BOONE, N.C. — No. 3 Appalachian State University rolled up 407 yards of offense in the second half en route to 31 unanswered points and a 48-14 triumph over visiting Presbyterian at rainy Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Four dropped passes and lapses in all three phases of the game punctuated a sloppy first half for Appalachian (2-2), as it led just 17-14 at halftime. Walter Payton Award candidate Armanti Edwards was perhaps the lone bright spot for ASU in the first half as he surpassed his season high for passing yards midway through the second quarter on his way to 220 yards through the air before the break. His yardage total and completion percentage (12-of-21) would have been even higher if not for the four costly drops.
Despite the inefficient play throughout much of the first half, the Mountaineers rebounded from a 7-0 deficit less than two minutes into the game to take a 17-7 lead early in the second period. It appeared as though the Apps would take the 10-point advantage into the locker room, but the Blue Hose marched 80 yards in six plays, capped by a 31-yard touchdown connection from Tim Webb to Terrance Butler with 49 seconds remaining in the half that brought PC within three points.
In the second half, it was all Appalachian. Three-hundred-and-sixty-seven of ASU’s 407 yards after the break came on the ground, highlighted by two touchdown runs apiece by running back Devin Radford and backup quarterback DeAndre Presley.
Radford was especially impressive, torching the Blue Hose for 251 all-purpose yards (179 rushing, 72 receiving) and three total touchdowns (a 72-yard pass from Edwards and runs of two and one yards).
The Mountaineer defense held up its end of the bargain by keeping the Hose off the scoreboard in the second half. The Apps limited PC’s high-octane offense to just 151 yards in the second half and intercepted four passes on the evening, including two by cornerback Cortez Gilbert. Middle linebacker Jacque Roman also picked off a pass and led all players with 12 tackles.
Butler paced Presbyterian’s offensive attack with 12 catches for 164 yards while Webb completed 35-of-57 passes for 372 yards.
Appalachian opens Southern Conference play next Saturday with a huge league tilt versus 13th-ranked The Citadel (3-1, 1-0 SoCon). ASU’s homecoming kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and will be televised live on SportSouth.
NOTES: Appalachian won for the 37th time in its last 38 home games ... the win was ASU’s 16th-straight in games immediately following a loss ... the Mountaineers have not lost back-to-back games since setbacks to Hawaii and Eastern Kentucky to open the 2003 season and have played 69 games since it last dropped two-in-a-row ... Appalachian finished 2-2 in the non-conference portion of its schedule, avoiding its first losing record versus non-conference opponents since it went 1-2 in non-conference action in ‘03 ... the 72-yard connection from Edwards to Radford matched ASU’s longest play of the season ... with 256 yards of total offense, Edwards became only the fifth player in Southern Conference history with 7,500 yards of total offense in a career ... only a junior, Edwards already ranks third on the SoCon’s all-time total offense list with 7,747 total yards for his career ... Edwards’ 220 first-half passing yards were the fourth-most in a single half in his career ... Radford’s three-touchdown performance marked the 10th three-touchdown effort by a Mountaineer in the past 15 games ... kicker Jason Vitaris booted two field goals, including a career-long 46-yarder in the third quarter ... RB Robert Welton, LDE Lanston Tanyi and RCB Jared Reine all made their first-career starts.
