November 2009 Archives

The ASU Mountaineers advance in the FCS Playoffs after a hard fought win at Kidd Brewer Stadium Saturday against the Bulldogs of South Carolina State. It was a closely fought contest throughout with the score tied at nearly every turn during the game. Armanti Edwards was still not at 100 percent, that knee injury he suffered against Elon was still a factor, as the senior quarterback ran the ball only when he had to and then only late in the game. Edwards completed 19 of his 30 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown, but also threw three interceptions in the game. Brian Quick was Edwards' favorite target on the afternoon with six catches for 92 yards and an ultra-athletic eight-yard touchdown catch that saw him go way high in the air to snag a bullet from Edwards and tight-rope the end line as he came down in the back of the end zone. Blake Elder overcame a vicious second-quarter hit to set career highs with five receptions and 57 yards. But both defenses battled all day, as the Mountaineers held the Bulldog's senior running back, and Walter Payton candidate, Will Ford, to only 22 yards on the afternoon and held the Bulldogs as team to just 33 rushing yards. Similarly, the Mountaineer running game was limited to just 84 yards, with Devon Moore getting 66 of those yards on 20 carries before a thigh bruise late in the game resulted in limited action afterwords. Cedic Baker had 26 yards on 9 carries. Armanti was held to negative rushing yardage for the first time in probably forever. The real story in the game was turnovers, both teams set season highs with 5 each. Armanti's three interceptions plus two fumbles, and the Bulldogs Malcolm Long threw 4 pics and the Bulldogs had a fumble of their own. One of the more interesting plays occurred when Armanti Edwards fumbled the ball, the Bulldogs recovered and returned it 35 yards when Matt Cline chased down the Bulldog player and stripped the ball, Matt Ruff fell on it, and despite losing a lot of yards in total, the Apps had the ball and a fresh set of downs. But the biggest turnover of the day came with the score tied at 13 each with less than eight minutes left to play. The Bulldogs were lined up for what would be a go-ahead field goal when the snap went way wide and past both Bulldog holder Matt Washington and kicker Blake Erickson, and rolled down field for a distance before ASU's Dominique McDuffie finally picked it up and returned it 50 yards for a go-ahead touchdown for the Mountaineers with 7:42 remaining in the contest. After McDuffie's go-ahead score, ASU's defense limited S.C. State to minus-21 yards and, behind running back Cedric Baker, were able to milk 4:29 off the clock to seal the victory. The Mountaineer defense was very stout Saturday, in addition to limiting the Bulldog running game, S.C. State is the fourth-straight opponent that Appalachian has held to 20 points or less. Ed Gainey led the way with nine tackles and one of the Mountaineers' three interceptions. McDuffie was right behind with eight stops while Lanston Tanyi, Malcolm Bennett, Jacque Roman and D.J. Smith added six apiece.
So the Mountaineers advance, but so do the other higher seeded teams in our side of the bracket. Montana came from behind to beat South Dakota State 61-48, Richmond held on to beat Elon 16-13, so for the first time in five straight years of playoff action, the Apps will be on the road. ASU will travel to 4th seeded Richmond for a Saturday night contest that will kick off at 7pm. Its the third straight playoff meeting between the two team, ASU won 55-35, in the 2007 national semifinals, and of course the Spiders took ASU out last year in the semis here in Boone. Appalachian's allotment of tickets for Saturday's game will go on sale for Yosef Club members and currently enrolled ASU students only at 9 a.m. on Monday morning. Yosef Club members and ASU students will have exclusive access to ASU's allotment of tickets until Tuesday at noon, at which time any remaining tickets will be available to the general public. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $10 for youth ages 12 and under (all ages must have a ticket) and $5 for ASU students and can be ordered by calling the ASU athletics ticket office at (828) 262-2079.

Mountaineer men's basketball hosted Morgan State Saturday and Jeremi Booth hit a three-pointer with 0.7 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game 82-82 and the Mountaineers outscored Morgan State 11-10 in overtime to earn a 93-92 win at the Holmes Center. After Booth's clutch shot, Donald Sims hit a three-pointer to give ASU an 85-82 lead just 47 seconds into the extra session. The contest tied several more times in the OT before ASU scored the final three points as Sims drained a pair of shots from the line just before the one minute mark to tie the game at 92-92. The next two possessions for the visitors resulted in a turnover and a missed three-pointer before Andre Williamson made 1-of-2 free throws with 15 ticks left to give the Apps a 93-92 lead and victory. Sims led the scoring for the Apps with 19 points, Ike Butts had 14, Andre Williams had 13 and went 9 for 10 at the free throw line, Booth and Kellen Brand scored a dozen and Ryan Abraham put in 10 as six Mountaineers scored in double figures. The Mountaineers lost Josh Hunter to an ankle injury in the first half, after the big man picked up two points, two assists and a block in eight minutes on the floor. The Mountaineers host Winthrop Monday night at the Holmes Center. 

ASU Mountaineer women's basketball got a win over Miami of Ohio Saturday. After falling behind 69-67 with under 24 seconds to play in regulation, freshman Ashlen Dewart nailed a three pointer with 2.1 seconds to play to tie the contest for the eighth time at 70 all, sending it into overtime. Freshmen Dewart and Anna Freeman were deadly in the extra period and the Apps pulled out the 79-76 thriller at the Redhawk's Petersen Events Center. Freeman and Dwart finished the game with 18 points each, Catherine Williams scored 13, and Sam Ramirez had 11. The Black and Gold play their first Southern Conference match up of the season, hosting Georgia Southern at the Holmes Center, Wednesday night at 7. 

The Watauga Pioneer Varsity teams fell to McDowell on Saturday in Marion. In the womens game, the Titans opened with a 18-0 run and never looked back, taking a 79-38 win. Nicole Tesh led Watauga with 12 points. Kristina Rees put up 8.
The Watauga men also had a tough time against the Titans. The Titans took advantage of an 18-0 run over the first and second quarters and led by 20 at the half, and went on to a 90-71 win over the Pioneers. Damian Edwards scored a season-high 20 points, but only 4 of them in the second half. Jake Pifer scored 14, and Josh Coffey had 11.
The Watauga JV Girls got a 43-40 win over McDowell, but the JV boys fell 53-25. Watauga will host TC Roberson Tuesday night at Lentz-Eggers Gym.
-The Avery Vikings split with Sullivan North in a weekend tournament at Mitchell High School. The Lady Vikings won 77-41, with the Viking boys lost 78-70. On Friday, the Lady Vikings earned a hard fought one-point win over RS Central but the boys lost.
-The Ashe Huskies varsity teams split with Alexander Central, the Lady Huskies won 53-25, but the Husky boys lost 32-30. 

One more football note, as shown here on MTN Sunday night, live as it happened, the Canadian Football League's Gray cup was played in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Montreal Alouettes. Former University of North Carolina quarterback Darian Durant had led his Roughriders into the lead and potential victory, as
Alouettes kicker Damon Duval's game winning field goal was wide. But a penalty against the Roughriders for too many men on the field gave Duval a second chance from ten yards closer and he nailed the 33-yard field goal with no time remaining on the clock and Montreal won the CFL Championship game 28-27. Allouetts receiver Ben Cahoon had five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown and was recognized as the game's Most Outstanding Canadian, while running back Avon Cobourne totaled 85 rushing yards and touchdown, plus 64 receiving yards, and was named the Grey Cup MVP. 

The Avery Middle School Lady Panthers traveled to Harris Middle School Monday night for a Toe River Conference game.  Undefeated Avery came in at 7-0, and held a 2 game lead over Harris and East Yancey atop the Conference standings with only 3 games left to play, meaning that an Avery win would have given them at least a share of the Conference title.   However, the Lady Panthers were behind the entire first two quarters, trailing 24-17 at the half, as Harris maintained a tremendous height advantage inside. In the second half, the Avery defense began to dominate as they have all season, limiting Harris to only 7 points for the entire 3rd quarter and half of the 4th quarter, to pull within 2 points.  But Harris stretched the lead back out to 9 points with only 2 minutes remaining. The Lady Panthers put together a late charge to close to within 3 points with 38 seconds to go.  Needing 1 more 3-pointer to tie the contest, Avery fought hard, but had 3 starters foul out in the final minutes of the contest, and Harris's free throws sealed the win. The Lady Panthers drop their first game of the season 43-38. With the loss, Avery falls to 7-1 on the season, and their first place lead in the Conference has been cut to 1 game. The leading scorers for Avery were Lauren Burleson with 17 points and Breanna Heaton with 14 points. Before Monday night, the Lady Panthers had won 16 straight conference regular season games in a row, which is a school record. The Lady Panthers will return home for a must win game to secure the conference championship against East Yancey next Monday night. Game time is at 5:00 at Avery High School.  
-The Avery Middle School boys also came into their game against Harris in 1st place, 1 game ahead of Cane River in the standings. The Panther boys battled hard throughout the contest in a very tight see-saw battle. Chance Watson led Avery with 11 points, but it wasn't enough as Harris held on to squeak by Avery by a final score of 36-34. With the loss, the Panthers drop back into a tie for 1st place with Cane River. Two games remain for Avery, and they need to win both of them in order to guarantee themselves at least a share of the Toe River Conference Championship.

