11:00: Good morning from beautiful Kidd Brewer Stadium on a perfect Saturday for football. Today, 16 teams start their quest for a national title with the Football Championship Play
offs. Appalachian is facing a stiff challenge as South Carolina State comes to Boone sporting a 10-1 record with their only loss being to the SEC's South Carolina 38-14. Neither team was one of the four seeds, and will face the winner of the Elon/#4 Richmond contest that is at 1:00pm today. Today's App contest will be broadcast on ESPNU. Due to NCAA regulations, we will not be doing as many updates as Jamie normally does, but will still keep you informed. Also, the Avery Vikings are playing at Mitchell today with the Lady Vikings set to tip off at 12. We will keep you informed as we get those scores also. Hope you have a great Saturday, and enjoy some excellent football. (NCAA Graphics Courtesy of NCAA.org)11:45: It's almost game time as Kidd Brewer as the stadium is starting to fill up as both teams have returned to the locker rooms.
At the end of 1, the Mountaineers are in scoring position, but trail 3-0 after a Devon Moore fumble inside the red zone thwarted a 14 play 71 yard drive for the 'Neers. S.C. State scored on their opening drive.
Halftime: App gets a field goal as time expires on the second quarter to retake a 13-10 lead. The 'Neers had been leading 10-3 with 1:34 remaining, but Armanti Edwards was intercepted by Rafael Bush who returned it 46 yards for the score. The Mountaineers benefited from two unsportsmanlike penalties on the Bulldogs as they were forced to kickoff from the 7 yard-line.
Avery Update: Avery girls won big as they take a 77-41 victory over Sullivan North at Mitchell, while the Avery boys lead 24-20 with 5:50 remaining in the first half.
End of the 3rd: The Bulldogs kicked through a field goal to tie the game at 13. The Mountaineers had a drive stalled by a Edwards fumble, and SC State looked poised to run it back, but Matt Cline forced a fumble on the return and the 'Neers took back over. Entering the final quarter, App will be going towards the scoreboard, which today is less windy then the other side. App has had a season high of four turnovers so far today.
Final: We have gone final here in Boone and the Mountaineers live to play another day as Ed Gainey broke up a SC State pass on 4th down with 16 seconds left to seal the victory. The Mountaineers broke into the end zone when a field goal attempt's snap went over the holder's head and App's Dominique McDuffie picked up and scrambled 50 yards for the touchdown. We will have more information on this contest later in the weekend as well as info on App in the next round.
