Coach Choate tries to make his mark

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[B]Division I-AA Football Breaking News[/B] In a shocking turn of events, longtime Appalachian State Mountaineers head football coach Jerry Moore stepped down from his position of 15 years. On the heels of this announcement, Appalachian State began interviews to replace the beloved Coach Moore. The most logical replacement was offensive coordinator Adrian Parrish, but the ASU AD took the search around the U.S. before interviewing a young man who was the running backs coach at Louisiana Tech, and had just worked with one of the top running backs in Division I-A college football in Ryan Moats. A great interview and several talks later, they hire that man. So in another shocker, Appalachian State hires Kenneth Choate as their new head football coach. Coach Choate chose to keep Parrish on as his offensive coordinator, but brought in a new defensive coordinator Joe Strachan and Seth Mercer for special teams. When asked about his new job and what he thought Appalachian State's chances in the SoCon this season, Coach Choate said, "It's an honor to be the head coach here. Jerry Moore was a terrific coach and built a great program, so I'm just riding the bull he raised. I see us being very competitive in the SoCon this year, and we'll be right up there among the tops in the conference." Ranked 10th in the preseason polls, the expectations are high for Coach Choate and the Mountaineers. Can this brand new football coach do what Coach Moore couldn't do and win a national championship with the Mountaineers, or will this team continue to get oh so close but not finish with the trophy?

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[U][B]Coach Choate breaks down the offense[/B] [/U] With the personnel that we have, it looks like we'll be best suited to run a more balanced attack, similar to what we ran at Louisiana Tech. Lots of running with short to medium passes making a good mix. [U]Quarterback[/U] Six options here. Incumbent senior Jeff Kent is the most impressive, with junior Jason Baugh going to be his backup. Redshirt junior Rod Pinkard and redshirt sophomore Ralph Mitchell will be the deep relief, and sophomore Roland Haynes and stud freshman Bill Davis will be taking redshirts. [I]Starter - Jeff Kent, 3.0/3.0, drop back passer[/I] [U]Running Back[/U] The most talented position on the whole team has four members. Senior Paul Freitas is a contender for Division I-AA player of the year if he stays healthy, and true sophomore Jonathon Ellis will be the future of the backfield. Junior Art Nelson will be the deep man, and freshman Greg Hester will be redshirted. [I]Starter - Paul Freitas, 4.5/4.5, inside runner[/I] [U]Fullback[/U] Junior Jason Cappadona tops off an unimpressive crew that has seniors Lincoln Paige and Jason Rainer playing mostly special teams. [I]Starter - Jason Cappadona, 3.0/4.0, receiving fullback[/I] [U]Wide Receiver[/U] Redshirt junior Mike Doornink looks to be one of the top receivers in D I-AA, with true freshman Victor Norton and junior Wayne Smith splitting time opposite him or in the slot. Senior Curtis Greisen will see action in four receiver sets, and sophomore Rien Muhammed will be primarily special teams. Freshmen Daryl Hunter and Mike Whittington will take a redshirt year. [I]Starters - Mike Doornink, 5.0/5.0, balanced / Victor Norton 3.0/5.0, possession[/I] [U]Tight End[/U] A top notch group led by senior Todd Bennett, although redshirt sophomore Louis Sweet will see significant time this year. Sean Pile will be a goal line tight end and special teams, and Randy Stephens will be a redshirt. [I]Starter - Todd Bennett, 4.0/4.0, blocking[/I] [U]Offensive Line[/U] The O-line is a veteran bunch, despite only one senior, guard Earl Fasani. Three juniors, guard Lawrence Manning, center Todd Adams and tackle Todd Umenyiora round out with sophomore tackle stud Dick Johnson. Depth won't be a problem here with eight tackles, five guards and three centers.