Once again, Armanti Edwards, along with Mark LeGree and head coach Jerry Moore, are in the running for national honors. Edwards, the 2008 Payton Award winner, is looking to become the first two-time winner in the 23-year history of the Payton Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top FCS player. LeGree, who finished third in voting for the 2008 Buchanan Award as a sophomore, would be the first Mountaineer to bring home the honor as FCS's top defensive player since Dexter Coakley won the first two Buchanan Awards in 1995 and '96. Coach Moore is a candidate to become just the second two-time winner in the 23-year history of the Robinson Award. He also earned the honor as the nation's top FCS coach in 2006. The Sports Network will announce the winners of all three awards at its annual FCS Awards Presentation on Dec. 17 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the night before the FCS Championship game. 

Donald Sims was hot from downtown with five treys in 10 attempts, but it was not enough to power ASU mens basketball past No. 16 Louisville, as the Mountaineers fell 80-53 on Monday evening at Freedom Hall. The junior guard tallied a season-best 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting to accompany four rebounds and a pair of assists. Louisville applied full-court pressure early and often, but the Apps were able to consistently battle through the press to work into the offense. Shots began falling at both ends of the court and the Cardinals worked up a 23-11 advantage. The Apps fired back with a 12-2 run to close within a bucket at 25-23, but were unable to challenge the Cardinals any further. ASU trailed by a manageable nine points at the intermission, 39-30, but Louisville scored the first six points in the second half and never looked back. The Cardinals stretched the lead to as many as 28 points in the waning minutes to secure the win. Jermi Booth scored 14 for the Apps. ASU returns home for a three-game home stand, beginning with Morgan State Saturday night at 7.

The Mountaineers keep the jug, and host South Carolina State, again...
ASU finished off its third undefeated Southern Conference schedule in four years with a 19-14 win over Western Carolina on Saturday, without Armanti Edwards. More than 30 thousand showed up for the Senior Day contest, in hopes of seeing Armanti have another big day, but Travaris Cadet led the Apps in the season finale. Edwards was held out of the game to allow for additional recovery time after the knee injury last week against Elon, to be certain he would be ready to go next week in the playoffs. The Mountaineers relied on their defense and running game, rushing on 51 of their 67 offensive plays, led by Devon Moore's career-high 191 yards on 25 carries, and both of ASU's two touchdowns. The Mountaineer defense held the Cats to just 70 rushing yards, and ASU held a 356-236 advantage in total yards. But despite the numbers, it was a close game through out, as the ASU offense had to adjust to having Cadet at quarterback. In fact, WCU held a 7-3 lead for much of the first half thanks to a one-yard touchdown pass from Zack Jaynes to Dion Wilson late in the first quarter. Appalachian finally seized the momentum when it drove 73 yards on the opening series of the second half and took a 10-7 lead when Devon Moore carried it in from 25-yards out to put the Apps ahead. The Mountaineers were still clinging to their the tenuous 10-7 lead early in the fourth period when their defense turned in the play of the game. On a third-and-eight play from the WCU 15 yard line, defensive ends Jabari Fletcher and Lanston Tanyi chased Jaynes all the way into the ASU end zone. With Jaynes still unable to find an open receiver due to terrific coverage by the Mountaineer secondary, Fletcher and Tanyi reached Jaynes and dropped him for a safety to stretch the Black-and-Gold advantage to 12-7. B.J. Frazier returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards and shortly after, Travaris Cadet hit DeAndre Pressley for what could be called the offensive play of the game, a 43 yard completion, zipped in between two Catamount defenders, just an outstanding play. The Apps all but put the game away when Moore scored from a yard out to make it 19-7 with 12:57 to play. The ASU defense made sure the lead would stand up by forcing the Catamounts' seventh and eighth punts of the day on their next two possessions. The Cats managed to cut the advantage to 19-14 on Michael Johnson's two-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds remaining. The Cats then tried the onside kick but the Mountaineers recovered to seal the victory, the undefeated SoCon season, and keep the Jug. Lanston Tanyi led Apalachian's stellar defensive performance with a career-best 13 tackles and two-and-a-half sacks, which matched his career-high set in last year's win at Western Carolina. Lanston likes playing the Cats. All-America linebacker Jacque Roman chipped in with 12 tackles while Jabari Fletcher added eight stops, including one-and-a-half sacks. Making his first-career start behind center, Cadet ran 17 times for 58 yards and completed 8-of-16 passes for 101 yards.

And now, the second season begins, the FCS Playoffs, and as the SoCon champs, the Apps got an automatic bid, but like 2007, did not get a top-4 seed. Nevertheless, the Mountaineers will be at home for the first round, once again hosting the South Carolina State Bulldogs at Kidd Brewer Stadium this Saturday at 12noon. Montana, the only undefeated team during the regular season, is the number 1 seed, and will host 8-3 South Dakota State. Villanova is the two seed, will host Holy Cross. Southern Illinois captured the No. 3 seed and will host Eastern Illinois, Defending national champion Richmond is the 4th seed and will host Elon. I'll get to the other pairings in just a bit. Last year, Appalachian defeated S.C. State, 37-21 and Armanti Edwards set a school-record 433 yards passing. The contest was close throughout but the Apps pulled away with 13 unanswered points in the final 7-plus minutes. This year, he Bulldogs' only loss was a 38-14 setback at South Carolina October 3rd. The winner Saturday will take on the winner of the Elon at Richmond game. The rest of the pairings have Stephen F. Austin at 9-2 will host 8-3 Eastern Washington, 9-2 McNeese State will host 9-2 New Hampshire, and 7-4 Weber State will travel to 9-2 William and Mary.
Tuesday and Wednesday night we'll have more on Saturday's playoff game including comments from Armanti Edwards and head coach Jerry Moore.

The ASU Mountaineer mens basketball team gave the Hogs a run, coming back from a 20 point deficit, but came up short Friday night in Fayetteville Arkansas. Josh Hunter hit his first-career three-pointer to send the game to overtime, but the Razorbacks overpowered the Apps in the extra frame to secure an 81-72 win. Donald Sims led the Mountaineers with 17 points, Kellen Brand with 13, and Josh Hunter Hunter collected his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Apps close out this road trip at #20 Louisville Monday night, we'll have result Tuesday night.
-The Mountaineer women had a tough game with the Charlotte 49ers, falling 74-57 in the Apps home opener. The Apps took a one point lead into the locker room at halftime, but Charlotte came storming back in the second half, outscoring the Mountaineers by 18 points. Canesha Edwards and Sam Ramierz led the Mountaineers with 12 points each, Courtney Freeman put up 10 points. The loss drops the Black and Gold to 1-1 on the young season, and the Apps hit the road for a contest against Gardner-Webb Tuesday night in Boiling Springs.

ASU Volleyball was overpowered by Furman in the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament Saturday, falling to the Paladins 3-0. With the loss, ASU ends the season with a 14-17 overall record. 

IN the Miller Insurance JV Thanksgiving Tournament:  
Boys 1st round:   North Surry  58       WHS  39
2nd round:  WHS  55       North Wilkes  43
Watauga finished third, Matt Proffitt named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Pioneer wrestlers hosted the Old Appalachian Invitational:
Watauga finished in 12th place, 103  Gus Coffey went 2-2 for 6th place
119  Ethan Henson  went 3-1 for 5th place  
135  Jason Wood  was 2-2 for 6th place
152  William Pinkerton  was 2-2 for 4th place
The Pioneers next match will be at St. Stephens on Wednesday.
Pioneer basketball will host the Ashe Huskies Tuesday night at Lentz-Eggers Gym, then will go to McDowell on Saturday, those games will begin early, with the JVs getting started at 1pm instead of the usual 4pm.

IN the Miller Insurance JV Thanksgiving Tournament:  
Boys 1st round:   North Surry  58       WHS  39
2nd round:  WHS  55       North Wilkes  43
Watauga finished third, Matt Proffitt named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Pioneer wrestlers hosted the Old Appalachian Invitational:
Watauga finished in 12th place, 103  Gus Coffey went 2-2 for 6th place
119  Ethan Henson  went 3-1 for 5th place  
135  Jason Wood  was 2-2 for 6th place
152  William Pinkerton  was 2-2 for 4th place
The Pioneers next matchc will be at St. Stephens on Wednesday.
Pioneer basketball will host the Ashe Huskies Tuesday night at Lentz-Eggers Gym, then will go to McDowell on Saturday, those games will begin early, with the JVs getting started at 1pm instead of the usual 4pm.

With its fifth-consecutive Southern Conference title and FCS playoff berth already clinched, No. 6 Appalachian State University closes the regular season against archrival Western Carolina in the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium, and MTN will be there and will rebroadcast the game Saturday and Sunday nights beginning at 830pm. At 54-18-1, ASU has pretty much owned Western in the series. Saturday will be a special day for 13 Mountaineer players, the senior class of 2009 who will be honored prior to playing their final regular season game at Appalachian. One of those seniors is possibly the greatest player to ever wear the Black and Gold - Armanti Edwards. Armanti's accomplishments at Appalachian are impressive to say the least. On Oct. 31, Armanti became the first player in NCAA Division I history (FCS or FBS) with 9,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in a career. Edwards' 9,605 career passing yards are good for third and his 4,257 career rushing yards make him fifth among all active FCS players in those categories. But no one player has both 9,605 yards passing and 4,257 yards rushing. Only Superman. He has a 40-6 record as a starter, has broken 30 records, won the prestigious Walter Payton Award in 2008 (the FCS equivalent to the Heisman Trophy) and has a chance to win it again. And many say he should be in the Heisman conversation. Making all of that even more incredible is the fact that Edwards will graduate in just 3.5 years. Only 3 percent of ASU grads finish in less than 4 years. To accomplish the early graduation, he is taking 18 credit hours of classes this semester, in addition to wowing everyone on the football field. There are 9 teams in the Southern Conference, and only one of them will be sad to see him go. Of course, even though Saturday is the final regular season game, there will be at least one more, as the Mountaineers are the SoCon champions and get the automatic league bid into the playoffs. And there is a chance that the first round game will be a home game. What happens after that no one knows. Bottom line, come see him if you can, because it will be a long, long time before we see anyone like him again. 

