SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Appalachian State University is a near unanimous choice of the Southern Conference’s coaches to win the 2010 SoCon football championship, the conference announced on Monday.Appalachian received first-place votes from 7-of-9 SoCon coaches in the conference’s preseason poll. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams, meaning that only one of eight possible votes was cast for a team other than ASU.
The Mountaineers are in search of their sixth-straight SoCon title, which would match the conference record for consecutive championships set by Georgia Southern from 1997-2002. The Apps return 20 starters (nine on offense, seven on defense and four specialists) from last year’s squad that went 11-3 overall, including a second-straight perfect 8-0 SoCon record, and finished ranked No. 3 in the major national polls.
Appalachian also had a league-high 13 representatives on the SoCon’s preseason all-conference squads, nearly twice as many as Samford, which landed the second-most players on the squad with seven.
Ten of ASU’s 13 preseason all-conference honorees are first-team selections, led by Walter Payton Award candidate Devon Moore (Mebane, N.C./Cedar Ridge) at running back and its trio of Buck Buchanan Award candidates on defense: end Jabari Fletcher (Atlanta, Ga./Grady), linebacker D.J. Smith (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) and defensive back Mark LeGree (Columbus, Ga./Pacelli Catholic).
Joining Moore, Fletcher, LeGree and Smith on the first team are offensive linemen Brett Irvin (Gaffney, S.C./Gaffney) and Pat Mills (Charlotte, N.C./Providence), tight end Ben Jorden (Weddington, N.C./Charlotte Latin), wide receiver Brian Quick (Columbia, S.C./Ridge View), defensive end Lanston Tanyi (Shelby, N.C./Shelby) and place kicker Jason Vitaris (Seneca, S.C./Seneca). ASU’s second-team selections include offensive linemen Daniel Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn./Dobyns-Bennett) and Matt Ruff (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) and defensive back Ed Gainey (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mt. Tabor).
Appalachian officially begins preparations for the 2010 campaign on Friday, Aug. 6 when it opens fall practices. The season opener is Sept. 4 at SoCon-rival Chattanooga. The opener will be televised regionally on SportSouth and kicks off at 3 p.m.
