September 1, 1998

Returning 18 starters could be the difference in 1998

Justin Griffin, Sports Writer

The secret to the success of this year’s Appalachian State football team could be in the numbers. There are 18 players returning with starting experience, an asset that could erase two consecutive 7-4 seasons.

“We’ve got good depth across the board,” ASU Head Coach Jerry Moore said.

Offensively speaking, Appalachian will return all but two starters; quarterback Bake Baker and tailback Gerard Hardy.

Baker passed for 2,550 yards and 18 touchdowns, and Hardy led last year’s squad with 876 yards of rushing.

This year’s team will be a lot like last year’s, in that the pass will play a dominant role in the offense.

The Mountaineers return with the best group of receivers in the conference.  Leading the way will be senior tight end Frank Leatherwood, who caught 36 passes for 436 yards and five touchdowns.

 Leatherwood’s five touchdowns last year tied Darryl Skinner for the team lead.  Skinner ended the season with 668 yards of receiving.  Adding more punch to the passing game will be Joey Gibson, who finished last year with 695 yards receiving and four touchdowns.

David Reaves will be Moore’s first choice at the spot, followed by Daniel Jeremiah and Roman Kelley.  Two other quarterbacks who are working out this fall, but in all likelihood won’t play this year, are freshmen David Batten and Joe Burchette.
 
“All five of them are good players,”  Moore said of the quarterbacks.  “There have been years where each one of them could have been our quarterback,” he added.

Undoubtedly, the competition for the starting quarterback job will only make the quarterbacks play better.

The biggest question for Appalachian, though, is how they will rush the ball.  “Only time will tell,” Moore said of the situation. “We’ve got excellent potential there, (in the running game), it’s just so unproven.”

Appalachian’s ground attack will be helped by the passing game.  Every team who plays ASU is going to have to think about stopping the passing game first and the rushing second.

The result will be a couple of running backs, who have played very little in the past, slipping loose for a couple of big plays.

Opening the way for the running game will be an offensive line which returns nine players who started at one time or another last season.

A source of leadership in the trenches for Appalachian will be medical redshirt Shawn Clark.  Clark will take his second crack at a senior season after being sidelined by a back injury last year.

There’s a good chance that the lack of an experienced quarterback will be negated by a strong offensive line and sure-handed receivers.

Defensively, Appalachian will return six starters.

Rocky Hunt and Jamie Lovern will lead the way up front.  Hunt startedin all 11 games last year and Lovern started in 10.

Lovern finished the season with 36 tackles and one quarterback sack. Hunt ended the season with 51 tackles.

Joey Hall and Adam Neiheisel will lead the way at the linebacker position.  Another player to watch is Joe Best, who stood fifth on the squad with 51 tackles.

The secondary will return Corey Hall, Chuck Payne and LJ Brooks.  All three saw time last year behind Ken Byrd and Elando Johnson.

Overall, the defense looks strong this year, with a wealth of linebackers and linemen returning from last year.   However, the weakness of the Mountaineer defense could be in the secondary, which has two freshmen on the depth charts.
 
 The Apps could surprise a lot of people this year.  None of the preseason polls have Appalachian ranked this year.  Five of ASU’s opponents are ranked in at least somebody’s top 25.

For the past couple of years, everyone has expected Appalachian to be the dominant team at the beginning of the season.  That could be the difference that pays off for App this year. 

E-mail The Appalachian Online at theapp@conrad.appstate.edu