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[U][B]Coach Choate breaks down the defense[/B] [/U] With the guys we have starting up front, we'll be running a stout 4-3 defense. I'm not exactly a defensive guru, so this is where I'll need the most help from my defensive coordinator. [U]Defensive End[/U] Two good balanced defensive ends anchor the edges of my defensive line in senior Tony Michaels and junior Terry Nix. Sophomore Jesse Blair will be a big impact player in the future, and freshman Willie Fasani will be third on the depth chart. Fred Claybrooks will be redshirted, as he has a tremendous upside. [I]Starters - Tony Michaels 3.5/3.5 / Terry Nix 3.0/4.0[/I] [U]Defensive Tackle[/U] We've got three solid talents inside the D-line, but depth could be a major issue here. Junior Ron Weary and sophomore Gary Emmons are potent and Ben Quilan is just as good, but only one more on the depth chart is true freshman stud Mike Wulfeck. I'd love to give Wulfeck a redshirt, but three tackles is too few to do it. [I]Starters - Ron Weary 4.0/4.5 / Gary Emmons 2.5/5.0[/I] [U]Inside Linebacker[/U] Senior Kevin Brenner gets the nod here, with junior Johnny Stinchcomb as his backup. Hopefully sophomores Jon Ashworth and Dave Jordan won't have to play much but on special teams, but freshman Fran Francis will be fighting next year with Stinchcomb for the starting role. Fran will be redshirted this year. [I]Starter - Kevin Brenner 3.5/3.5[/I] [U]Outside Linebacker[/U] Another bright spot on the defense, as senior Nick Bennett will be causing havoc all over the field this year. Junior Duane Jones starts opposite of him, and sophomore Itula Patten will be an adequate backup. Beyond him though, sohpomore Jumbo Ledyard and true freshmen Willie Blankenship and Floyd Glenn won't be much to write home about, at least not yet. Glenn will be the better of the two freshmen, so hopefully he won't mind taking a redshirt. [I]Starters - Nick Bennett 4.0/4.0 / Duane Jones 3.0/4/0[/I] [U]Cornerback[/U] Juniors Tavon Thompson and Hoyle Comella will both be good shutdown corners, but I sure do hope nothing happens to either one, because it will hurt big time. Sophomores Ray Keisel and Dick Lemons both are good talents, but they haven't gotten it all together yet. Freshman Scott Taylor will be on the squad, but Rod Schlesinger will be redshirted. [I]Starters - Tavon Thompson 4.0/4.5 / Hoyle Comella 3.0/4.0[/I] [U]Safety[/U] Senior Jeff Nails starts at strong safety, and sophomore Albert Shields is at free safety. Unlike cornerback, we've got pretty solid depth here, as Junior Barrett Wiley and sophomore Mike Brown back them up, and redshirt freshman Donnie Branch will see some time as well. Top recruit Gary Ford will be redshirted. [I]Starters - Jeff Nails 4.0/4.0 / Albert Shields 3.0/4.0[/I]

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[U][B]Coach Choate breaks down the special teams[/B] [/U] This could be weakest unit on the team, at least on the side that scores points directly. With two freshmen kickers, we could be in a bit of trouble if it comes down to a field goal. Punting should be top notch though, as Jason Richard could be an All-American punter. Third running back Art Nelson will be sharing the kickoff return duties with backup wideout Curtis Greisen. Mike Doornink, along with being a top notch receiver, will also be running back punts as well. All in all, we should be okay on special teams, but I'm a bit scared of close games this year. [I]Starters Kicker - Jed Zimmerman 1.5/3.5 Punter - Jason Richard 5.0/5.0 Kick Returners - Art Nelson (80) and Curtis Greisen (75) Punt Returner - Mike Doornink (99)[/I]

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[B][U]Scheduling[/U][/B] It's gonna be a long road ahead in conference, so we schedule some home games against middle of the road teams and try for one tough home nonconference game. Unfortunately, neither Massachusetts nor Maine wanted to come to us, and didn't want us going to them. Now, instead of a tough schedule, we face a pretty average schedule out of conference. Week Opponent 1 Sam Houston State 2 Dayton 3 OPEN 4 at Western Carolina 5 at The Citadel 6 at Elon 7 at Chatanooga 8 Furman 9 Cal Poly 10 Wofford 11 at Northern Colorado 12 Georgia Southern 13 OPEN 14 OPEN 15 Dartmouth Wow, four straight road conference games! Luckily, we have Wofford, Furman, and Georgia Southern in our house. That'll make a difference in who wins the conference championship, wait and see if it will.

