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Appalachian ends Western’s quest for conference crown
Western Carolina’s hopes for a Southern Conference football championship ended Saturday with a 35-7 loss at Appalachian State.
Still, the Catamounts (5-4, 4-3) finished with their first winning season since 2001.
Western Carolina’s Darius Fudge gained 81 yards in Saturday’s 35-7 loss to Appalachian State. – WCU photo by Mark Haskett
The Mountaineers had four touchdown drives ranging from 72 to 99 yards to maintain sole possession of first place in the league.
Appalachian had a total offense advantage of 413-210 and held WCU to 59 yards on the ground.
ASU’s Kevin Richardson gained 102 yards in 23 carries.
Richie Williams completed 10 of 15 passes for 164 yards. He had 84 rushing yards in 11 attempts.
William Mayfield had three receptions for 72 yards.
WCU’s Darius Fudge picked up 81 yards in 11 carries.
Justin Clark completed nine of 15 passes for 104 yards.
Michael Hines’ three receptions went for 57 yards.
Western’s Lamar Barnes was the game’s top tackler with 12, and Mitchell Dukes had 10.
Corey Lynch paced ASU’s defense with 11 tackles.
The Mounties scored on their first possession by moving 72 yards in six plays. Williams set the tone with a 42-yard run on the first play. Richardson ripped off runs of 21 and 10 yards before scoring from the 2. Julian Rauch kicked the first of his five extra points for a 7-0 lead with 10:26 to go in the first quarter.
Western drove into ASU territory following the kickoff, but Justin Woazeah picked off Clark’s pass and brought it back 24 yards to the 28.
After an exchange of punts, the Mounties found themselves backed up to their 14. They quickly escaped the hole on a 47-yard pass from Williams to Mayfield. Williams followed with a 10-yard run then threw a 23-yard TD pass to Daniel Bettis for a 14-0 advantage with 12:23 remaining in the half.
Backed up to the 1 on its next possession, ASU took nearly nine minutes off the clock by driving the length of the field in 18 plays. The only play in the march, which was aided by a face mask penalty, to go for double digit yards was an 11-yard run by Williams. An 8-yard pass from Williams to Mayfield with 21 seconds on the clock allowed the Mounties to take a 21-0 lead to the dressing room.
Francis Brown intercepted Williams’ pass at the WCU 13 early in the second half.
The Cats gave the ball right back when Marques Murrell recovered Lamont Reid’s fumble at the 20.
ASU came up empty when Rauch missed a 38-yard field goal.
For the second time in the game, former Smoky Mountain kicker Stephen Brown nailed a punt that backed the Mounties up inside their 5. This time they started at the 2 and covered the 98 yards in eight plays. Williams completed passes of 40 yards to Richardson, 17 yards to Mayfield and 13 yards to Zach Johnson. T.J. Courman had a 17-yard run before Richardson went over from the 3 for a 28-0 margin with 1:49 to play in the third stanza.
Appalachian threatened again by reaching the WCU 20, but Shelton Gaffney and Darren Curtis combined to sack Williams for a 7-yard loss on fourth-and-5.
ASU’s defense put points on the board moments later as Monte Smith picked off Clark’s pass and returned it 22 yards to paydirt for a 35-0 lead with 13:42 to go in the game.
Corey Ellison intercepted Trey Elder’s pass at the Appalachian 37 setting up Western’s lone TD. The Mounties appeared to have WCU stopped when reserve quarterback Josh Lee was sacked, but a face mask penalty gave the Cats another chance. Lee hit Eddie Cohen for 21 yards then tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Hines. Jonathan Parsons kicked the PAT to account for the 35-7 final at the 7:22 mark.
WCU ASU
12 First Downs 22
32-59 Rushes-Yds. 48-235
14-22-2 Passing 12-18-2
151 Passing Yds. 178
6-38.5 Punts-Avg. 2-42.0
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
9-95 Penalties-Yds. 7-61
WCU 0 0 0 7 7
ASU 7 14 7 7 35
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