The Avery Middle School Panthers Girls and Boys basketball teams hosted Cane River from Yancey County in Toe River Conference action on Thursday night. The Lady Panthers came into the game sitting in 1st place with an undefeated 6-0 Conference record. The Lady Panthers are always led by their dominating defense, and this game was no different as Avery created several steals in the first quarter, converting them into fast break points, and within only 4 1/2 minutes of the opening tip-off Avery had a commanding 13-0 lead. Cane River threatened to close the gap a couple of times with some excellent outside shooting, and by halftime had cut the Avery lead to only 6 points at 25-19. But as has always been the case this year, Avery coach Donnie Johnson made some adjustments at halftime, and the Avery girls always play their best when they need to, and in the second half Avery was just far too strong on both ends of the court. Establishing their dominating defense again, Avery went on to win by a final score of 49-31, improving to 7-0 on the season, and giving them a 2 game lead at the top of the Toe River Conference standings. Lauren Burleson led all Avery scorers and played another fantastic game, and Breanna Heaton dominated the 1st and 4th quarters with some great steals and fast break points, along with two 3-pointers in the 4th quarter to ice the game.
-The Avery Middle boys came into their game tied with Cane River for 1st place in the Conference, both with 5-1 records on the season. So, this match-up between the two schools was going to leave the winner in sole possession of 1st place. The Avery boys were ready as they came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, running up and down the court with aggressive play both in their man to man defense and on their fast break opportunities. As we predicted here at MTN, Avery was too much for Cane River. Playing their best basketball of the season, the Panthers jumped out to an early 10 point lead, and Cane River was left stunned by Avery's performance. At the halftime buzzer, Chance Watson hit a long 3-pointer to extend the Panther's lead even further, and at halftime Avery led by 15 at 34-19. In the second half, Avery slowed the game down to take advantage of their big lead, using clock and playing excellent defense. But Cane River did not go easily as they made one more 4th quarter run with 7 straight points to cut Avery's lead from 17 to only 10 with 4 minutes left. However, the Panthers held their nerve and finished strongly to win by a final score of 46-36. With the win, the Panthers move into 1st place on their own with a 6-1 Conference record. With 3 Conference games remaining, this means that both the Avery girls and Avery boys teams are now in first place. Both teams will play at Harris Middle School in Mitchell County on Monday. 

Mountaineer basketball Friday night has the men in Arkansas to take on the Razorbacks, before heading to 20th ranked Louisville on Monday night. The men are 2 and 1 on the young season, having downed UNC Wilmington and Lees-McRae, and falling to East Tennesssee State. They defeated Arkansas 74-68 two years ago in Little Rock and hope to repeat that performance at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetville. Arkansas is 1-1 on the season, beating Alcorn State but falling to Louisville.

The Mountaineer women are at home hosting the Charlotte 49ers at the Holmes Center. The women defeated Marshall 63-58 last Friday in Huntington West Virginia. Charlotte is 0-2 after falling to East Carolina and South Carolina. Charlotte leads the series against the Apps 14-4, but despite the lopsided record, half of the 18 games have been decided by single digits. 

Winners of five of their last six contests and three in a row, ASU Volleyball looks to carry their momentum into their semifinal match of the SoCon Tournament against number one seed Furman, Saturday at Noon at Furman. The Mountaineers are making their first appearance at the SoCon volleyball tournament since 2007, and is 11-8 in SoCon semifinal games. Appalachian has won just four SoCon volleyball titles in school history, with the last won coming in 1994, when the Apps defeated Furman 3-2 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Paladins have an overall record of 25-3 and are 10-0 on their home court. ASU holds the 31-22 advantage in the series, but the Apps haven't defeated the Paladins since October 23, 2007. If ASU can capture a win, the Apps will advance to the SoCon tournament finals Sunday and take on the winner of the Samford/Charleston match. 

For one last time, MTN presents our High School Football Players of the Week.
The Ugly Mugg Avery Vikings of the week are Alex Villanueva, Andy Gonzales and Colton Blackburn. Villanueva went 14 for 23 passing for 133 yards in the Vikings loss to Bessemer City. Andy Gonzales caught 9 of those passes for 100 yards, and Colton Blackburn was active on both sides of the ball, getting 56 rushing yards on 13 carries and leading the Viking defense with 6 tackles, 4 solo tackles, 1 sack and a fumble recovery. Alex Villanueva, Andy Gonzalez and Colton Blackburn are this week's Ugly Mugg Vikings of the Week.
The MTN Watauga Pioneers of the Week are Jordon Pineda and Logan Smith. Pineda totaled 12 tackles in the Pioneers loss to Ragsdale, Logan Smith was right behind with 10 tackles, and each of them had a solo tackled. While the Pioneer offense was stymied by Ragsdale, Watauga's defense kept things close in the first half, led by our MTN Pioneers of the Week, Jordan Pineda and Logan Smith. 

Ike Butts scored 10 first-half points and six of the team's first eight after the intermission and finished with a career-best 22 points in ASU's 77-44 win against Lees-McRae Tuesday night at the Holmes Center. Butts led the squad on the boards as well with nine rebounds as ASU held a commanding 44-30 edge on the glass. The Mountaineers shot a stout 54.4 percent from the field while holding the Bobcats to only 30.5 percent. Kellen Brand reached double figures for the second time this season with 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting, including a pair of treys. Donald Sims scored seven points in the contest to go along with three assists and a steal, but did not sink a three-pointer in the game for the first time since last February. Adam McFerran led the Bobcats with 16 points and six rebounds before leaving the game with an ankle injury. Sam Youse added 15 points with three treys in the game.The Mountaineers face a tough road trip with visits to Arkansas on Friday and No. 20 Louisville on Monday. Louisville knocked off Arkansas Tuesday night 96-66.

Quarterback Armanti Edwards, who sustained a right knee injury in the first half of last Saturday's win at Elon, is officially listed as day-to-day by ASU's medical staff, but may well play at least part of Saturday's Jug game. Coach Moore said Tuesday that "everything looks pretty good right now" for Edwards to play.

ASU will host an FCS selection show viewing party Sunday afternoon at Legends, on Hardin Street on the ASU campus. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. with the bracket for the 16-team field to be announced on ESPNEWS between 3-3:30 p.m. Admission is free. Appalachian has already secured a spot in the 16-team field by clinching no less than a share of its fifth-straight Southern Conference title after beating Elon last Saturday. There will be no sharing if the Mountaineers take down Western Carolina this Saturday. The opponent and location for ASU's first-round game, as well as the road it must navigate to win a fourth national championship in five years, will be unveiled during the selection announcement. Head coach Jerry Moore and members of his team will be on hand for the viewing party, as well as ASU cheerleaders and representatives from the University Bookstore, who will be selling exclusive Mountaineer gear.
-All reserved seats for Saturday's Battle for the Old Mountain Jug between Appalachian and Western are sold out. General admission grass seats still remain, call 828-262-2079 or go get them online at goasu.com.
ASU football will honor its 13 seniors prior to Saturday's game. OL Mario Acitelli, DL Malcolm Bennett, OL Zach Brown, QB Armanti Edwards, DL Daniel Finnerty, TE Tim Frye, DB Cortez Gilbert, RB Josh Jackson, DL Justin Johnson, P/LS Adam Kassouf, LB Jacque Roman, WR Tavaris Washington and DL Anthony Williams make up a senior class that has led the Mountaineers to a 46-8 overall record heading into their final regular-season game at The Rock and joins last year's crop of seniors as the only classes in school history to win four SoCon championships. 

MTN will broadcast the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug both Satruday night and Sunday night at 8:30, with Len Murphy and Terry Smith calling the action. So come out to the Rock, cheer on the Mountaineers, then go home and watch it again on MTN. 

ASU men's cross country will close its 2009 campaign ranked 11th in the Southeast Region. The Mountaineers wrapped up their '09 slate with an 11th place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Meet in Louisville, Ky. last Saturday. Appalachian was led by senior Phil Mitchell, who placed 31st overall. The 2009 season also saw the Mountaineers claim their fifth straight Southern Conference title, and their eighth title in the past 10 years. Head coach Mike Curcio was also named SoCon Coach of the Year for the eighth time in his career.
-By virtue of her 16th place finish last Saturday freshman runner Brittney Caudle has been named to the all-region team. Caudle also earned SoCon Runner of the Year and SoCon Freshman of the Year honors after a dominating performance at last month's Southern Conference Championship at Elon. Caudle won the conference meet by over 20 seconds and is the first freshman to take home Women's Runner of the Year honors in Appalachian history. The teams will now turn their attention to track and field, as the Mountaineers kick off the indoor season with the Appalachian Invitational at the Holmes Center December 5.