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[u][b]Preseason Media Poll[/b][/u] 1. Massachusetts 2. Deleware 3. Maine 4. Montana 5. Montana State 6. [i]Furman[/i] 7. Western Kentucky 8. Eastern Washington 9. William & Mary 10. [b]Appalachian State[/b] 11. [i]Georgia Southern[/i] 12. [i]Wofford[/i] 13. Villanova 14. Northern Iowa 15. James Madison 16. New Hampshire 17. Northeastern 18. Western Illinois 19. Portland State 20. Idaho State 21. Colgate 22. Harvard 23. Hofstra 24. Pennsylvania 25. Southern Illinois *Italics denote scheduled game*

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[u][b]Preseason Coaches Poll[/b][/u] 1. Massachusetts 2. Deleware 3. Maine 4. Montana 5. [i]Furman[/i] 6. Montana State 7. Western Kentucky 8. Eastern Washington 9. [i]Georgia Southern[/i] 10. [b]Appalachian State[/b] 11. William & Mary 12. Villanova 13. [i]Wofford[/i] 14. Northern Iowa 15. James Madison 16. New Hampshire 17. Northeastern 18. Western Illinois 19. Portland State 20. Idaho State 21. Colgate 22. Harvard 23. Pennsylvania 24. Hofstra 25. Southern Illinois *Italics denote scheduled game*

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[b][u]Week One[/b][/u] We're playing Sam Houston State out of the Southland Conference this week. They're a middle of the road team down there, and we're favored by sixteen points here at home. Hopefully I'll get my first Gatorade shower at the end of this one. [u]First Quarter[/u] This one doesn't start off well. Art Nelson makes a bad decision on bringing a kick out and we start at the 14. We convert a third and long on a screen to Freitas, but he fumbles! Sam Houston gets down to our three yard line but we hold and force a field goal. We drive down and hit a field goal of our own. Sam Houston moves the ball and we force a punt, but we move a little and they force a punt to finish off the first quarter. [i]ASU 3, SHS 3[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] After we force a punt from deep in their own territory, we drive down on the legs of Freitas and Kent's arm to the three, but we get stuffed and have to kick another field goal. Another trade of punts and Sam Houston QB Chad Jones hits a 45 yard pass to TE Rob Vines to set them up for a field goal. We get the ball back with 2:06 left in the half, and Jeff Kent drives us down and hits TE Louis Sweet for the touchdown! [i]ASU 13, SHS 6[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Sam Houston starts out with the ball in the second half, and we give up another big play to Vines in a 43 yard reception. They get first and goal before they have a holding penalty, and we hold them to a field goal. Freitas fumbles on the next play from scrimmage, giving Sam Houston the ball on our 8, and Jones hits Vines for the touchdown on the next play. Freitas makes up for it with three straight runs over ten yards, and Kent makes a couple of plays before Jonathon Ellis pounds it in from the two yard line to give us the lead back. Biggest problem here is that Freitas suffered an injury, and we may not have him back for the rest of the game! Ellis and Kent get us into position for another field goal after an SHS punt, but Zimmerman misses it! It's just not been our day today. SHS moves again, but Jeff Nails comes through with a pick out of the over the top coverage help! We move down the field again as the quarter ends. [i]ASU 20, SHS 16[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We start off the fourth with fireworks as a screen pass to Ellis goes 35 yards for the touchdown! Zimmerman adds this point and we've got our biggest lead of the game. Three plays later, Tavon Thompson picks off pass and takes it 63 yards to the house, and it's now all Appalachian State! We trade punts again, and then we start a drive. We move to the SHS 39 for a fourth and one with a little over 4 minutes left, and we convert just enough to keep the drive going. We don't convert another third down, so we go for it on fourth and six, and Norton makes the grab for the first down. We get to the 16 and get stopped, so Zimmerman makes the field goal this time. SHS gets down to our 38, but we pick off a fourth and 8 pass to seal the win as Kent takes a knee. [b]Final Score: ASU 37, SHS 16[/b] A look at the box score says that we dominated the game, but we certainly had a run made at us. Let's see how we did overall. [b]Total Yards 437-278 Passing 261-224 Rushing 176-54 TOP 35:46-24:14[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 27/35 261 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 21-95 J. Ellis 20-81, 1 TD J. Cappadona 3-10 J. Kent 2-3 [u]Receiving[/u] J. Ellis 7-86, 1 TD M. Doornink 8-67 P. Freitas 4-34 V. Norton 2-30 L. Sweet 2-23, 1 TD W. Smith 4-21 An impressive performance on paper, but if we don't finish drives early in the game, we'll be looking up from the mat in conference play. The two fumbles by Freitas led to 10 of Sam Houston's 16, so our defense did their job for the most part. It looks like Freitas will miss next week's game against Dayton, but right guard Earl Fasani's groin injury wasn't as bad as first predicted, so he should play. We'll need him at his best to open up holes for Jonathon Ellis.

