Vikings hoops swept by Huskies

The Avery Vikings lost its season opener in both JV and varsity basketball in Viking Gym on Friday night. The Lady Vikings fell 65-50 to the Huskies. Katie Ellis led the Big Red with 15 points, with 14 points from Katelynn Eudy. Kim McNeil scored 24 to lead the Lady Huskies in the win.

In varsity men's action, a 5 and a half minute scoring drought in the second quarter sealed the team's fate as Ashe turned a one-point lead after the first quarter into a 16-point lead at intermission. The Huskies led by 20 after three quarters and went on to a 71-54 victory.

Dustin Clarke scored 19 points to lead the Vikings, while Tommy Spagnolo netted 17 for the visiting Huskies.

The Vikings travel to Swannanoa on Tuesday for their conference opener against the Owen Warhorses. More on these games in this week's print edition of the Avery Journal-Times.

AJ-T Sports Live From... KIDD BREWER STADIUM

We're here at a chilly Rock to bring you the NCAA FCS quarterfinal contest between ASU and Richmond. App is ranked #2 in the nation and are hosting the #7 ranked Spiders. A win for the Mountaineers advances them to the final four of FCS football where they will play the winner of the game between Northern Iowa and New Hampshire.

We'll try to keep things updated as weather and time allows. The game is being televised as part of the ESPN GamePlan package and can be found on http://www.espn360.com/ with the proper high-speed internet connection.

12:15 PM -- Appalachian took the opening kickoff but was held to three and out. The Mountaineer defense returns the favor to Richmond and receives the ball for its second drive of the game. Scoreless with 10:20 left in the first period.

12:35 PM --Big catches by Ben Jordan and Matt Cline, as well as a pair of Spider penalties set up a 2-yard TD run by Armanti Edwards to put ASU on the board. 7-0 Mountaineers with 2:58 left in the first qtr.

12:45 PM - Richmond takes its ensuing drive and marches 59 yards for a touchdown, helped by a questionable pass completion of 27 yards. Two plays later, Josh Vaughan scores on a 13-yard run. The extra point failed, leaving the Mountaineers ahead by a slim 7-6 advantage as the first period expires.

12:55 PM - Appalachian drives the ball inside the Richmond 40 with the first possession of the 2nd quarter, but a quick pass to CoCo Hillary is fumbled and the Spiders recover the ball at their own 37. A healthy dose of RB Josh Vaughn has been the Richmond game plan throughout the first half.

1:15 PM - The teams traded punts after the defenses held. Richmond used the air attack and ground game to mix up a drive inside the ASU red zone. The Black and Gold defense stiffened, however, forcing a Richmond field goal attempt. The try sailed wide right, presering the narrow 7-6 lead as snow flurries begin to fall at Kidd-Brewer.

1:30 PM - A 39-yard pass play to Brian Quick and a pass to tight end Ben Jordan moves ASU from its own 20 yard line to the Richmond 14 in just two plays. Richmond tightens the reigns on D as they stop the Apps on three straight plays to force a Mountaineer field goal attempt. The 38 yard attempt by Jason Vitaris is no good, keeping the score 7-6 at the end of the first half. Armanti Edwards is 14 of 18 passing for 175 yards for the half.

2:00 PM - Richmond takes the opening kick of the 2nd half and marches downfield with a number of key third down conversions, but can only get to the Appalachian 19 yard line before the Black and Gold hold the offense at bay. A 36-yard field goal by Andrew Howard just slips inside the left upright, giving the Spiders their first lead at 9-7 with 9:05 left in the third period. The snow continues to fall more heavily at the Rock.

2:05 PM - An Armanti Edwards pass is picked off by Richmond's Seth Williams and returned to the ASU 2 yard line. Momentum has definitely swung the way of the visitors. A second effort burst by RB Vaughan gets the Spiders in the end zone on third and goal. The Andrew Howard PAT gives the Spiders the lead 16-7 with 7:21 remaining in the third quarter.

