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SPORTS

Appalachian rallies in 2nd half

Sunday, October 18, 2009
(Updated 5:46 am)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Armanti Edwards threw for 415 yards and two touchdowns to help Appalachian State rally for a 44-34 victory over Wofford on Saturday.

Edwards was 27 of 34 and threw scoring passes of 27 and 57 yards to Brian Quick, and the Mountaineers (4-2, 3-0 Southern Conference) scored the final 24 points for their 15th consecutive conference victory.

Wofford (1-5, 0-3) took a 34-20 lead on Austin Palmer's 2-yard run with 12:22 left in the third quarter, but Devon Moore cut the lead to 34-27 on a 48-yard run with 6:16 remaining in the third quarter.

The Mountaineers cut the lead to 34-30 and Moore, who had 25 carries for a career-best 180 yards, scored on a 1-yard run to give ASU a 37-34 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

Edwards added a 57-yard pass to Quick with 6:48 remaining.

Mike Rucker rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on eight carries for Wofford.

Big plays spurred Wofford to the early advantage. The Terriers gained 204 of their 303 yards in the first half on three plays -- 74- and 64-yard touchdown runs and a 66-yard touchdown pass -- but that was enough to give them a 27-13 lead when quarterback Mitch Allen scored from four yards out with 48 seconds to go before halftime.

The Mountaineers appeared to regain momentum when they marched 57 yards in final 48 seconds of the first half and cut the deficit to 27-20 on a 4-yard touchdown dive by Edwards on the final play of the half.

The momentum from Edwards' touchdown didn't make it out of the locker room though, as Wofford stretched its advantage back to 14 points just six plays into the second half. Austin Palmer's 2-yard touchdown run capped the six-play, 60-yard drive and put ASU in a 34-20 hole.

However, Mark LeGree turned in the first of what would be many big defensive plays down the stretch when he squelched the Wofford drive by intercepting an Allen pass on the ASU 12 yard line and returning it 13 yards to the 25.

LeGree's first interception of the season proved to be the spark Appalachian needed.

In all, Appalachian out-gained Wofford, 307-174, and forced four turnovers while committing none after falling into the two-touchdown hole early in the second half.

Edwards recorded the seventh 400-yard passing effort in ASU history. Quick and CoCo Hillary both had career days on the receiving end. Quick notched career highs with eight catches for 181 yards (and two scores) while Hillary's 98 yards (on six receptions) were also a career high.

Defensively, LeGree led the way a team-high-tying nine tackles. He also picked off another pass on the Terriers' final series, giving him his first interceptions of the season after leading the nation with 10 last season.

Lanston Tanyi matched LeGree's team-high nine stops; linebacker D.J. Smith added eight and defensive end Jabari Fletcher finished with seven to go along with his forced fumble and fumble recovery.

The teams combined for 1,148 yards of offense, including 611 by the Mountaineers.

Appalachian State 3 17 7 17 -- 44

Wofford 6 21 7 0 -- 34

App--FG Vitaris 30

Wof--Boyce 74 run (kick failed)

Wof--Rucker 64 run (C.Reed kick)

App--Quick 27 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick)

Wof--Bersin 66 pass from Allen (C.Reed kick)

App--FG Vitaris 39

Wof--Allen 4 run (C.Reed kick)

App--Edwards 3 run (Vitaris kick)

Wof--Palmer 2 run (C.Reed kick)

App--D.Moore 48 run (Vitaris kick)

App--FG Vitaris 49

App--D.Moore 1 run (Vitaris kick)

App--Quick 57 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick)

A--8,330.

Appalachian State Wofford

First downs 25 17

Rushes-yards 41-196 51-384

Passing 415 153

Comp-Att-Int 27-34-0 4-8-2

Return Yards 38 0

Punts-Avg. 3-46.0 3-40.7

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 2-2

Penalties-Yards 8-108 5-53

Time of Possession 32:02 27:58

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Appalachian St., D.Moore 25-180, Edwards 14-17, Cadet 1-1, C.Baker 1-(minus 2). Wofford, Rucker 8-104, Boyce 2-76, Allen 11-60, Palmer 8-38, Scott 9-34, Davitte 5-30, Joslin 2-23, A.Parks 5-18, Boggs 1-1.

PASSING--Appalachian St., Edwards 27-34-0-415. Wofford, Davitte 2-4-0-52, Allen 2-3-1-101, C.White 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING--Appalachian St., Quick 8-181, Hillary 6-96, D.Moore 6-38, Cline 3-41, B.Frazier 1-33, Jorden 1-18, Elder 1-11, C.Baker 1-(minus 3). Wofford, Bersin 2-94, Joslin 2-59.

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