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[b][u]Week Two[/b][/u] Dayton comes to town this week, and we're a three touchdown favorite. Paul Freitas will be dressed for today, but he'll only play in a desperate situation. We'll be depending on Kent to sling the ball around and Jonathon Ellis to pick up just enough to keep the ball moving. [u]First Quarter[/u] Dayton starts off with the ball, and two rushes go for minus one yards, then an option team throws for a 72 yard touchdown on me. What a way to start the game. We drive the field with a good mix of run and pass, but we stall out at the twelve and kick a field goal. Three and out for Dayton, and we drive down again, but the ten stops us and it's now 7-6. Our defense holds another three and out, and Dayton has nine plays in three drives, and yet they lead us. [i]DAY 7, ASU 6[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We start out the second with the ball in Dayton territory after a short punt. Ellis picks up nine on first down, and Kent opens it up with a 35 yard touchdown pass to Doornink to give us our first lead of the game! Dayton picks up a pair of first downs, but we hold at about midfield and get the ball on the 20 after a punt into the end zone. Jonathon Cappadona takes a fullback hitter for nine, and Kent goes again deep for 39 to Doornink for a big gain. We drive on down and Ellis takes it to the 2, and Kent swings it on a screen to him for the touchdown! They get a big return, but we hold again after they have three penalties on first down, but we start at our 6. Ellis pounds it out to the 37, and another long touchdown to Doornink of 63 yards, and we're starting to pull away. Dayton drives down to our 20, but they miss a short field goal with 11 seconds left, so we take a knee to the half. [i]ASU 27, DAY 7[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Kickoff to us gets the ball first, and we move to almost midfield before a penalty gives us a third and long, but Kent hits Wayne Smith for the first down. We drive to the one on third and goal and kick a field goal. Dayton takes a good kick return and drive to our 8, but on third Dayton QB Todd Hilliard throws an ill advised pass and we pick it off at the 4! Three and out at the 10, and Dayton gets good field position again as the quarter ends. [i]ASU 30, DAY 7[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] Hilliard hits a 24 yard pass to open the quarter, but another bad throw and we pick it off at the 20. We drive down to the 15, and Jeb Zimmerman misses a 33 yard field goal. Not to worry though, as our free safety Albert Shields picks Hilliard again, this time taking the ball to the house from 40 yards out! Dayton returner Jordan Washington fumbles, and we pick up the ball at the 24. We get down to the 2, but Ellis can't punch it in, so Zimmerman tacks on the field goal. 3 and out for Dayton, and Kent goes to our TE Todd Bennett for 39, to the Dayton 18. We get to the 1, and Ellis gets it in this time for the touchdown to put the icing on the cake with 1:37 left. Backup Dayton QB Gene Hoover goes deep on third down, and Hoyle Comella makes the pick at our 34. Ellis takes a ball up the middle, and the clock runs out for our second straight win. [i]ASU 47, DAY 7[/i] This time we truly dominated. Our defense gave up only one touchdown on the third play of the game, and we stuffed Dayton the rest of the day. Tavon Thompson picked off 2 passes, and we did what we had to do. Our offense rolled all day; we were virtually unstoppable. [b]Total Yards 591-222 Passing 370-146 Rushing 221-76 TOP 40:09-19:51[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 29/35 370 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT [u]Rushing[/u] J. Ellis 34-175, 1 TD J. Cappadona 8-40 J. Kent 3-5 A. Nelson 1-1 [u]Receiving[/u] M. Doornink 8-176, 2 TD J. Ellis 8-62, 1 TD T. Bennett 5-53 V. Norton 5-52 W. Smith 2-21 J. Cappadona 1-6 Everything we should have done in this one, we did. Ellis did fine in Freitas' place, but hopefully after the bye, Freitas will be back. Hoyle Comella broke a finger in this game, but he'll be just fine for our next game against Western Carolina