ASU wrestler Austin Trotman won the 174 pound weight class to lead the Mountaineers in the season-opener at the Michigan State Open last Sunday. Trotman defeated The Citadel's Jonathan Oddo 14-5 in the first round and followed that with a 7-0 decision over Ian Hinton to reach the finals. In the finals he dominated Findlay's Justin Shannon 10-1 to take home first place honors. ASU had eight wrestlers finish in the top-six in their weight class, competing against more than 20 schools, including ranked opponents such as Central Michigan, Indiana and Michigan State. Appalachian is back in action this Sunday, in the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, Pa. The Mountaineers stay on the road for three more match ups, then return home December 19th to host Virginia.

Now that football season is over for High Country teams, its time to look to round ball action and you won't have to wait too long. The Watauga Pioneer JV teamss will be competing this Friday and Saturday in the Ashe JV Tournament, and the varsity teams' schedule will begin on Monday as the Pioneers host the Ashe Huskies, then travel to McDowell the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The Avery Viking girls host Ashe Tuesday evening in a womens only scrimage, while the Avery boys will go to Johnson County Tennessee for a mens only scrimmage Friday and Saturday. The Girls team will also scrimmage at McDowell on Saturday. The regular season begins Monday as the Vikings travel to Cloudland, then Avery goes to Mitchell for a varsity only tournament Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.
The Ashe Huskies have already played some scrimmage games and in addition to this weekend's jv tournament, will host a varsity mens only scrimmage with St.Stephens Saturday, and after coming to Boone on Monday, they travel to Alexander Central Saturday after Thanksgiving. 

The Avery Middle School Panthers girls and boys teams traveled to Bakersville to play Bowman Middle school. The Avery girls started strongly and took a 10-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Early in the second, the Lady Panthers ignited their fast break offense as their dominating 1-3-1 defense created turnovers that they converted into quick fast break points that expanded the Avery lead to 12. The third quarter was very much the same as Avery continued to excel on both ends of the court and led by a score of 26-6 at the end of 3. In the 4th quarter, the Panthers closed out the win by a final score of 30-12. This win keeps the Avery girls undefeated on the season with a 6-0 in conference play. The leading scorers were: Lauren Burleson and Breanna Heaton scored 8 points apiece as they created many fast break opportunities, and Haley Woody battled hard inside to score 8 points also. The Panthers will be back at home Thursday the 19th to take on Cane River. In the boys game, the Panthers picked up right where they left off last week as they were easy winners against the Bulldogs. Chance Watson led the Avery offensive attack early as he hit multiple 3 pointers to stretch an early lead. The Avery defense with the stabilizing influence of Chase Buchanan and James Stewart created several steals with both Watson and Kobe Pittman converting them into fast break points. At halftime the Panthers led 22-8, and they went on to win by a final score of 48-19. With the win the Avery boys move to 5-1 on the season, and are in sole possession of 2nd place, with an opportunity to move into first with a win Thursday against Cane River. As well as the Avery boys are playing now, it looks like that will happen. The Cranberry Middle School girls team traveled to Burnsville and upset 2nd ranked East Yancey. The big win moved Cranberry into sole possession of 3rd place in the Conference with a 3-3 record. 

ASU defensive back Mark LeGree was named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for his role in Appalachian's SoCon championship-clinching victory at Elon last Saturday. LeGree intercepted two passes in ASU's convincing 27-10 win over Elon. Both interceptions came in the first quarter and each led directly to touchdowns that helped the Mountaineers build an early 21-0 lead. The All-American's two interceptions propelled him into the conference lead with six on the season, all of which have come in the past five games. With a season of eligibility still remaining, the junior's 16 career INTs are good for second among all active FCS players. The SoCon recognition is LeGree's second of the season and third of his career.
Speaking of Mountaineer football, after knocking off Elon Saturday and clinching the SoCon title again, the Apps have moved up in the coaches poll. The Mountaineers are now 6th on the AFCA list, however, did not advance in the Sports Network poll, still number 6 on that list. The Sports Netork poll has Southern Illinois as the number one team, followed by Villanova, Montana, Richmond then William and Mary. In the coaches poll, the top three are different - Montana, Southern Illinois, Villanova. Elon dropped to 10th in both polls. 

ASU mens basketball head coach Buzz Peterson has announced four new signees for 2010. Jonathan Frye (Greensboro, N.C./Northern Guilford), Petey Hausley (Marion, N.C./Iowa Western CC/McDowell HS), Anthony Thomas (Winston-Salem, N.C./Winston-Salem Prep), and Mitch Woods (Naples, Fla./Naples Community School)have all signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period. 

ASU volleyball outside hitter Maja Jechorek was named the Southern Conference's Player of the Week Monday. The award is the first of her career and the first for ASU since 2007. The Poland native posted two impressive performances against UNCG and Elon helping the Mountaineers gain crucial wins and inclusion in the SoCon Championship tournament. Against UNCG, the senior slammed home the match winning-kill, and tallied a match and career high 28 kills. Against Elon, she tied for a team and match-best 17 kills to go along with 12 digs and one solo block. The Mountaineers have won three straight and five of their past six matches as they head into the 2009 SoCon Tournament. The Apps take on number one seed Furman in Greenville, S.C., Saturday at Noon. The Paladins are undefeated in conference play.

Watauga, Avery and Ashe football were defeated in the opening round of the state playoffs this weekend.

Bessemer City stretched a 7-3 halftime lead into a 33-9 victory over Avery in the first round of the NCHSAA 1-AA playoffs. The No. 12-seeded Vikings finish the season 5-7.

The Ashe Huskies fought hard all night but the East Lincoln Mustangs were just too much for Ashe to handle and the Huskies fell 30-16. Greyson Wells had 6 catches and a touchdown reception. The Huskies end the season with a 6-6 record.

The Watauga Pioneer's season came to an on end Saturday night in Jamestown in the 4A playoffs. Ragsdale defeated the Pioneers 31-0, holding Watauga to just 108 yards of total offense, and quarterback Devan Corum ran for 61 yards and completed four passes for 33 yards. The Pioneers were 0 for 12 in third down conversions against the powerful Ragsdale defense. The Watauga defense did well against the Tigers, especially in the first half, forcing Ragsdale to punt on their first possession, and holding them to a field goal on their second possession. But the undefeated Tigers pulled away and led 17-0 at the half. They would get two more touchdowns in the third quarter to put it away. Jordan Pineda led the defensive effort with 12 tackles, Logam Smith had 10. Watauga's season ends with a record of 6-6.

Other 4A games:
(4) Asheville Reynolds 42, (13) East Gaston 9
(5) Alexander Central 38, (12) Indian Trail Porter Ridge 21
IN 3A action:
(1) Lenoir Hibriten 42, (16) Charlotte Harding 6
(2) West Rowan 48, (15) Freedom 15
(4) Waynesville Tuscola 17, (13) Hickory 10
In 2AA:
(3) East Lincoln 30, (14) Ashe 16
(4) Marshville Forest Hills 41, (13) Wilkes Central 7
(5) Canton Pisgah 35, (12) Black Mountain Owen 14
(8) Salisbury 35, (9) East Burke 6
In 2A:
(1) Boonville Starmount 20, (16) Surry Central 17
(2) Burnsville Mountain Heritage 54, (15) Madison County 21
(5) Polk 31, (12) Brevard 10
In 1AA:
(1) Albemarle 69, (16) North Wilkes 0
(4) Swain County 34, (13) West Wilkes 7
(3) Hendersonville 47, (14) Mitchell 23
(11) East Wilkes 22, (6) East Surry 19
In 1A:
(1) Mt. Airy 52, (16) Rosewood 0
(2) Elkin 52, (15) Union Academy 0
(5) Hobbton 31, (12) Alleghany 6

The ASU Mountaineers easily defeated Elon 27-10 and secured their 5th consecutive Southern Conference Championship and the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. ASU's 19th-consecutive SoCon win came in convincing fashion against the nation's No. 1-ranked defense and fifth-ranked offense. Appalachian all but put it away in the first quarter, thanks to 3 Scott Riddle interceptions that ASU turned into touchdown drives of 50, 90 and 15 yards to go up 21-0. Mark LeGree grabbed two of the three interceptions - giving him a SoCon-leading six on the season - and Armanti Edwards capped the three scoring drives with touchdown runs of 15, 6 and 3 yards. The Mountaineer defense forced the Phoenix to punt on its final three possessions of the first half. In all, the App defense forced four punts and three turnovers while limiting Elon to just 110 yards before halftime. The only real downer of the game was Edwards injury in the final series of the first half, he was hit on an incomplete pass late in the second quarter and went to the locker room early, and stayed late, not playing in the first ASU possession of the third quarter. Taking advantage, Elon forced the only ASU three-and-out of the day then drove inside the Apps five yard line. But the Mountaineer defense held and the Phoenix settled for a 23-yard field goal that made the score 21-3. Edwards returned to the game on the next series and led a nine-play, 50-yard drive that ended with a 35-yard Jason Vitaris field goal that put the Apps up 24-3. Elon finally found the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Riddle to Aaron Mellette with 4:48 left in the game. The Mountaineer defense held Elon to 25 fewer points than average, and 185 offensive yards below average, forced 6 punts and 3 turnovers in Elon's 12 possesions. D.J. Smith had a game-high 15 tackles, Anthony Williams, Jabari Fletcher and Lanston Tanyi combined to sack Riddle five times and cornerback Ed Gainey had the second of ASU's three interceptions. Edwards rushed for 73 yards and all three touchdowns and was 21-of-24 passing for 281 yards. Matt Cline caught eight of Edwards' passes for 104 yards and Brian Quick had 99 yards on six catches. Officially, Armanti is listed as questionable for the regular-season finale against Western Carolina Saturday at the Rock.