2:30 PM - App has given up another touchdown after Edwards is picked off again by Williams, who returns the ball to the ASU 10. Richmond QB Ward runs it in from 10 yards one play later for a score. The PAT puts Richmond up 23-7 at the 5:46 mark. ASU fumbles the ensuing kickoff, but dodges a bullet after the defense holds the Spiders without a first down as Richmond kicker Howard misses a 33-yard attempt. ASU uses the momentum to drive the field. App scores quickly on a TJ Courman 4-yard TD reception. The two-point conversion is no good, but ASU cuts the deficit to 23-13 at the end of the third quarter.

2:40 PM - ASU gets the ball after a Richmond punt and drives inside Spider territory with the help of a long third down pass play, but two plays later Edwards is hit as he throws and the pass is intercepted by Richmond's Michael Ireland, killing yet another offensive series for the Black and Gold. Josh Vaughan has been strong for the Spiders today with 22 rushes for 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while quarterback Eric Ward has picked up key runs during drives and has a touchdown today himself.

2:50 PM - following the Spider interception the Richmond offense moves the football to the ASU 9, but the drive stalls, so the Spiders settle for a 26-yard Howard field goal to pad the Richmond lead to 26-13 with 10:10 remaining in the contest. Stat line of the game: ASU has been held to only 28 yards rushing on 21 attempts through three quarters. despite Appalachian leading in total yardage 269-255.

2:55 PM - After the ensuing kickoff, Appalachian tries to move the ball quickly and advances it to near midfield. A long bomb pass from Edwards to Brian Quick is intercepted in the end zone by Richmond. Yet another turnover for the Black and Gold who have been killing themselves, particularly in the passing game due to being unable to run the football effectively against a stern Spider defense.

3:00 PM - Soneone told me just last evening that they were concerned that ASU did not have the fire or hunger to complete the quest for four. That omen is looking more and more to be a possibility as Richmond has taken the football from its own 20 and driven the ball inside the ASU red zone with the running game pounding the football downfield while eating precious time off the clock. A third down pass play from Ward to Kevin Grayson keeps the drive alive and moves the football to the ASU 6-yard line for a first and goal with 2:20 left.

3:05 - Josh Vaughan scores on a one-yard touchdown on fourth and goal with 1:38 left in the contest. The PAT makes the score 33-13, effectively ending the season for the Black and Gold and its quest for Four.

3:15 PM - Edwards attempts another pass toward the end zone in the final minute and Williams picks up his third interception of the game. Richmond goes on to run out the clock and pick up the win to advance to the semifinals. Final score 33-13. A great season for the Apps comes up short of its goal of a national title. Congratulations to the Black and Gold. That's it from Kidd Brewer for 2008. We'll be back in a new indoor press box in 2009! Thanks for following the Blog!

Vols Send Fulmer Out In Style

By: Matt Laws (matt.laws@averyjournal.com)
Avery Journal-Times

Knoxville, TN- For a month, Phillip Fulmer knew Saturday night would be his last game. His Tennessee Volunteer football squad made sure he went out a winner, even though he wasn’t ready to leave just yet.

"This has been a really tough year and a particularly tough month,” Coach Phillip Fulmer said. “This group of kids is special. Every group I've had for my 17 years has been special. They have their own uniqueness about them. I don't want to sit here and rattle on. We've had a great run. I wasn't really ready for it to end, but it probably ended about as well as it could. With the emotions, to get the `W,' we finished up in a really positive way.”

Tennessee used a late first half touchdown to take the lead, and never gave it up the rest of the game as they took the 28-10 victory.

Tennessee with the victory pushed their winning streak over Kentucky to 24 games, and also kept Tennessee and Ohio State to not suffer eight loss seasons in program history.

After Jonathon Crompton scored on a one yard dive with little time remaining in the first half, the Vols came out in the second half with an impressive offensive display.

On the third play of the half, Crompton hit Denarius Moore for a 63-yard touchdown pass. Later in the half, Tennessee carried the ball on every play for 80 yards until Lennon Creer ran into the end zone from five yards out.

With less than six minutes remaining in the game, Gerald Jones ran 55 yards, but stepped out on the Kentucky 1-yard line. However, Jones’ number was called a few players later as he ran into the end zone to push the UT lead to 28-3.

Crompton was 6 of 8 passing for 101 yards with one touchdown. Jones had 67 yards rushing, and one touchdown also. Creer had 24 yards and a touchdown, while safety Eric Berry averaged 8.7 yards a carry for a total of 26 yards on six carries.

