Apps 'bust' Phoenix

ELON

The big game turned out to be a bit of a bust.

Appalachian State turned three Elon turnovers into a three-touchdown lead in little more than a quarter yesterday and went on to a relatively easy 27-10 victory in the battle of Southern Conference unbeatens.

The Mountaineers -- not ready to relinquish their hold on the SoCon trophy -- clinched a share of a fifth straight title and locked up the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

The Phoenix -- not able to displace the Mountaineers atop the SoCon -- put itself in a deep hole with three first-quarter interceptions and escaped fizzled scoring opportunities by the Mountaineers to keep the game marginally close.

All told, the Mountaineers (8-2 overall, 7-0 SoCon) outgained the Phoenix (8-2, 6-1) by 486-270 in total yardage.

Armanti Edwards, who left the game with a strained right knee late in the first half but returned in the third quarter, completed 21 of 24 passes for 281 yards and rushed for 73 yards and three touchdowns.

Scott Riddle, Elon's quarterback, was sacked five times and threw three interceptions. He completed 20 of 24 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown. Half of the completions were to Terrell Hudgins, the all-time receptions leader in Division I, who broke Jerry Rice's FCS receiving yardage record a week earlier.

The Phoenix converted on 3 of 11 third-down plays.

Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers said he was pleased with his team's defensive performance, particularly its pass coverage.

"You've got a guy who has just broke Jerry Rice's record and they have a nice balanced offense and it's a challenge to stop that," Moore said. "I think we did. I think we played as complete a game defensively as we've played."

Riddle was intercepted on three straight possessions in the first quarter. Safety Mark LeGree picked off two of the passes -- running his total to six this season and 16 in two years -- and cornerback Ed Gainey intercepted the other.

"We knew they were a passing offense and that we had to step up in the secondary and that's basically what we did," cornerback Cortez Gilbert said.

The Mountaineers followed all three interceptions with touchdown drives -- getting three scoring runs from Edwards and taking a 21-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter. They were never seriously threatened from that point.

Riddle said that the Mountaineers' defensive pressure was the best his team had faced all year. Tackle Anthony Williams had two sacks, and ends Jabari Fletcher and Lanston Tanyi combined for three.

"We knew coming in they were going to be more of a passing team and that we'd have to get after those guys," Williams said. "You get pressure around (Riddle) and the pocket collapses, he has no where to go."

Riddle felt that his team missed an opportunity for a breakthrough victory, although it can secure its first FCS playoff berth with a win at Samford next Saturday.

"You only get one shot a year playing for a conference championship," Riddle said. "We didn't do what we had to do."

Coach Pete Lembo of the Phoenix said: "We obviously dug ourselves a very big hole early on. The first thing you try to do in a game like this is not turn the ball over….

"We've got to come out and understand that we've been here before and make the plays from the start. We need to get our guys to come out more relaxed and understand that you don't have to play outside of yourself. In a game like this you just have to be yourself. At some point we've got to get to that point where they feel like they can do that."

About the only downside for the Mountaineers, other than the fact that Edwards' knee will be evaluated further and he said his status for Saturday's regular-season finale against Western Carolina isn't certain, was failing to convert on additional scoring opportunities.

After scoring the three early touchdowns, the Mountaineers had to settle for two field goals despite five trips inside the Phoenix's 20-yard line. The Mountaineers missed two field goals and later failed to convert on a fourth down after getting as close as Elon's 4-yard line.

"We missed a couple of field goals and we missed opportunities to score when we were in the red zone," Edwards said. "But the defense kept holding them when we weren't able to score and gave us leeway."

And, Moore said, "Those guys are good on defense…. They were No. 1 in the country on defense. I'm proud of what we did."

The Appalachian-Western game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

tbowman@wsjournal.com | 727-7320

Appalachian State 14 7 3 3 -- 27

Elon 0 0 3 7 -- 10

First Quarter

ASU--Edwards 15 run (Vitaris kick), 7:17.

ASU--Edwards 6 run (Vitaris kick), :45.

Second Quarter

ASU--Edwards 3 run (Vitaris kick), 14:54.

Third Quarter

Elon--FG Shreiner 23, 9:07.

ASU--FG Vitaris 35, 4:08.

Fourth Quarter

ASU--FG Vitaris 26, 8:03.

Elon--Mellette 12 pass from Riddle (Shreiner kick), 4:48.

A--14,167.

TEAM STATISTICS

ASU Elon

First downs 23 18

Rushes-yards 43-205 28-58

Passing 281 212

Comp-Att-Int 21-26-0 20-34-3

Return Yards 32 11

Punts-Avg. 3-45.7 6-39.3

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 7-46 4-45

Time of Possession 33:07 26:53

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Appalachian State, Edwards 10-73, D.Moore 17-53, Cadet 7-47, Radford 6-22, Yokeley 2-6, Cline 1-4. Elon, Newsome 11-63, A.Harris 8-21, Riddle 9-(minus 26).

PASSING--ASU, Edwards 21-24-0-281, Cadet 0-2-0-0. Elon, Riddle 20-34-3-212.

RECEIVING--ASU, Cline 8-104, Quick 6-99, D.Moore 4-15, Elder 1-39, Jorden 1-16, Cadet 1-8. Elon, Hudgins 10-127, Peterson 3-24, A.Harris 2-29, Mellette 2-15, Newsome 1-12, Labinowicz 1-4, Jeffcoat 1-1.