Mountaineer mens basketball opened the season at home Friday night with a 79-68 win over UNC Wilmington, then hit the road on Saturday to take on the East Tennessee State Bucs. The Apps played the Bucs close, the score was tied at the half 27 each, but came up just short, falling 62-58. Kellen Brand scored his 1000th point as a Mountaineer, finishing with 8 points on the night, Donald Sims led the team with 14 points. The Mountaineers are home Tuesday night hosting Lees-McRae.
The Mountaineer women began the season on the road against Marshall, and Sam Ramirez drilled a jumper with 16 seconds left to put ASU up by 5 points, and the Mountaineers held on for a 63-58 win, taking their first season-opening road win since 2001. Ramirez tied a career record with 23 points, Chakeitha Weldon finished with 14. ASU hosts Charlotte this Friday night at 7 at the Holmes Center. 

Senior Maja Jechorek scored four of ASU's final points in fifth set action to lead ASU volleyball to a 3-2 victory over Elon Saturday and clinched the number two spot in the North Division and qualified for the 2009 Southern Conference Tournament, that begins Saturday. The Apps will travel to undefeated and top seed Furman. 

ASU volleyball continued with its impressive play Wednesday evening.  The Mountaineers fell behind one set and then faced a three point deficit in the fifth set, but rallied to earn a thrilling 3-2 win over SoCon North Division foe UNCG at the Holmes Center. The win avenged a 3-0 loss to the Spartans from earlier in the season and moved the Apps one step closer to qualifying for the SoCon Tournament. It was a must win for the Apps, just as Saturday's game against Elon. After the match was knotted at two sets apiece, Appalachian found itself behind 8-5 in a must-win fifth set. They fought back to tie at 8 all, and the Mountaineers stayed close the rest of the way, with six more ties in the set, before a Kelly Rhein kill earned ASU the 16-15 advantage. To put the icing on the cake, senior Maja Jechorek slammed home the set and match-winning kill to give the Mountaineers the 17-15 fifth set and 3-2 match win. Jechorek totaled a career and match-high 28 kills along with tying a career-high 17 digs. The victory improved the Apps to 13-16 on the season and 9-6 in league play, and gives them momentum going into the next must-win match Saturday at the Holmes Center against the Phoenix. The Mountaineers must take that match to qualify for the SoCon Championships. The match starts at 7 at the Holmes Center and seniors Jechorek, Cassie Englegau and Becca Norris will be honored before play begins. 

GoASU.com had an interesting posting Wednesday titled "ASU has been here before." An opportunity to clinch a Southern Conference championship is nothing new to Appalachian State University football. Over the past 23 seasons, Appalachian has played 11 games with at least a share of the SoCon crown on the line. The Mountaineers have gone 9-2 in those contests with wins in each of its last six potential title-clinchers, including last year's 24-16 triumph over Elon that secured the Apps' ninth SoCon title. In its seventh year in the league, Elon has never previously played for a SoCon championship. The four-time-defending SoCon champion, looks to become just the second program in league history to win five-straight conference championships when the Apps play the Phoenix at Elon Saturday afternoon at 3. The winner of Saturday's showdown clinches no less than a share of the 2009 SoCon title and receives the league's automatic berth in the FC Playoffs. The post also shows the scores of all 11 of those games, and just a bit less than half of them have been relatively close ones: a 3 point overtime loss to VMI, a 7 point loss to the Citadel, and three 10 point wins against Marshall, the Citadel and Western. On the other end there have been 24, 25, 28 and 29 point wins. As for the ASU Elon match up itself, Both teams have won six straight league games and have dominated much of their competition, ASU has the nation's top offense (491 yards per game), trying to score against the nation's No. 1 defense (213 ypg). ASU has won 13 straight against the Phoenix, including the last six games that Elon has been a member of the SoCon, and the average margin of victory in those six games is 25 points. So the bottom line? None of that matters this year, this Saturday, this game. Two undefeated SoCon teams will battle for the title and its bound to be a good one. Mountaineer faithful planning to be at Elon on Saturday are invited to attend the ASU Alumni Association's Tailgate Party, located at the Firehouse Fields, which is just a short walk to Rhodes Stadium. If you don't make it to Elon at all, there will be several viewing parties the Alumni Association can tell you about. Full details are available at alumni.appstate.edu.

Mountaineer basketball tips off the season Friday, with the women on the road against Marshall and the men at home against UNC Wilmington. The men's first road game, Saturday's contest at East Tennessee State, will be played earlier than originally scheduled. Instead of 7pm, the tip off against the Bucs will be 4pm. There will be no radio coverage from the Appalachian ISP network because of the App Elon football game. 

I mentioned Wednesday the High Country high school football teams that will begin first round action of the state playoffs Friday night, but I'll mention them again along with some other regional match ups.

IN 4A, No. 3 Ragsdale (11-0) vs. No. 14 Watauga (6-5)
No. 5 Alexander Central (10-1) vs. No. 12 Indian Trail Porter Ridge (7-4)
No. 4 Asheville Reynolds (9-2) vs. No. 13 East Gaston (6-5)

IN 3A, No. 1 Lenoir Hibriten (11-0) vs. No. 16 Charlotte Harding (4-7)
No. 4 Waynesville Tuscola (9-1-1) vs. No. 13 Hickory (6-5)
No. 2 West Rowan (11-0) vs. No. 15 Morganton Freedom (5-6)
In 2AA, No. 8 Salisbury (7-4) vs. No. 9 East Burke (8-3)
No. 4 Marshville Forest Hills (8-3) vs. No. 13 Wilkes Central (6-5)
No. 3 East Lincoln (9-2) vs. No. 14 Ashe County (6-5)

IN 2A No. 1 Starmount (9-2) vs. No. 16 Surry Central (2-9)
No. 5 Polk County (9-2) vs. No. 12 Brevard (6-5)
No. 2 Burnsville Mountain Heritage (9-2) vs. No. 15 Madison (4-7)

IN 1AA No. 1 Albemarle (11-0) vs. No. 16 North Wilkes (1-10)
No. 5 Bessemer City (7-4) vs. No. 12 Avery County (5-6)
No. 4 Swain County (7-3) vs. No. 13 West Wilkes (4-7)
No. 3 Hendersonville (9-2) vs. No. 14 Mitchell (4-7)
No. 6 East Surry (10-1) vs. No. 11 East Wilkes (6-5)

IN 1A No. 1 Mount Airy (11-0) vs. No. 16 Goldsboro Rosewood (2-8)
No. 5 Hobbton (8-3) vs. No. 12 Alleghany (4-7)
No. 2 Elkin (9-2) vs. No. 15 Monroe Union Academy (2-7-1)

Best of luck to all, and MTN will have results on Monday night.

The Avery Middle School Girls basketball traveled to East Yancey in Burnsville on Monday night.  Avery and East Yancey were tied for 1st place in the Toe River Conference, both with 3-0 records, going into the game. The Lady Panthers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead thanks to their very aggressive 1-3-1 defense and some excellent shooting. Avery's Lauren Burleson led all scorers with 11 points, followed by Breanna Heaton with 8 points. Lauren drove to the basket for Avery's first points of the night, and Breanna was accurate shooting from the outside. In the second quarter Avery continued to extend their lead, and Lauren dealt a dagger blow as she stole an inbounds pass and hit a half court 3 pointer at the buzzer to give Avery an almost insurmountable 24-8 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Avery defense continued to dominate and East Yancey could find very few shooting opportunities as the Lady Panthers led 30 - 14 at the end of 3 quarters. The 4th quarter was a physical battle as the referees allowed the two teams to play. The Avery girls never shy away from this type of physical game, and their defense just kept pouring on the pressure, and held East Yancey to only three 4th quarter points and Avery won 32-17. The Avery defense was the story of the night as they created more than 20 East Yancey turnovers, and held them to their lowest point total of the year. With the win Avery moves to 4-0, and sole possession of 1st place in the Conference.
The Avery Middle boys then took on the east Yancey boys. The 2 teams were tied for 2nd place in the conference with 2-1 records going into the game, and Avery jumped out to an early lead. Chance Watson scored Avery's first five points of the game, and the Panthers held an 8 point halftime lead at 25-17. The stretched that lead to 12 points in the 2nd half, but East Yancey made a desperate effort to come from behind, closing within 1 point as time ran down. However, great defensive hustle by Avery's Peyton Lowery and his teammates was enough to hold on to the 38-37 Avery win. With the victory, the Avery boys move to 3-1 on the season and sole possession of 2nd place in the conference. Both teams play their cross-county friendly rivals Cranberry on Thursday.  

