Appalachian holds off Chattanooga

BOONE

Chattanooga pulled out all stops in its bid for an upset yesterday, but Appalachian State came up with the big stops to pull out a 35-20 victory.

The Mountaineers withstood three first-half turnovers, back-to-back onside kicks, a 16-4 possession-time deficit in a segment of the second half, as well as being outgained 351 to 322 yards.

But they came up with some critical plays on defense to set up a showdown for the top spot in the Southern Conference next Saturday at Elon.

"We've been having 400-, 500- and even 700-yard games," said Coach Jerry Moore, whose Mountaineers had averaged 51 points and 630 yards their previous four games. "So now you have a game with 350 and it seems like it wasn't a very good ballgame but the great positive for us was our defense. I thought our defense did a really good job."

The Mocs rallied from a three-touchdown deficit to make a game of it in the second half -- starting off by successfully executing consecutive onside kicks.

"I couldn't believe they did it," said safety Mark LeGree of the Mountaineers. "I couldn't believe they did it two times in a row -- and got it."

Moore tipped his cap to the effort. "They're the underdogs, the ones with nothing to lose," he said. "I think it was good by their staff, it shows their players they came here to win. I thought it was a good move. Did it surprise you that they kicked two back to back? Well, if it did that was exactly the element they wanted."

The Mountaineers held the Mocs to a field goal -- which trimmed the Mountaineers' lead to 21-10 -- after the first onside recovery. They then came up with a fourth-and-1 stop of a quarterback sneak by Jacque Roman and Bobby Bozzo at the Mountaineers' 5-yard line on the second one.

The Mountaineers (7-2, 6-0) produced little in the way of offense in the third quarter, opening the door for the Mocs to close further with a 53-yard touchdown drive capped by a 2-yard pass from B.J. Coleman to Blue Cooper.

The Mocs (5-4, 3-4) followed with another drive, but, facing fourth-and-1 again, settled for a field goal with 10:43 left that cut the Apps' lead to 21-20.

"For the defense to hold them to a field goal and us stay ahead took a little bit of the pressure off," said the Mountaineers' Devon Moore, who ran for three touchdowns.

Quarterback Armanti Edwards, who had a rather un-Armanti-like performance with 13 of 22 passes completed for 140 yards, and two interceptions, said: "Our defense played good and backed us up. It wasn't as if I was ever forced to go back out there and have to make a play."

Jerry Moore said: "Armanti didn't throw as well as he has been. He just didn't see things as quickly as he normally does…. But we had the ball just nine snaps in the third quarter. The defense was out there a lot and I don't think the defense played poorly at all."

Edwards and the offense did respond, however. A 63-yard touchdown drive, which featured two key completions to Brian Quick, led to an 8-yard touchdown run by Devon Moore and some breathing room with 7:20 left.

LeGree, who led the nation with 10 interceptions last season, then picked off his fourth pass this year to seal the win. The Apps went on to add a 15-yard touchdown run by Devon Moore.

tbowman@wsjournal.com.

Chattanooga 0 7 10 3 -- 20
Appalachian 21 0 0 14 -- 35

First Quarter

ASU--D.Moore 1 run (Vitaris kick), 12:51.

ASU--Edwards 3 run (Vitaris kick), 5:58.

ASU--Radford 2 run (Vitaris kick), 2:01.

Second Quarter

Chat--Coleman 1 run (Camay kick), 8:37.

Third Quarter

Chat--FG Camay 30, 12:38.

Chat--Cooper 2 pass from Coleman (Camay kick), 3:34.

Fourth Quarter

Chat--FG Camay 36, 10:43.

ASU--D.Moore 8 run (Vitaris kick), 7:20.

ASU--D.Moore 15 run (Vitaris kick), 5:38.

A--24,430.

TEAM STATISTICS

Chat ASU

First downs 17 20

Rushes-yards 36-105 38-182

Passing 246 140

Comp-Att-Int 25-47-3 13-22-2

Return Yards 43 54

Punts-Avg. 6-44.3 5-41.2

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-Yards 7-53 0-0

Time of Possession 36:17 23:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Chattanooga, Awuah 28-97, Coleman 8-8. Appalachian State, D.Moore 12-74, Edwards 12-52, C.Baker 2-23, Radford 10-21, Cadet 2-12.

PASSING--Chattanooga, Coleman 25-46-3-246, Team 0-1-0-0. Appalachian State, Edwards 13-22-2-140.

RECEIVING--Chattanooga, Pitchford 9-106, Cooper 8-90, Woods 5-23, Hughes 2-26, Awuah 1-1. Appalachian State, Cline 7-64, Jorden 2-44, Quick 2-28, Cadet 2-4.