Appalachian State 37, Chattanooga 17

ASU back breaks Settle's career rushing record
By Steve Behr

sports@wataugademocrat.com

Beating Chattanooga 37-17 at Kidd Brewer Stadium Saturday in front of 23,328 was just one reason for Appalachian State running back Kevin Richardson to smile.

First of all, Richardson added another Southern Conference championship to his resume. The Mountaineers (9-2, 5-2 SoCon), who won the last two SoCon titles outright, share this one with Wofford, who has the SoCon’s automatic bid into the playoffs.

Appalachian State also made the playoffs as an at-large team and will host James Madison Saturday.

“It was a great night and great to win three championships in a row,” Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said.

“This one is a tie with Wofford and we’ve got great respect for Wofford and their program. To share it with them is a tribute to most schools and I think it says a lot about our conference. At one point there were four tied in there. It would have been nice to win one outright, but it’s also nice to tie for it.”

Richardson, a senior from Elizabethtown, set the Mountaineers’ career rushing mark of 4,486 yards, surpassing John Settle with a 10-yard gain in the second quarter. Settle’s old mark of 4,409 career yards was set between 1983-86.

Richardson finished with 103 yards on 23 carries against the Mocs (2-9, 2-5). He has 1,030 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns this season. He’s also the first player in ASU history to rack up three 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

“It hasn’t really kicked in yet, but I guess it’s a great feeling,” Richardson said. “Right now, my focus is to win these last few games and hopefully get back to Chattanooga.”

“Kevin is a great person,” Moore added. “He walked on here. For him to walk on here, he had to take out a ton of loans.”

However, it was Mountaineers quarterback Armanti Edwards who did the most damage to the Mocs.

Edwards gained 157 yards on 25 carries and scored touchdown runs of 7, 28, 40 and 2 yards. Edwards has gained 2,081 career yards, making him the fastest Mountaineer to gain that much yardage. He did it in 22 games.

Edwards’ first two touchdown runs of 7 and 28 yards gave the Mountaineers a 14-0 lead with 6:08 left in the first quarter.

Though Chattanooga struck back with a Antonio Miller 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Joseph Pitman, Edwards scored his third touchdown, a 40-yard run, with just 26 seconds left in the first quarter to give the Mountaineers a 21-7 lead.

But Chattanooga’s defense shut out Appalachian State in the second and third quarters, forcing the Mountaineers to punt for the first time since the third quarter of their win over The Citadel on Nov. 3.

Appalachian State punter Neil Young ended up punting nine times against Chattanooga, pinning the Mocs inside the 20-yard line four times.

The Mountaineers converted just 2-of-13 third downs, but the Mocs were not any better, converting 2-of-12.
“They kept us strung out,” Moore said. “They kept everything lateral. It was hard to find creases to turn up in there.”

Appalachian State led 21-17 until Edwards took advantage of a Chattanooga turnover and scored from the 2-yard line. Julian Rauch hit a 23-yard field goal to give the Mountaineers a safe 30-17 with 8:54, but cornerback Justin Woazeah put the finishing touch on the Mocs when he returned a fumble 32 yards for a touchdown with 36 seconds left.

It was Woazeah’s first touchdown at Appalachian State.

“When the pass was thrown, I thought it was an incomplete pass,” Woazeah, a four-year starter, said. “The receiver was attempting to get the ball like he knew he fumbled it. Corey (Lynch) tackled him and so I went to get the ball on the sideline and then everybody started cheering.”

“It was my first touchdown,” Woazeah added. “I need to get some interceptions. I’ve got too many knockdowns.”

Chattanooga’s 1-2 punch of running backs Bryan Fitzgerald and Erroll Wynn gave the Mountaineers’ defense fits for much of the game. Fitzgerald gained 134 yards on 16 carries, while Wynn had 115 yards on 20 carries. Miller connected on 15-of-32 passes for 136 yards and had two interceptions, one by Lynch and another by Titus Howard. It was Lynch’s 22nd career pick.

Edwards hit 8-of-15 passes for 59 yards and was not intercepted. Chattanooga outgained the Mountaineers 398-364 in total offense.

“We kind of got what we wanted,” Mocs coach Rodney Allison said of his team’s running game. “We didn’t make some adjustments we needed to make. They gave us a couple of looks. We ran it like we needed to do to give us a chance to win.”