The Watauga womens cross country team turned in a gutsy performance Saturday at Tanglewood Park in Winston-Salem in the4A state cross country meet. Competing against a strong field, Watauga finished in sixth place with 195 points. Sophomore Hannah Barbour paced Watauga with a 35th-place finish, senior Kayla Schneider was 39th, and freshman Darby Middlebrook was 52nd. Cary-Green Hope won the championship with 47 points. T.C. Roberson was second with 60; Terry Sanford finished third with 86.
-Watauga athletics has released the fall athletic awards list after a successful season. Watauga Lady Pioneer volleyball finished second in the conference, mens soccer came in 6th, womens golf and womens tennis earned the conference championships, and both the mens and womens cross country teams were also conference champions. And as I mentioned, Lady Pioneer cross country came in sixth at state. The WOMEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE YEAR was SHANNON HERNDON, WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE YEAR: KAYLA SCHNEIDER, WOMEN'S TENNIS COACH OF THE YEAR: TERRY HARTLEY, WOMEN'S GOLF COACH OF THE YEAR: JERRY MORETZ, WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY COACH OF THE YEAR: RANDY MCDONOUGH. Congratulations to all. Football awards of course are still to come. 

The new top 25 poll is out from the Sports Network, and despite the drop of the Richmond Siders from 1st to 4th, neither Elon nor the Apps gained any position. The Phoenix are still number 6 and the Apps are still number 7. Southern Illinois is the new number 1 this week, moving up from number 3. Montana is number 2, Villanova is 3rd after beating Richmond. The Spiders are 4th and William & Mary remain 5th. Then Elon and App, New Hampshire is 8th, South Carolina State is 9th and McNeese State 10th. The next five are Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Holy Cross, Eastern Illinois, and Stephen F. Austin. 16-20 are Liberty, Jacksonville State, Eastern Washington, Weber State and Lafayette. The bottom five Prairie View A&M, Florida A&M, Delaware, Colgate and Texas State. The Coaches poll has Montana as the top team, Elon sixth and the Apps at 8th, same as last week. 

Collin Taylor had a perfect day in the net and Lee Rutter knocked in his first goal of the season as ASU men's soccer closed out the 2009 campaign with a 1-0 win at Georgia Southern. It was Taylor's third shutout of the year and moves his overall record to 6-5-1 on the year. The win bolstered the Mountaineers' record to 8-8-1 and 3-4 in league play, and closes the season with a four-game winning streak, and five wins in their last six games.

ASU volleyball was unable to keep pace with a tough Samford squad, falling 3-0 Saturday night, but bounced back to take out Chattanooga Sunday, completing the season sweep of the Mocs with a 3-1 win. With the win, the Mountaineers improve to 12-16 on the season and 8-6 in SoCon action. Appalachian now returns to the comfy confines of the Holmes Center for their final two regular-season matches, hosting UNCG Wednesday night and then Elon on Senior Night Saturday, both matches start at 7pm.

ASU field hockey's season came to a close Friday, as the Mountaineers fell 7-2 to Pacific in a consolation round game in the NorPac Conference Tournament. Appalachian ends the 2009 season with an overall record of 6-15, the most victories the Mountaineers have tallied in a season since 2004. Lauren Kloeppinger was named to the NorPac all-tournament team, one of 12 players honored as all-tournament. The sophomore defender started both games in the conference tournament, and served as an anchor in the Mountaineer backfield all season.

ASU womens basketball took a 108-61 exhibition game win over Lees-McRae Sunday afternoon. Six Mountaineers scored in double figures. The Mountaineers open their season on the road in Hungtington, W.Va. against Marshall Friday night.

The Mountaineer men took down Mars Hill Friday night in exhibition play, winning 94-81. Donald Sims scored 33 points. The men open the regular season at home Friday night against UNC Wilmington. 

The Watauga Pioneers finished the regular season on a down note, falling to St.Stephens in Hickory 16-13 Friday night. The Pioneers struggled against St. Stephens, getting only 216 yards in total offense, including just 68 yards passing. Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, Watauga scored on a 2-yard, fourth-down TD run by Logan Smith that capped an 80 yard, seven play drive and tied the game 7-7. In the third quarter, Jake Gilliam blocked a punt and Baker Stanley returned it six yards for a touchdown with 10:12 left in the third, but missed the extra point. St. Stephens scored with about a minute and half to go in the third and took a one point lead, 14-13 into the final stanza. In the 4th, Pioneer quarterback Devan Corum was sacked in the endzone, giving St.Stephens a 16-13 lead. Watauga's free kick was an onside kick attempt, but St.Stephens was offsides and Watauga tried again. On the second attempt, Matt Scott recovered the ball at the Watauga 38. Devan Corum then led the team on a drive that featured two 15 yards passes to Mo Gore. On third-and-14 at the 18-yard line, Corum passed again to Mo Gore for what would have been a touchdown but the pass was high and incomplete. Corum's fourth-down pass to Travis Oliver was also a miss, and St. Stephens hung on for the win. Corum finished 7-of-16 passing for 68 yards. Logan Smith finished with 98 yards rushing on 12 carries. The Pioneers finish the regular season at 6-5 overall, 3-3 in conference play, and are the 14th seed in the 4A playoffs, and will travel to Jamestown NC to take on the 11-0 Ragsdale Tigers, the 3rd seed.
 
In other Northwestern Conference games:
Hickory 42, South Caldwell 7
Hibriten 48, Alexander Central 7

The Avery Vikings defeated the Mitchell Mountaineers Friday night in the regular season finale, winning 42-38. The Vikings struck early when Colton Blackburn busted out for a 49 yard touchdown run at the 7 minute mark in the first quarter, after the long run, Andres Castanedas kick was good and the Vikings led 7-0. Just a few seconds later the Viking defense forced a fumble, recovered by Tyler long, who took it back 32 yards for another Viking touchdown and Avery was up by two touchdowns early in the contest. Mitchell got on the board at the 9:52 mark of the second quarter on a 24 yard pass play, the conversion failed and the Vikings lead was cut to 14-6. Mitchell would add to their total with a 30 yard field goal with 7:23 to go in the half to make it 14-9 Avery. But the Vikings responded with a 7 play, 62 yard drive that ended with Alex Villanueva running it in from 1 yard out to stretch the lead to 21-9. About three minutes later, Colton Blackburn would bust another long touchdown run, this time for 57 yards and the Vikings led 28-9. The first half fireworks were not yet over, as Mitchell would strike twice in the final seconds, scoring on an 8 yard run after a 5 play, 62 yard drive, then with just 18 seconds to go, Mitchell's Thomas Buchanan caught a pass in the endzone and closed the gap to 28-23 Avery at the half. Avery had the only score of the third quarter when Kenny Hicks capped a long 14 play, 42 yard drive with a 2 yard touchdown run to put the Vikings ups 35-23. But Mitchell would just not give in, getting a 2 yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, followed about 4 minutes later with another field goal, this one from 25 yards, and then, with 1:18 to go in the game, Mitchell scored on a 23 yard touchdown pass to take the lead 38-35. With momentum and the clock in Mitchell's favor, Alex Villanueva showed his stuff and put together a 9 play, 45 yard drive in just one minute and 7 seconds, and hit Andy Gonzales for a 22 yard touchdown to retake the lead and pull out one of the most exciting wins of the season, 42-38 Vikings. The Vikings will ride this momentum into the playoffs, they are the 12th seed in the 1-AA playoffs and will travel to 5th seeded Bessemer City, who has a 7-4 record and is coming off a loss to Lincolnton.

Other Western Highlands Games:
Mountain Heritage 46, Madison 7
Owen 75, Thomas Jefferson 0
Polk 32, Hendersonville 20

The Ashe Huskies finished the regular season with a win, by slowing down the best offense in the conference and beating East Wilkes 26-14. Jaren Holman, Fred Blanks, and Aaron Scott all had rushing touchdowns and led the Huskies in putting up more than 200 yards of rushing. The Husky defense held the top scoring team in the conference to just 14 points.
The Huskies will be the 14th seed in the 2A state playoffs, and will travel to the 3rd seeded East Lincoln Mustangs Friday night. The Mustangs are 9-2 on the year, and have scored 40 points or more in six games this year, including the last three.

In other Mountain Valley Games:
West Wilkes 48, Alleghany 35
Elkin 59, Forbush 6
Starmount 41, Wilkes Central 17

The ASU Mountaineers started out on fire and it looked like it would be a blowout, but Chattanooga would close to within 1 point in the third quarter. But the Apps would not be denied and came away with a 35-20 SoCon win at Kidd Brewer Stadium Saturday. The weather was beautiful for a change and the crowd came out to enjoy it, even the area PeeWee teams were on hand, joining the Mountaineers on the field during the big entrance. They got some high-fives from Head Coach Jerry Moore and several of the Mountaineer players as the fireworks were going off and the band played, certainly a big thrill for the little guys. And the game was a big thrill for the App fans in attendance as the Mountaineers exploded early in the contest. The defense got things started when D.J. Smith picked off a deflected pass on the third play of the game and returned it 34 yards to the UTC one yard line. Two plays later, Devon Moore dove in from a yard out and the Mountaineers led 7-0 just 2:09 into the game. The Apps' defense followed up that interception with another pickoff, followed by consecutive three-and-outs for the Mocs, while the offense converted the defensive stands into touchdown drives of 67 and 55 yards to take a commanding 21-0 lead with 2:01 still to play in the first quarter. However, the next 30 minutes would belong to the Mocs. Chattanooga's comeback began with three-straight ASU turnovers ­-- a fumble by Moore and Armanti Edwards' first two interceptions since Oct. 10. But thanks to the Mountaineer defense, the Mocs only converted one of the miscues into points and the Apps took a 21-7 lead into halftime. The Mocs opened the second half by successfully converting an onside kick, and after 42 yards, hit a 30-yard field goal to make it 21-10. Surprisingly, the Mocs did it again, another onside kick and another recovery, and the Mocs would get all the way to the Apps 5 yard line, but instead a chipshot field goal, the Mocs went for it on fourth-and-one from and Jacque Roman and Bobby Bozzo stopped quarterback B.J. Coleman and the Apps took over, but could not get points. Chattanooga got the ball back quickly and put together drive capped by a two-yard touchdown pass that cut the ASU lead to 21-17. A bit later the Mocs hit another field goal to make it 21-20 with 10:43 remaining in the game. At this point the momentum shifted to the Mountaineers, Armanti Edwards led the team on a nine-play, 63-yard drive capped by an eight-yard touchdown run by Devon Moore and the Apps extended the lead to 28-20. The Mountaineer defense would shine again when Mark LeGree notched the Mountaineers' third interception of the day and just three plays later it was again Devon Moore on a 15 yard touchdown run and the Apps won their 18th straight conference game. The Mountaineers' 322 yards of offense was the lowest total since East Carolina, but keep in mind that the first two possesions were pretty short yardage drives, there were three second quarter turnovers, and the Mocs kept the Mountaineer offense off the field for almost 11 minutes of the third quarter. But the story of the day was ASU's big-play defense, led by Jacque Roman's game-high 11 tackles and first-quarter interception and Demery Brewer's nine stops and a fumble recovery. The win sets up the defacto Southern Conference championship game this coming Saturday at Elon. Both teams are undefeated at 6-0 in the conference, and the winner of the game can do no worse than a share of of the conference title and earn the league's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. 

