Eastern can’t contain Mountaineers’ Edwards

Published 11:43 pm Saturday, December 1, 2007

BOONE, N.C. — Armanti Edwards threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead two-time defending champion Appalachian State to a 38-35 win over Eastern Washington Saturday in the Football Championship Subdivision playoff quarterfinals.

Edwards had 221 yards passing and rushed for 126 yards for the Mountaineers (11-2), who tied an NCAA record with their 10th straight postseason win.

Edwards entered the game as a huge offensive threat, having rushed for 1,060 yards and 16 touchdowns and passed for 1,347 yards and nine touchdowns. His 23 rushes and 22 passes accounted for 45 of the 82 plays the Mountaineers ran on offense Saturday.

Beyond Edwards’ performance, turnovers killed the Eagles (9-4), Eastern coach Paul Wulff said. EWU, which came into the game ranked 13th in FCS in turnover margin with a plus 15, had three turnovers; Appalachian State had none. One of EWU’s fumbles came at the ASU 2-yard line in the second quarter as Eastern was driving for a potential game-tying score.

“You can’t turn the ball over like that and win a ballgame.” Wulff said.

Appalachian State built a 38-21 lead on Kevin Richardson’s 16-yard touchdown run with 6:07 left, then had to hold off a furious Eastern Washington rally.

The Eagle’s Dale Morris scored from a yard out to cut the lead to 38-28 and Matt Nichols found Matt Martin for a 2-yard score to make it 38-35 with 28 seconds remaining.

The Mountaineers then recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock, advancing to the semifinals next week against Richmond.

“They did a nice job against us, but we didn’t execute very well either,” Wulff said. “It wasn’t a great day for us.”

Nichols completed 24 of 42 passes for 185 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and Morris rushed for 69 yards for Eastern Washington, which had its five-game winning streak snapped a week after upsetting No. 2 seed McNeese State.

The Mountaineers finished with 529 yards of total offense and had scoring drives of 95, 71, 86, 60 and 61 yards. Eastern finished with 368 yards of offense, but after falling behind by two touchdowns, the Eagles used a pair of long kickoff returns and a fake punt for a score to stay within striking distance of ASU.

“Special teams kept us in the game, obviously,” Wulff said.

Trailing 14-0, Nicholas Ramos, Eastern’s smallest player, jumpstarted Eastern with an 82-yard kickoff return. The 5-foot-7, 155-pound receiver/returner took the ball to the ASU 14, where two plays later, Nichols found Aaron Boyce for a 7-yard touchdown.

Ramos returned three kickoffs for 155 yards. A.J. Jimerson returned a kickoff 78 yards for a score — Eastern’s first kickoff return touchdown since the 2001 season. In addition, Bryan Jarrett scored on a 51-yard run on a fake punt.