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| Oct 1, 2002 | Online Since 1996 | Vol 77 No. 10 |
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 Josh Brown | Chief Photographer Appalachian State defensive end
K.T. Stovall laid into Broughton to force a fumble that Josh Jeffries
fell on, giving the Mountaineers possession and the momentum in
a game that saw a plethora of big plays. |
“I think that K.T. made a hard hit, I was just trailing the play and I fell on the ball,” said Jeffries. On the ensuing drive, Joe Burchette found Jerry Beard for a 17-yard touchdown pass providing a 30-28 lead. Beard found the end zone one more time, increasing the lead to 37-28. There it stayed until the final whistle blew, giving Appalachian State University (3-1, 1-0 SoCon) a strong victory over Southern Conference foe The Citadel (1-3, 0-2 SoCon) Saturday in Boone. “We have been down in big ball games before so we knew what we had to do,” said Burchette. “We just had to come out, make plays and put it in the end zone.” |
“[Broughton] had
the one critical fumble down there, where if we didn’t turn
it over we might not have given up another touchdown,” said
The Citadel head coach Ellis Johnson. |
Appalachian spread the ball around in route of compiling 537 total offensive yards compared to only 346 notched by the Bulldogs. Leading the charge for the Mountaineers was the arm of Joe Burchette, who threw for his fourth career 300-yard passing game totaling 357 yards in the air. The return of Sterling Hayward to the lineup gave the Mountaineers another wide receiver and another target for Burchette. Appalachian saw three players catch for over 60 yards and was led by sophomore DaVon Fowlkes’ 99 yards receiving. “We all have to run our routes hard because we never know who [Burchette] is going to throw it to,” said Hayward. “Sometimes he will just throw up there and make us go up and make a play.” The Mountaineer rushing game was no stranger to spreading the ball around either as Jerry Beard piled on 68 yards and a touchdown, and both Sean Jackson and fullback Joey Hoover accrued 54 yards each adding to a total of 180 total rushing yards posted by the Appalachian backfield. “We aren’t trying to get it to one guy or another guy we are just trying to spread the ball around a little bit,” said head coach Jerry Moore. “In doing that it opened up some things for Jerry and Sean.” Moving the ball around and playing a solid defensive game sent the Bulldogs back to Charleston with another tough conference loss. “This is one of the best teams in the conference; there isn’t any question about that. They may even be the best,” said Johnson. “I think it’s still a little too early for anybody to be talking about who’s the best, but there is not question about [Appalachian’s] talent.” “The only thing we did wrong today was turn the ball over,” said Burchette. The Mountaineer victory secured Moore’s place in history, giving him a tie for all-time winningest coach with Wallace Wade at 110. Appalachian travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to face East Tennessee State University next Saturday at 6 p.m. in Memorial Center Stadium. 
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