The Ugly Mugg Avery Viking of the week honors go to Andy Gonzalez, Taylor Potter and Colton Blackburn. Gonzalez had four receptions for 97 yards in the Vikings loss to Mountain Heritage, almost half of the Vikings passing yardage for the game. On defense, Potter was the leading tackler for the Vikings, with a dozen stops, 7 solo tackles, a forced fumble, and on special teams, had a 34 yard kickoff return, putting Avery in good position to start a drive that resulted in the Vikings second touchdown of the game. Colton Blackburn had 10 tackles on the night, 4 were solo stops, and 2 tackles for loss, plus forced and recovered a fumble, and on offense had 3 catches for 35 yards, plus 12 more rushing yards. Andy Gonzalez, Taylor Potter and Colton Blackburn are this week's Ugly Mugg Vikings of the Week.

The MTN Watauga Pioneer of the Week awards go to Devan Corum, Travis Oliver and Caleb Watson. Corum amassed 246 yards in Watauga's win over Hickory Friday night. Devan had 28 carries for 124 yards, and in the air was 7 of 11 for 122 yards and 3 touchdowns. Travis Oliver was the top receiver on the night, making 5 catches for 113 yards and and all 3 of Corum's touchdown passes. Caleb Watson had an interception in the third quarter that he returned for 14 yards and later recovered a fumble on a Hickory kickoff, plus 5 tackles in the game. Congratulations to Devan Corum, Travis Oliver and Caleb Watson, the MTN Watauga Pioneers of the Week.

Some unhappy Mountaineer football news - ASU receiver CoCo Hillary injured his knee during practice Tuesday night and may be out for the rest of the season. The Watauga Democrat reports that the junior was injured in a non-contact drill. Doctors have done tests on his knee and a final determination of Hillary's status was to come late Wednesday. Hillary is second on the team in receptions with 37 catches for 514 yards and four touchdowns. He caught six passes for 83 yards and a 21-yard touchdown in the Mountaineers' 52-27 win over Furman last Saturday. Hillary has also returned 21 kickoffs for 522 yards this year. 

ASU men's soccer used two first half goals to defeat UNC Asheville 2-0 Tuesday night in non-conference play at the Appalachian Soccer Stadium. The Mountaineers grabbed the early lead in the 16th minute, when Sean Dreybus sent a corner kick that went to the back side where J.J. Elder stopped it and lifted it over the Bulldogs' goal keeper. The goal was Elder's fifth of the season while the assist is Dreybus' first of the year. The Apps tacked on an insurance goal in the 32nd minute when David Dodge stole a ball just before midfield, dribbled past two defenders and beat the UNCA keeper from 17 yards out to the right side for his first career goal. Collin Taylor made three saves in the shutout. With the win, ASU has won three-straight and improves to 7-8-1 overall. The Mountaineers' honored seniors Arie Muniz and Kenny Orelaja at halftime, as the pair played their final home game. Appalachian plays the season finale Saturday at Georgia Southern.

ASU womens soccer player Meggie Graham has earned Southern Conference all-freshman team honors, becoming the first Mountaineer womens soccer player to earn the honor. Graham appeared in 17 games, starting in 16 and was tied for fourth on the team in shots with 20. She has a goal and an assist this season. The Mountaineers finished 2009 with an overall record of 6-9-4 and went 3-5-3 in SoCon play, and defeated Davidson and Furman in the same season for the first time in school history. 

Casey Johnson placed 38th in a tough field shooting +4 to lead ASU men's golf to 18th place at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday. The Mountaineers finished at +29.
Mountaineer women's golf finished the fall slate in 10th-place at the Pinehurst Fall Challenge, shooting with their lowest team round of the fall season, at +44. The Mountaineers were led by freshman  Rumbidzai Masamvu, who shot +5 and led all players with 7 birdies.

Tuesday, November 10th from 6:00 to 7:30, you can meet the 2009-2010 Men's Basketball team at Beef O Brady's! There will be autograph's opportunities available from coaches and players, and you're invited to hang around for the live radio broadcast starting at 7:00, as voice of the Mountaineers, David Jackson, previews the upcoming campaign. Head Coach Buzz Peterson and Mountaineer players will answer questions about the new season as the Mountaineer's prepare to battle for Southern Conference Supremacy. Plus, individual game tickets will be on sale for the November 13th home opener versus UNC Wilmington. Its Tuesday November 10 starting at 6 at Beef O Brady's in Boone. 

Watauga Pioneer Men's soccer will face Garinger High School in Charlotte in the first round of the NCHSAA 4A State Playoffs Wednesday eveing at 6:00 PM. Watauga is the #2 4A seed from the Northwestern Conference. Garinger is the #2 seed from the MEGA-7 Conference. Good Luck Pioneers.
-Lady Pioneers cross country team qualified for the state 4-A meet Saturday by finishing second in the Western Regional run at McAlpine Park. The Pioneers had four runners finish in the top 20 and took second overall with a score of 77 points. T.C. Roberson finished first, Ardrey Kell was third. Kayla Schneider led the Pioneers, finishing sixth, Darby Middlebrook was 10th overall. Madison Harmon finished in 17th and Hannah Barbour was 18th. Also going to the state meet is freshman Doria Kosmala who finished 27th, Amanda Carringer was 29th, and Hailey Middlebrook was 39th. Watauga's boys' team finished 10th overall and did not qualify for the state meet. Daniel Osborne was 24th overall, finishing out of the top 20 and not qualifying for state.
-Watauga's Shannon Herndon fell in state 4-A tennis playoffs Friday afternoon at Millbrook Exchange Park, losing to Melissa Kandinata of Cary Green Hope 6-0, 6-1.

The Avery mens soccer team received a wild card entry into the state 1A soccer playoffs and will be playing at Highlands, the #1 seed out of the Smoky Mountain Conference. Highlands is 14-4-1 on the season. The winner of the match will take on the winner of the first round match between Hendersonville and Lake Norman Charter. 

The Cloudland Highlanders will open their bid for a Tennessee state football championship on Friday night when they host Sunbright High School. Kickoff at Orr Field in Roan Mountain is slated for 7 p.m.

The Avery Middle School boys basketball team battled hard against Cane River Monday night. They trailed throughout the entire game, but they took their first and only lead inside the final minute of the game at 36-35. However, Cane River scored with 4 seconds left on a 3-point shot to defeat Avery by a final score of 38-36. The Avery boys fall to 1-1.
The Avery Middle Girls stayed undefeated and improved to 2-0 on the season and a tie for 1st place in the Toe River Conference with a win over Cane River in Yancey County Monday night. Avery Coach Donnie Johnson began with a 1-3-1 defense that completely shut down the Rebels, and Avery jumped out to a 10-2 first quarter lead. Avery's Lauren Burleson led the way as she scored the Panthers' first seven points to give Avery a 7-0 early lead. As Avery switched to a 2-1-2 defense, Cane River came back in the 2nd quarter, hitting shots from outside the zone to cut Avery's lead to 19-13 at the half. The third quarter was very much the same, as Cane River whittled away at the Avery lead. In the final second of the quarter, Cane River was fouled on a long half-court shot, and they hit all 3 free throws to bring them to within 1 point at 24-23. But then Avery's Coach Johnson came up with the great strategy of going to a box and 1 defense with Shannon Smith on Cane River's leading scorer. The strategy worked to perfection and Avery ran off 10 straight points and the Panther defense held Cane River scoreless for the first 4 minutes of the 4th quarter. Avery won by a final score of 38-29. Haley Woody and Lauren Burleson led Avery with 12 points apiece, while Breanna Heaton had 7 points, and Jessie Ramsey led with 12 rebounds. Avery Middle school plays Hampton Middle School in Tennessee Tuesday night.

