Seriously though, great win! Thanks for keeping the Championship in the SoCon.
Posted on 12/15/2006 9:08:11 PM PST by personalaccts
Appalachian State defeats UMass to repeat as I-AA champs Photo Wire Masshchusett's Mike Thomas (32) celebrates a touchdown with teammate Steve Baylark (5) during their 1-AA... (AP Photo/Wade Payne) · View Photo · Photo Gallery
Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs 24 19 Total Yards 431 372 Passing 146 221 Rushing 285 151 Penalties 3-15 2-25 3rd Down Conversions 7-14 5-12 4th Down Conversions 2-2 1-1 Turnovers 1 2 Possession 33:10 26:50
Individual Leaders Appalachian State Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Edwards 12/19 146 0 1 Massachusetts Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Coen 20/33 221 1 2
Appalachian State Rushing CAR YDS TD LG Richardson 30 179 4 45 Edwards 15 81 0 19 Moore 6 29 0 9 Massachusetts Rushing CAR YDS TD LG Baylark 24 133 0 26 Lawrence 2 13 1 12 Omar 1 8 0 8
Appalachian State Receiving REC YDS TD LG Jackson 3 44 0 18 Mayfield 3 44 0 35 Courman 3 25 0 9 Johnson 1 15 0 15 Massachusetts Receiving REC YDS TD LG Listorti 5 78 1 40 Moore 4 61 0 31 London 4 31 0 12 Baylark 3 24 0 12
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER ASU MASS TD 11:49 MATT LAWRENCE 1 YD RUN (CHRIS KOEPPLIN KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 80 yards. 0 7 TD 1:15 KEVIN RICHARDSON 45 YD RUN (JULIAN RAUCH KICK) Drive info: 4 plays, 70 yards. 7 7 SECOND QUARTER ASU MASS TD 0:49 KEVIN RICHARDSON 6 YD RUN (JULIAN RAUCH KICK) Drive info: 11 plays, 78 yards. 14 7 THIRD QUARTER ASU MASS TD 4:22 BRAD LISTORTI 17 YD PASS FROM LIAM COEN (CHRIS KOEPPLIN KICK) Drive info: 11 plays, 81 yards. 14 14 FOURTH QUARTER ASU MASS TD 13:22 KEVIN RICHARDSON 4 YD RUN (JULIAN RAUCH KICK) Drive info: 13 plays, 71 yards. 21 14 FG 8:46 CHRIS KOEPPLIN 42 YD FG Drive info: 10 plays, 55 yards. 21 17 TD 1:51 KEVIN RICHARDSON 2 YD RUN (JULIAN RAUCH KICK) Drive info: 14 plays, 80 yards. 28 17
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- Kevin Richardson led Appalachian State to its second straight Division I-AA national championship, running for 179 yards and four touchdowns in the Mountaineers' 28-17 victory over Massachusetts on Friday night.
Richardson's third touchdown put the Mountaineers (14-1) ahead 21-14 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. He added another for 2 yards with 1:51 left that gave him the I-AA record for rushing touchdowns in a season with 30.
Appalachian State is the first team to win consecutive crowns in six years, and the Mountaineers relied heavily on Richardson.
The Minutemen (13-2), hoping to win their first title since 1998, cut it to 21-17 on Chris Koepplin's 42-yard field goal with 8:46 left. UMass got the ball back, but Appalachian State's Corey Lynch had an interception to seal it.
Appalachian State is the first team to take home the newly named NCAA Division I Football Championship. The NCAA is phasing out the terms Divisions I-A and I-AA that applied to football. I-A is now the Football Bowl Subdivision, while I-AA is the Football Championship Subdivision.
The large contingent of Appalachian State fans, who didn't have to travel far from Boone, N.C., swarmed the field as the final seconds ticked off the clock and celebrated as fireworks went off.
Appalachian State was ranked fourth nationally in rush offense, and Richardson came into the game with 1,497 yards on the ground.
Richardson broke the TD record of 29 set by Colgate's Jamaal Branch in 2003.
