ELON, N.C. – Appalachian State University took a 21-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter and cruised to a 27-10 win over No. 6 Elon on Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium that clinch Appalachian's fifth-straight Southern Conference football championship.
In addition to becoming just the second program in SoCon history to win five conference titles in a row, No. 7/8 Appalachian (8-2, 7-0 SoCon) earned the league’s automatic berth in the 2009 NCAA Division
I Football Championship. ASU will make its fifth-consecutive postseason appearance when the playoffs begin on Nov. 28.ASU's 19th-consecutive SoCon win came in convincing fashion. Elon (8-2, 6-1 SoCon) came into the contest with the nation's No. 1-ranked defense and fifth-ranked offense, but the Mountaineers outplayed the Phoenix to the tune of a 486-270 advantage in total yardage. The yards were the most allowed and the second-fewest gained by Elon this season.
Appalachian all but put the game away in the first quarter, thanks in large part to intercepting Elon quarterback Scott Riddle three times in the game's first 14:50. ASU turned the three interceptions into touchdown drives of 50, 90 and 15 yards to take the commanding 21-0 lead on the opening play of the second period. Mark LeGree grabbed two of the three interceptions - giving him a SoCon-leading six on the season - and Armanti Edwards capped the three scoring drives with touchdown runs of 15, six and three yards.
From there, the Mountaineers put the 21-point advantage in the hands of their defense, which responded by forcing the Phoenix to punt on its final three possessions of the first half. In all, the ASU defense forced four punts and three turnovers while limiting Elon to just 110 yards before halftime.
The only bad news of the opening two periods came on ASU's final series of the half when Edwards, who had completed 12-of-14 passes to that point, was hit by Elon's Andre Campbell on an incomplete pass late in the second quarter and headed to the locker room early with an injury to his right knee.
With Edwards still out of action, Elon forced Appalachian's only three-and-out of the day on the first series of the second half. Buoyed by the stop, the Phoenix drove inside the ASU five yard line on its ensuing possession. However, the Mountaineer defense held its ground and the Phoenix had to settle for a 23-yard field goal that cut the Apps' advantage to 21-3.
Edwards returned to the game on the following series and led the Mountaineers on a nine-play, 50-yard drive that milked 4:53 off the clock and culminated with a 35-yard field goal by Jason Vitaris that extended the ASU lead back to 21 points at 24-3.
That would be more than enough for the Black-and-Gold defense, which forced two more three-and-outs before Elon finally found the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Riddle to Aaron Mellette with 4:48 left to play. With that score, the Phoenix avoided its lowest scoring output of the season and Riddle dodged being held without a touchdown pass for just the second time in his stellar three-year career.
Despite Elon's late score, the story of the day was the Mountaineer defense. ASU held the Phoenix to 25 points, 97 rushing yards, 88 passing yards and 185 total yards below its season averages while forcing six punts and three turnovers in 12 defensive series.
Linebacker D.J. Smith led the way with a game-high 15 tackles. Defensive linemen Anthony Williams, Jabari Fletcher and Lanston Tanyi combined to sack Riddle five times and cornerback Ed Gainey had the second of ASU's three first-quarter interceptions.
Offensively, Edwards rushed for 73 yards and all three Mountaineer touchdowns and completed 21-of-24 passes for 281 yards despite sustaining the knee injury near the end of the first half. He is listed as questionable by ASU's medical staff for next week's regular-season finale versus Western Carolina.
Matt Cline caught eight of Edwards' passes for 104 yards and Brian Quick fell just short of the century mark with 99 yards on six catches.
Appalachian looks to wrap up a third undefeated SoCon slate in four years and claim the outright conference crown next Saturday when it hosts archrival WCU in the annual Battle for the Old Mountain Jug at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
NOTES: Appalachian joins Georgia Southern, which won six-straight titles from 1997-2002, as the only SoCon programs to ever win as many as five-consecutive league championships ... ASU's 19-straight SoCon wins are the fourth-most in the league's 88-year football history and the most since West Virginia's record 30 wins in a row from 1952-59... Edwards is the first starting quarterback to ever lead a squad to four-straight SoCon championships ... ASU's SoCon title is its 10th overall and its FCS postseason berth is its 17th ... the Mountaineers stretched their winning streak over Elon to 14, with Elon's last win in the series coming in 1964 ... with a season of eligibility still remaining, LeGree became the FCS active leader with 16 interceptions in his career ... Vitaris (2-for-4) missed two field goals in a game for the first time in his career ... Riddle's three interceptions matched a career high ... prior to Saturday, Elon's largest deficit in a SoCon game this season was three points.
