Josh Brown | Chief Photographer |
As the opening whistle sounded,
the Appalachian State University football team let it be known exactly
what the game plan was Saturday: run over East Tennessee State University
(3-3, 2-1 SoCon).
Appalachian State (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) shoved the football down the
throat of the Buccaneer football team on route to a 29-10 victory
and 214 rushing yards.
Leading the pack of Mountaineer running backs was senior Jerry Beard.
Beard ran for 90 yards on 13 attempts for two touchdowns, while
ETSU did everything in their power to stop the strong back. Beard
added a third touchdown with a reception and 15 yard run after the
catch off of a laser pass thrown by senior quarterback Joe Burchette.
“ I knew that I could do it, but I really hadn’t the opportunities
to do it,” said Beard. “Today every time I got the opportunity
to run the ball and catch the ball I tried to make the best of it.”
“Jerry played the role that he was supposed to play tonight,”
said head coach Jerry Moore. “He found some holes and made
some things happen.”
The game was an awakening for Beard in the Mountaineer backfield.
With a sub-par performance against Liberty University and a mediocre
showing against The Citadel, Beard’s breakthrough game could
not have come at a better time.
“I feel that was a real good individual effort by me,”
said Beard.
“As far as the team goes, we just came in here and did what
we had to do; it was just hard nosed Appalachian football today.”
Leading the team with six touchdowns, four on the ground and two
through the air, rushing yards (367) and creeping up the all-time
list of great Appalachian running backs, Jerry Beard has made a
name for himself in Appalachian history.
Beard is currently ninth in career rushing yards (1796), tenth in
rushing attempts (403) and is close to being on the career rushing
touchdowns list with 14. |
