Gary Tharrington (96) was named the SoCon’s Freshman of the Week. Photo by Marie Freeman

Gary Tharrington earns SoCon honor

By Steve Behr

sports@wataugademocrat

Appalachian State defensive end Gary Tharrington was named Freshman of the Week by the Southern Conference Monday afternoon.

Tharrington, a redshirt freshman from Middlesex, N.C., had 2 1/2 sacks, 3 1/2 tackles for a loss and five tackles overall in the Mountaineers’ 41-0 victory over Mars Hill at Kidd Brewer Stadium Saturday. His tackles behind the line of scrimmage amounted into 26 yards in losses for the Lions.

Tharrington took over for Daniel Bettis at right defensive end after a slow start in fall camp. He was one of several freshmen who played well against the Lions.

“We’re probably not very good coaches, but we can recruit well,” Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said. “We’ve got good players here and we’re proud of them.”

Tharrington said the Lions were concerned about the Mountaineers’ other defensive end, Marques Murrell, who had a sack with Tharrington during Saturday’s game.

“They kept a focus on Marques and they had a fullback blocking me,” Tharrington said. “He tried to cut (block) me and I just dodged it.”

Furman quarterback Renaldo Gray was named the Offensive Player of the Week while Chattanooga linebacker Chris Johnson was the Defensive Player of the Week.

Missing ring

It took Omarr Byrom a long time to earn his I-AA national championship ring.

It took a thief mere minutes to steal it away from him.

Byrom was in Raleigh with the Mountaineers taking on N.C. State Sept. 2 when a burglar broke into his apartment and stole, among other items, his championship ring. The ring, given to him at a special banquet back in February, is worth $2,000.

However, to Byrom, it represents a lot more than money.

“It’s a symbol of all the hard work we put into getting it,” Byrom said. “It was a 15-week season we had last year.”

Byrom was a starting defensive tackle for last year’s edition, which went 12-3 and beat Northern Iowa 21-16 in the I-AA national championship game. Each player received a ring, which is customary in sports, for his effort.

However, it, a Play Station II, an expensive jacket and at least four pairs of shoes, were taken from his Boone apartment. Byrom first discovered the items missing when he returned from the game around 2 a.m. on Sept. 3.

“I was mad,” Byrom said. “It’s all stuff I bought with my own money, so I really mad about the whole situation.”

It is the second time his apartment was broken into.

So far, no leads has led to the recovery of the ring. Appalachian State athletics director Charlie Cobb said if the ring does not turn up following the police’s investigation,

ASU still No. 2

The Mountaineers are still second in The Sports Network poll, which was released Monday.

Furman stayed No. 4 despite its 45-42 loss to North Carolina. Western Carolina also cracked the top 25, settling in at No. 22.