On a bone-chilling Saturday afternoon the Appalachian State Mountaineers hosted the James Madison Dukes in NCAA Division 1 FCS action.
A long kickoff return gave ASU great starting position to start the game, but a Kevin Richardson fumble stalled the drive inside the JMU 30 yard line. JUM capitalized on the turnover with a 9 play 73 yard drive capped by a pass of 10 yards from Lander to Yancey, giving the Dukes the early 7-0 lead.
App held the ball for only one additional possession in the period and were forced to punt. JMU controlled the ball for the remainder of the period to hold a 7-0 lead after one quarter of play. As the Dukes continued the drive, a momentum-changing play took place as Pierre Banks forced a fumble after a pass completion. Jacque Roman toted the pigskin 77 yards inside the JMU 2 yard line. A 4-yard run by Edwards three plays later tied the game at 7-7 with 12:14 remaining in the half.
A long kickoff return gave ASU great starting position to start the game, but a Kevin Richardson fumble stalled the drive inside the JMU 30 yard line. JUM capitalized on the turnover with a 9 play 73 yard drive capped by a pass of 10 yards from Lander to Yancey, giving the Dukes the early 7-0 lead.
App held the ball for only one additional possession in the period and were forced to punt. JMU controlled the ball for the remainder of the period to hold a 7-0 lead after one quarter of play. As the Dukes continued the drive, a momentum-changing play took place as Pierre Banks forced a fumble after a pass completion. Jacque Roman toted the pigskin 77 yards inside the JMU 2 yard line. A 4-yard run by Edwards three plays later tied the game at 7-7 with 12:14 remaining in the half.
JMU regrouped from its turnover to retake the lead with a 7-play, 66 yard drive culminating with a 5-yard jaunt by Yancey to give James Madison back the advantage at 14-7 at the 8:55 mark.
Unfazed, Appalachian roared back with an 8-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 3:08 off the clock. Richardson galloped across from a yard out for the TD, but ASU's PAT was blocked, leaving App trailing by a point at 14-13.
ASU forced its second turnover of the half as Justin Woseah helped force an interception deep inside Dukes territory. On 4th down and one, Edwards raced 17 yards to the JMU one yard line. Edwards scored on a one-yard sneak on the next play to give the lead back to ASU. A successful PAT was wiped off the board by a facemask penalty, and the repeat kick from 15 yards back was wide left, leaving ASU ahead by only five at 19-14 at the half.
Following an ASU turnover, James Madison regained the advantage in the seesaw game. An apparent 25 yard field goal attempt was faked, with the JMU holder flipping the ball over his head to the running kicker Stennard, who scored on the play. The PAT clanged off the upright, but JMU held a 20-19 advantage at the 4:22 mark of the third period.
Following an Appalachian punt, James Madison began a drive near its own 20 yard line, attempting and converting a fourth down in its own territory to keep the drive alive as the third quarter expired. The Dukes continued a time-consuming and potentially back breaking drive inside the Mountaineer 5 yard line, converting a number of third down plays. The 16 play, 76 yard touchdown drive was emphatically capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Sullivan. The PAT gave the Dukes a 27-19 lead with 7:37 remaining in the contest.
ASU picked up points on its next drive with a 9 play, 52 yard drive that took only 2:33. A 44-yard Julian Rauch field goal cut the Mountaineer deficit to 27-22 with 4:51 remaining.
When JMU received its ensuing possession, the offense was faced with a fourth and short decision near its own 34 yard line. Coach Micky Matthews rolled the dice to go for it and try to seal the upset win, but the App defense stepped up big to make a stop behind the line of scrimmage to give the offense back the pigskin with less than 3 minutes to go.
A huge fourth down conversion pass from Edwards to Devin Moore kept the drive alive, and Edwards raced five yards on a QB sneak to give ASU the lead back at 28-27 with 1:10 remaining in the game.
James Madison continued to display resiliency in driving the football with short time inside the Appalachian 10-yard line. A 36-yard pass play set up the Dukes with the opportunity to win the game. Coach Matthews with only 23 seconds remaining chose to run one more running play to place the football in the middle of the football field for his kicker to attempt a chip-shot field goal, but the plans went disastrously wrong when Gary Tharrington forced a fumble from the JMU running back, which Pierre Banks fell on to give ASU the football and the unlikely victory.
This Saturday the Mountaineers host Eastern Washington, who upset McNeese State to advance to the round of 8. Kickoff is slated for noon at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone.
