesterday -- they led by just a field goal midway through the fourth quarter -- but Coach Jerry Moore said that his team didn't expect to.
"They've got good speed, a solid line," Moore said. "We beat a very good team."
The Mountaineers did it with their passing game, mostly short-yardage passes from Edwards to a mix of 10 receivers.
Edwards completed 29 of 41 passes, with touchdown passes of 6 yards to tight end Ben Jorden, 27 yards to slot receiver CoCo Hillary and 2 and 33 yards to wideout Brian Quick.
"We felt like we could pass the ball on them," said Edwards, who topped the 10,000-yard mark for total offense in his career. "They're a run-stop defense.... There were a lot of holes in the secondary."
Coach Buddy Pough of S.C. State, whose team finished 10-3 after its first playoff appearance since 1984, said: "They do such a great job of stretching you out with their running game and stretching you out with his athleticism."
Linebacker Marshall McFadden of the Bulldogs said: "If you stop the run, they'll pass. If you stop the pass, they'll run the ball. It's tough."
The Mountaineers finished with 557 yards, 433 of them passing.
"I'm not apologetic about throwing," Moore said. "We've got good receivers, and we've got quarterbacks that can throw the ball.… We like to run the ball, that's our first choice, but if you let us throw we'll throw it."
Although Edwards had a string of 176 straight completions without an interception snapped in the first quarter, he bounced back with flair.
He topped the single-game school record of 413 yards, set by Richie Williams in 2004 against Furman, on Appalachian's last offensive play -- which wouldn't have happened if not for a strange sequence in the late stages.
Appalachian had a 10-point lead and the ball well into S.C. State territory, but S.C. State called timeouts with 18 and 12 seconds left. The Mountaineers took exception and, instead of sticking to the ground to run off the final seconds, Edwards lofted a pass to the end zone that Quick caught for a final touchdown with five seconds left.
Pough took the blame for the late score.
"It was kind of a bonehead thing on my part," he said, referring to the timeouts. "He taught me a lesson in the end. If a guy is giving you an out, go ahead and take an out. I knew a pass was coming, and it probably made the game a little bit bigger margin than it probably should have been. It serves me right, and I just hate it for my kids."
Moore said he didn't decide to throw for the end zone, affirming that the players did.
"We wanted the game to be over," he said. "There were just a few seconds, and they kept calling timeouts. Our players just took it on themselves…."
Edwards was asked if he wanted to tack on a final touchdown.
"Not really," he said. "They kept calling timeouts."
Appalachian's defense kept S.C. State, led by William Ford's 117 yards rushing, contained down the stretch but needed a big third-down play in the fourth quarter to pull away.
With ASU leading just 24-21 and facing third and 12, Edwards was chased nearly 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage. On the run, he spotted receiver T.J. Courman, who had altered his deep route to come back toward the ball, and threw a strike. Courman fought for enough extra yards for a first down.
"I think I was about eight or nine yards shy when I caught the ball," said Courman, a senior. "The only thing on my mind was just getting the first down, keep the drive alive and go score."
The Mountaineers went on to complete a 75-yard drive and took a 31-21 lead with 7:21 left after a quick pass from Edwards to Quick.
"It was a three-point game," Edwards said. "If we don't make that (third down), we punt and they get the ball back…. It took just enough out of them to where we could go on down and score."
Pough said: "He makes that play, and from that point on we were back in that couldn't-quite-get-a grip-on-them again and couldn't-quite-stop-them.… You could see a little of the wind going out of us at that point."
Linebacker D.J. Smith led the Mountaineers' defense with 16 tackles.
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
S.C. State 7 7 7 0 -- 21
Appalachian 7 10 7 13 -- 37
First Quarter
SCS -- Darby 19 pass from Long (Erickson kick), 6:29.
App -- Jorden 6 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick), 3:28.
Second Quarter
App -- FG Vitaris 26, 12:44.
SCS -- Darby 15 pass from Long (Erickson kick), 7:40.
App -- Hillary 27 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick), 2:34.
Third Quarter
App -- Edwards 2 run (Vitaris kick), 8:42.
SCS -- Ford 13 run (Erickson kick), 3:34.
Fourth Quarter
App -- Quick 2 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick), 7:21.
App -- Quick 33 pass from Edwards (kick failed), :05.
A -- 13,712.
TEAM STATISTICS SCS App
First downs 21 30
Rushes-yards 39-149 36-124
Passing 176 433
Comp-Att-Int 17-41-1 29-41-2
Return Yards 30 44
Punts-Avg. 6-46.3 4-26.8
Fumbles-Lost 4-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 6-60 6-70
Time of Possession 29:52 30:08
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- S. Carolina St., Ford 23-117, Jamison 10-19, Clark 3-10, Long 2-5, DuBose 1-(minus 2). Appalachian St., Jackson 11-58, Edwards 19-48, Welton 3-15, Cline 1-4, Vitaris 1-1, Hillary 1-(minus 2).
PASSING -- S. Carolina St., Long 17-40-1-176, Team 0-1-0-0. Appalachian St., Edwards 29-41-2-433.
RECEIVING -- S. Carolina St., DuBose 6-59, Darby 5-68, Ford 3-9, Morris 2-22, Young 1-18. Appalachian St., Jorden 6-62, Quick 5-95, Hillary 5-94, Courman 4-52, Welton 3-45, Cline 2-57, Hardee 1-10, Elder 1-7, Frazier 1-6, Jackson 1-5.
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