The Mountaineers' freshman quarterback, Armanti Edwards managed the game well and finished 12-of-19 for 146 yards. He also ran 15 times for 81 yards, and Appalachian State totaled 285 yards on the ground.
Richardson's counterpart for UMass, Steve Baylark, tried to carry the Minutemen. He ran for 133 yards on 24 carries.
UMass tied it at 14 in the third quarter on Liam Coen's 17-yard pass to Brad Listorti, who tiptoed a few yards down the sideline to stay in bounds and score.
The Minutemen got the ball after James Ihedigbo intercepted a pass by Edwards at the UMass 19, stopping Appalachian State's first prolonged drive of the second half.
UMass had not allowed an opponent to score in the second half during the playoffs, but Appalachian State responded with a drive that lasted nearly 6 minutes and was capped by Richardson's 4-yard run with 13:22 remaining.
The Minutemen then had to settle for a field goal. Appalachian State got the ball back and scored to put the game away. UMass scored on its first possession when Matt Lawrence ran through the pile a yard for a touchdown.
Appalachian State tied it at 7 at the end of the first quarter on Richardson's 45-yard touchdown run. He ran up the middle and then veered left toward the end zone to avoid defenders.
Richardson put the Mountaineers ahead 14-7 on his 6-yard scamper with 49 seconds left before halftime.
The drive started after a young woman wearing an Appalachian State jersey and holding a big yellow foam finger ran onto the field during a television timeout. She was escorted away by security.
The attendance was announced at 22,808, a sellout and overflow crowd and the largest for the I-AA title game since it moved to Chattanooga in 1997.
ESPN WebHot ESPN Searches: NBA rumors & Trade Machine | Vote: NHL All-time line | Cricket: The Ashes updates Hot Multimedia Searches: Iverson trade talk | ESPN100: Stories of '06 | Interview with The LeBrons
ESPN.com: Help | Sales Media Kit | Report a Bug | Contact Us | Site Map | Jobs at ESPN | Supplier Information | Copyright ©2006 ESPN Internet Ventures. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Safety Information/Your California Privacy Rights are applicable to you. All rights reserved.
Dare I ask for pics??? And congrats to App St, too. Saw them against Montana St. in the quarterfinals and they looked impressive.
Congrats!
I am a YSU alumni and Appalation State ran at will on us. Great football team. I can't see how you guys even lost a game.
Congratulation to my neighbors across the mountain.
Uhhhh...you can tell I didn't do much studying while I was there by the spelling of Appalation...Dohhhhhhhhhhh
GO BUCKEYES,They're next!
I guess I should send congratulations to my daughter, the professor, at App State.
They are the only genuine NCAA Division 1 football champs.
Call me when you've done the "back-to-back" championship two more times
I second that sentiment! Woot!
Congrats to the Apps!
The large contingent of Appalachian State fans, who didn't have to travel far from Boone, N.C., swarmed the field as the final seconds ticked off the clock and celebrated as fireworks went off.
Well, they were closer to Chattanooga than UMass fans were, obviously. But Boone, NC and Chattanooga, TN aren't exactly side-by side; it's a drive of almost 300 miles, over the mountains. Great turnout by the App fans.
Around here it is Appalatchian; not Appalaychian.
Congrats to Appalachian State. We were out there a couple weeks ago when our son's team (Montana State) played....we knew before (and, especially, after) that they were the team to beat. Congrats to the Mountaineers.
We're only losing 9 players:
QB is a freshman
RB is a Jr
She had clothes on. Last week some dude has NO CLOTHES on. Not a pretty picture
I don't think it matters where the game is, Appalachian will bring the fans. Home attendance averaged 24,000, # 1 in the nation (Division 1-AA) behind Montana.
Go Mountaineers!
As A JMU grad, after the 21-10 a--kicking, I'm glad to see you win again!
Too bad ESPN and SI can't figure out how to put it on their websites.
Seriously though, great win! Thanks for keeping the Championship in the SoCon.
Independence High School has won 108 games in a row including 7 straight State Championships. They are not a team, they are a dynasty.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.