Mountaineers picked

to play in postseason games
From staff reports

Appalachian State receiver Dexter Jackson and offensive guard Kerry Brown will play in postseason all-star games in the next few weeks.

Jackson will play for the East squad in the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 19 in Houston.

Jackson, a senior, stunned and electrified the Michigan Stadium crowd by scoring two touchdowns in the Mountaineers 34-32 victory over the Wolverines back on Sept. 1. Jackson did the same to the crowd at the FCS national championship game by hauling in a 60-yard strike from Armanti Edwards, giving the Mountaineers a 28-7 lead heading into halftime.

Jackson finished the season 30 receptions for 688 yards and eight touchdowns. He ended career with 110 catches for 1,846 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Brown is a two-time Jacobs Blocking Award winner and an AP All-American. Brown, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 310 pounds, anchored an offensive line that blocked for an offense that averaged 42.7 points and 488.3 yards per game.

Banks tops in academics
Linebacker Pierre Banks was one of 51 student athletes named to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) 10th-annual Academic All-Star Team.

Banks finished fourth on the team in tackles with 108 and led the Mountaineers with three fumble recoveries. He also forced two fumbles.

Banks recovered the James Madison fumble at the Appalachian State 9-yard line that secured the

Mountaineers’ 28-27 victory in the first round of the playoffs.

TV rankings
Appalachian State’s win over Delaware drew a 1.51 rating on ESPN, which was up 20 percent from last year’s game.

Locally, it drew an 11.8 in the Winston-Salem area and a 10.8 in Charlotte.

Final polls
Appalachian State claimed its third consecutive FCS National Championship by defeating Delaware 49-21 in Chattanooga. They also climbed back to the top of the FCS Coaches and The Sports Network polls.

The Mountaineers received 27 of the 28 first place votes and tallied 696 total points in the coaches poll.

Appalachian State finished with a 13-2 record and won its final eight games. The Mountaineers were No. 1 at the start of the season until they lost to Wofford.

Also receiving first place votes was Northern Iowa, with one first place votes and 571 points. Delaware placed second followed by Southern Illinois, Richmond, Massachusetts, James Madison, Eastern Washington, North Dakota State and Wofford rounding out the top 10.

Delaware jumped 11 spots to No. 2 and Eastern Washington climbed six spots to No. 8 in the poll playoffs success, while Montana and McNeese State fell following losses in the first round of the FCS Playoffs.

The members of The Sports Network poll voted the Mountaineers their unanimous No. 1 selection. The Mountaineers received 119 votes cast.

Delaware was second, followed by Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa and Richmond.

Wofford was sixth in the poll. Georgia Southern was 17th and Elon was 23rd. Massachusetts was seventh, followed by Eastern Washington, North Dakota State and Montana.

Georgia Southern was 18th in the coaches poll and Elon was 23rd.