For Tennessee, it was a night full of emotion as it was Senior Night in addition to being Fulmer’s last contest as coach of the Vols. Fulmer leaves the Tennessee program as the second winningest coach behind General Robert Neyland with a record of 152-52. UT won two SEC championships and the 1998 National Title under Fulmer.

Fulmer participated in the traditional Senior Day activities, and made his last trip through the famous “T” after the senior players. After the game, the players carried Fulmer into the locker room.

"I feel like that's the way a legend should go out, on top,” Volunteer Defensive End Robert Ayers said of carrying Fulmer off the field. “Coach Fulmer is a legend of college football and he is always going to be remembered at the University of Tennessee for being a great guy and a great coach."

Fulmer spent 32 of the past 38 seasons with Tennessee, and was reflective in his post game press conference.

"I've been so blessed,” Fulmer said. “There's just no way to (rank the feeling of this game). I'm sure it's going to take a few days [to sink in]; I guess my wife to kick me out of the house because I don't have anything to do now. To end up with 100 more wins than we've had losses is a really great accomplishment. I've never really brought that up, but that's not done every day. I'm grateful, very, very grateful. Things change. Times change. Sometimes life's not always the way you want it to be. I've accepted that. They've [his players] accepted that."

Tennessee Selects Kiffin to Coach Football Squad

(Courtesy of Tennessee Sports Information)
The University of Tennessee is introducing Lane Kiffin as the 21st head coach in school history during a press conference Monday at 2 p.m. Eastern time in Neyland Stadium's Wolf-Kaplan Center.

Kiffin joins the Vols as the former head coach of the Oakland Raiders and former offensive coordinator at Southern California under head coach Pete Carroll.

During his previous collegiate coaching stint with the Trojans, Kiffin demonstrated strong offensive prowess as an assistant from 2001-04. He was promoted to passing game coordinator in 2004 and served as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator for 2005 and 2006. USC led the nation in offense in 2005 and in both of his years as recruiting coordinator had the best recruiting classes in the nation. Those efforts helped the Trojans to back-to-back national college football championships and produced two Heisman Trophy winners -- Matt Leinart in 2004 and Reggie Bush in 2005.

"Over the past few weeks, we have been on the road meeting with prospective coaches and talking to some of football's most influential and knowledgeable players and coaches about the future of the Tennessee football program," said UT Athletic Director Mike Hamilton. "We have had unbelievable interest from great coaches. When it was all said and done, we felt like Lane Kiffin was a perfect fit for Tennessee. He's energetic, charismatic, consumed with recruiting and has had a lifelong love affair with football."

Kiffin began his coaching career at his alma mater, Fresno State, working with quarterbacks and wide receivers from 1997-98. He was an assistant at Colorado State in 1999, working with the offensive line, and made his first stop in the NFL as defensive secondary quality control coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2000.

Kiffin was a quarterback at Fresno State for three seasons (1994-96) and earned his bachelor's degree there in 1998.

A native of Bloomington, Minn., Kiffin is married to Layla Reaves Kiffin. They have two daughters: Landry (3) and Pressley (2), and are expecting a third child in January. His father, Monte, is the defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The elder Kiffin, a longtime NFL and collegiate assistant coach, served as North Carolina State's head coach in the early 1980s.

Note: The Avery Journal-Times Blog will have a story from UT's victory over Kentucky available online later this week as well as more on this hire as more information is available.

App-Richmond Kickoff Set for Noon

Courtesy of Appalachian Sports Information

BOONE- Saturday's NCAA Division I Football Championship quarterfinal between No. 2-seeded Appalachian State University and Richmond has been set for noon, the NCAA announced on Sunday. The game will be played at ASU's Kidd Brewer Stadium.

The contest will be televised nationally as part of ESPN's GamePlan package, as well as in local syndication. As local networks carrying the game are confirmed throughout the week, GoASU.com will compile a complete list of outlets where the broadcast can be seen.

Additionally, the game will be shown live on ESPN's ESPN360.com online platform.

For more on Saturday's national quarterfinal, check back shortly to GoASU.com.