Armanti Edwards has once again been recognized nationally. This time, two national news services and the Southern Conference honored Edwards for his 461-yard, six-touchdown performance in Saturday's 52-27 win at Furman. The Sports Network and College Sporting News tabbed Edwards as the National Offensive Player of the Week, and the SoCon has named Offensive Player of the Week. Edwards passed for 355 yards and rushed for 106 more in just three quarters in ASU's sixth-straight win, becoming the first player in NCAA Division I history (FCS or FBS) to amass 9,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in a career. On the day, Edwards was 25-of-36 in the air for two touchdowns and matched a career high with four scoring runs. He is now fourth in FCS history with 13,616 yards of total offense. In all, Edwards has earned national weekly honors six times and SoCon weekly recognition 13 times in his illustrious career. 

After claiming the Southern Conference title for the fifth consecutive year Saturday, ASU mens cross country jumped two places to 11th in the latest USTFCCA Southeast regional poll. The Mountaineers gained two spots in this week's poll after easily outdistancing Davidson and Elon en route to the program's eighth title in 10 years. Senior Phil Mitchell led the way at the SoCon meet, finishing fourth overall to take home first-team all-SoCon honors. Joining Mitchell on the first team were sophomore Sean Soderman (sixth place) and senior Alec Meyer (seventh place). Senior Josh Houser was named to the second team after placing 10th overall, while Burk Staub and Brian Graves were named to the all-freshman team. In addition, coach Mike Curcio was named SoCon Men's Coach of the Year for the eighth time in his career. The Mountaineers are off until November 14, when they travel to Louisville, Ky. to compete in the NCAA Regional Championships.

ASU basketball fans will get their first look at the 2009-10 editions of the men's and women's teams at the annual Mountaineer Madness Thursday evening at the Holmes Center. Doors open at 8 p.m. with the Madness commencing at 8:30 p.m. The first 500 fans through the door will receive team posters in addition to a wide range of great prizes to be awarded with numerous contests throughout the evening. Joining in the Madness will be the ASU cheerleading and dance team who will perform along with the ASU pep band. Head coaches Buzz Peterson and Darcie Vincent will speak about the excitement leading up to the 2009-10 season. The evening will close with the men's team holding the fan-favorite slam-dunk competition. Admission to Mountaineer Madness is free for all. Be sure to come back Friday night for the Mountaineer men's exhibition game against Mars Hill. Individual game tickets and season tickets for ASU basketball are on sale and available at the ticket office at the Holmes Center, online at GoASU.com or by phone at 828-262-2079.

The Watauga Pioneers can finish no worse than a tie for third place in the Northwestern Conference after taking down Hickory Friday night 34-17. The final game in Jack Groce Stadium saw the Pioneer defense hold the Tornados to just 174 yards on the night, while Watauga's offense rolled up 341 yards, 219 of those in the running game. Logan Smith scored the first touchdown of the night on a three yard run in the first quarter, the result of a 95 yard 16 play drive that ate up more than 7 minutes of the quarter. Watauga's defense kept Hickory off the board until the second quarter. After a long punt return that gave the Tornados a first down on the Watauga 18, Hickory would score two plays later to tie the game at 7-all. Watauga answered with the first of Devan Corum's three touchdown passes on the night. The first was a 22 yard toss to Travis Oliver, the extra point was blocked and Watauga led 13-7. Hickory connected on a long field goal to make the score 13-10 at the half. Despite letting Hickory get close, Watauga pulled away in the third quarter. Caleb Watson got an interception that set up a nine-play, 43-yard drive that ended when Devan Corum found Travis Oliver for a 28 yard touchdown pass on fourth and nine, and the Pioneers led 20-10. The Pioneers defense would come through on a kick off when Kevin Rook forced a fumble recovered by Caleb Watson. On third down, Devan Corum found Travis Oliver again, wide open in the endzone, and Watauga took a 27-10 lead. Baker Stanley added a 21-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that closed a 62-yard, seven-play drive. Hickory scored in the fourth quarter to account for the final 34-17 score. Devan Corum finished with 124 yards rushing on 28 carries, and hit 7 of 11 passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns. Logan Smith ended up with 66 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. Baker Stanley had 29 yards on three carries and a touchdown. Trey Kavanaugh led the Pioneer defense with 8 tackles, Jordan Pineda had 7 and Jake Gilliam finished with 6. Caleb Watson and Kevin Rook each had 5. Watauga takes on St. Stephens this Friday and should the Pioneers win and go 7-4 on the regular season, they might possibly get to host a playoff game, but its way too soon to say for sure.
In other Northwestern Conference games:
Hibriten 45, Fred T. Foard 7
Alexander Central 28, South Caldwell 3
Alexander Centrall gets the number one seed in the 4A division, Hibriten gets the number 1 seed in the 3A division, the two will play each other this Friday with the number 1 overall seed up for grabs.

Senior night for the Avery Vikings did not have a happy ending. Even though Avery was within one touchdown late in the first half, in the end they fell 35-14 to Mountain Heritage. The Vikings found themselves behind 14-0 before getting on the board in the second quarter, when Alex Villanueva ended an 8 play, 63 yard drive with a six yard touchdown run to make the score 14-7. However, the Cougars extended their lead late in the second on a 17 yard touchdown pass and Avery trailed 21-7 at the half. Mountain Heritage would strike again in the third quarter to go up 28 to 7, but Avery responded just a couple minutes later on a 23 yard pass from Villanueva to Keith McKinney for a touchdown, and it was 28-14. But the Cougars would put it away with another touchdown with two minutes left in the third quarter and the final score was 35-14 Mountain Heritage, and the Vikings suffer their fourth consecutive loss, falling to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in conference play. Heritage out-gained the Vikings on the ground 454 yards to 45, while Avery out-threw the Cougars 198 to 26. Alex Villanueva was 12 for 29 for 183 yards and a touchdown pass and a 6 yard touchdown run. Villanueva was shaken up on a play in the second half and did not return, Samson Jennings finished the game. Andy Gonzalez caught four passes for 97 yards. Taylor Potter led the Vikings on defense with 12 tackles, 7 solo, Colton Blackburn had 10 total, and 4 solo stops. Avery travels to Mitchell to take on the Mountaineers in the season finale.

Other Friday night final scores in the Western Highlands Conference:
Polk 24, Owen 16
Mitchell 35, Madison 0
Hendersonville 51, Thomas Jefferson 0

The Ashe Huskies were on a roll against the struggling Forbush Falcons Friday night at Forbush, taking a 51 - 6 victory. Jeren Holman and Aaron Scott both rushed for over 100 yards and the Huskies put up nearly 400 yards of total offense, while the Husky defense dominated Forbush, forcing three turnovers and shuting down the Falcons' offensive attack. The Huskies will close the regular season at home this Friday, hosting East Wilkes.
Elsewhere in the Mountain Valley Conference:
Elkin 41, Wilkes Central 8
Starmount 16, Alleghany 14
West Wilkes 52, North Wilkes 14
In Northwest 2-A/1-A games:
Bishop McGuinness 33, West Stokes 32
East Surry 55, North Surry 6
Mount Airy 55, South Stokes 7
North Stokes 38, Surry Central 28
Also:
Draughn 47, West Caldwell 34
Bandys 28, East Burke 12

Armanti Edwards accounted for 461 yards of total offense and six touchdowns to lead the ASU Mountaineer to a 52-27 romp over Furman Saturday afternoon at rain-soaked Paladin Stadium. Edwards passed for 355 yards and rushed for 106 more to lead Appalachian to its sixth-straight win overall and its 17th in a row in Southern Conference play. In the process, Edwards became the first player in NCAA Division I history (FCS or FBS) to amass 9,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in a career. Edwards' record-setting performance highlighted what was a rout from the get-go. Thanks to Furman's ill-fated onside-kick attempt to open the game, Appalachian needed just five plays to grab a 7-0 lead on a 16-yard pass from Edwards to tight end Ben Jorden. On Furman's first possesion, Dominique McDuffie forced a fumble which was recovered by Malcolm Bennett at the ASU 14. Thirteen plays later, Edwards scored the first of his four rushing touchdowns from three yards out to make it 14-0. The Apps opened the second quarter with another turnover, Dominique McDuffie intercepted a Jordan Sorrells pass and the Apps had the ball at the Furman 25. But the Apps had to settle for a field goal attempt and the Jason Vitaris kick was wide. The one blemish on an otherwise perfect first half, as the Apps scored on 5 of their first 6 possesions. On the Mountaineers next possesion, a four play 47 yard drive ended with Armanti Edwards running it in from four yards out and it was 21-0 ASU. Furman finally got on the board with 9 minutes left in the half but the Mountaineers continued to pour it on, scoring again on their next possession, one that saw a 14 yard pass play to CoCo Hillary that put Armanti over the 9000 yards passing mark. He celebrated a few plays later with a one yard touchdown run and it was 28-7 Apps. Furman would score again, but failed on the conversion, and with a 28-13 lead, the Apps ran off four plays and Devon Moore scored from 4 yards out to make it 35-13 just before the half. In the second half, Armanti Edwards had another 5 yard touchdown run with 11 minutes to go in the third, making it 42-13, Furman scored just a minute later to make it 42-20, and the Apps scored again just a bit more than a minute later and its 49-20. Furman scored again about 3 minutes later and its 49-27, but that would be their last. Jason Vitaris would end the scoring in the game with a 25 yard field goal, and the Mountaineers improve to 6-2 overall, and a perfect 5-0 in the Southern Conference. The Mountaineers host Chattanooga this Saturday with kickoff at 3:30. MTN will rebroadcast the game in full both Saturday and Sunday night at 8:30.