Freshman quarterback Richie
WIlliams (7) runs the ball during Saturday’s 54-13 win
over the Keydets. Williams rushed for a total of 137 yards and
two touchdowns against Virginia Military Institute.
The Appalachian State University
football team was back in the swing of things Saturday as they toppled
the Virginia Military Institute 54-13.
It was the first game this season the team felt it had
fully dominated the field both offensively and defensively.
“We were picked No. 2 to begin, and today
we played like a top10 team,” said senior quarterback Joe Burchette,
who threw for 224 yards and four touchdowns in the first half.
Burchette and the Appalachian offense controlled
the game during the first half, putting nearly 40 points on the
board.
They were the points the offense had been missing
in its previous games. Two weekends ago, the team tallied over 500
yards of total offense against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
but failed to execute in the red zone, resulting only in a 20-17
victory.
Burchette’s leadership lends
to Mountaineer offense, defense cohesion
Allie Woods Sports Beat
Josh Brown | Chief Photographer
Quarterback Joe Burchette connects
with freshman tight end Daniel Bettis(80) in the end zone, scoring
the first of 54 points against VMI.
The 27-yard pass from senior quarterback
Joe Burchette to senior wide receiver Sterling Hayward on the first
play of the game was a sign of things to come.
Three plays later, the Mountaineers put the first
of their 54 points on the board. Burchette found freshman tight
end Daniel Bettis in the back of the end zone for his third touchdown
of the season.
“This is the first game we’ve really
played as a team on offense and defense,” Burchette said. “It’s
great to know we can do this.”
The Appalachian State University defense also
gave a stellar performance. ASU only ran three more plays than the
Keydets, and the defense only allowed 150 total yards.
“As a defense going into this game we thought
we had a pretty good game plan against them,” said senior defensive
end Josh Jeffries. “Our linebackers and secondary played awesome.
I think we had two interceptions in the secondary and up front I
know we didn’t have many sacks and stuff but just putting pressure
on him helped a lot.”
Mountaineers snap losing streak with
3-0 win over Citadel Bulldogs
Josh Dernosek Sports Beat
The Appalachian State University volleyball team
split their two matches this weekend with a loss to College of Charleston
(CofC) and a win over The Citadel during a volleyball-filled Boone
weekend.
College of Charleston (22-5, 15-2 SoCon) completed the season against
the ASU volleyball team Friday evening with a three-game sweep in
George M. Holmes Convocation Center.
The Mountaineers’ (13-16, 7-10 SoCon) 27 errors committed were
the biggest downfall for the host team as they went down 30-18,
30-16 and 30-20 consecutively.
Freshman outside hitter Kali Rumberger led Appalachian with 13 kills,
while senior setter Starla Gustafson tallied 26 assists and a service
ace.
The Cougar attack was too much for the Mountaineers, however, as
Tara Greene and Stephanie Ballard each accrued nine kills. With
30 assists and a pair of service aces, Mary Sabatino held the Cougar
offensive together while the Appalachian attack could not stay consistent.
Saturday night proved to be a bit different as the Mountaineers
gave The Citadel a taste of the medicine CofC prescribed the night
before.
Offense was not a problem on this evening as the Mountaineers swept
passed the Bulldogs 30-22, 30-14 and 30-20.
Appalachian was once again led by Rumberger as she tallied 21 kills,
while senior middle-blocker Katherine Dean showed up big with a
solo block and five block assists.
The Mountaineers host Davidson College Friday at 7 p.m. in the Holmes
Center.