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[b][u]Week Three[/b][/u] On the off week, we drop to 11 in the media poll and up to 9 in the coaches poll. Freitas is coming along well, so we upgrade him to questionable for our game against Western Carolina. Comella is just fine, so we don't even list him on the injury report. Two games down in the season, and we're still in good physical shape. Early lines have us as a 3 point favorite at the Catamounts. Carolina is about as good as Sam Houston according to preseason ratings, so I think we'll be putting up more than a three point victory against our in-conference rivals.

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[b][u]Week Four[/b][/u] Headed to Western Carolina for this week's game. For us to dominate like we did against Dayton, it's going to require containing senior running back David Welch, who's been a good producer for a couple of years there, and their All-American tight end candidate Byron Manoa. We should have pretty good success in the running game, even with Ellis still starting. Passing may be an issue, as they have one of the better secondaries in the Southern Conference. [u]First Quarter[/u] The game starts off well enough as we drive from our own 22 on the opening kickoff to the WCU 9, where Jed Zimmerman kicks the 27 yard field goal. A couple of first downs for WCU, but we hold them and force a punt. We get the ball at our on 3 after a coffin corner punt. Ellis carries for 11 and then a single yard, and a scuffle breaks out after Earl Fasani gets slammed to the ground! Blank, blank for us and we punt it back, so WCU gets good field position at their 41. We stack them up but they move down into position for a field goal, but we get an interception on third down in the end zone for the touchback! A holding penalty and not enough yards, so we punt away. They take over at their 49. [i]ASU 3, WCU 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We hold for a three and out, but it's three and out for us as well, but a booming kick by Richard of 53 yards puts them at their own 8. We force a fumble in the secondary, but they jump on it to retain possession. Welch stuffs it down our throats on four straight carries, but we stop them at our 34, and Rosey Shobel misses a 52 yarder to keep us on top. Kent goes to Freitas on a screen pass for 39 to change field position again, but we can't capitalize as Zimmerman misses a 42 yard field goal. Three and out for WCU, and we take over at our 35. We get a third and one at our own 44, but Ellis can't pound it in. We go for it on fourth down, but Freitas gets stopped for a turnover on downs. Pound pound into us to get to our 20 yard line, and they get an 18 yard pass from Alexander to our 2. He completes a pass for the touchdown with 50 seconds left in the half, and we can't get anything going as the half expires. [i]WCU 7, ASU 3[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Alexander hits a 10 yarder and a 24 yarder before we stiffen up and they punt it into the end zone. Freitas hits the line for 14 and then 17, and a holding penalty puts us at the WCU 39. 8 yard pass to Cappadona and a couple of runs by Ellis and Freitas get us to the WCU 22, where Ellis has his face masked nigh on twisted off to give us 1st and goal! Screen to Ellis gets 4 and a hook to Doornink gets 4 as Ellis knocks it in from the 1 to get the touchdown. Zimmerman's PAT makes it 10-7. WCU gets the ball on their 44 after we have a personal foul facemask, and they drive down to our 28 before Shobel misses another one. Three and out as Richard hits a 54 yard punt, but terrible punt coverage gives up a 36 yard return to our 49. We force three and out again, so we take over at our 6 after another great punt. [i]ASU 10, WCU 7[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] Slow and steady down the field, and a holding penalty helps out a lot as well, until Kent gets picked at the 48! They return it to the 31 where Kent makes the tackle. They pick up a first down, but we sack Alexander and Schobel misses his third field goal of the game. Freitas breaks loose on the outside and picks up 21 and 20 before an 18 yarder to Doornink gets us to the WCU 13. Freitas gets 5 and Kent connects with Doornink for a 7 yard touchdown pass! 3 and out, and Doornink gets a 17 yard return to our 44, but a penalty pushes us back 10. The running game takes over as we mix up the backs Freitas, Ellis and Cappadona drive down to the WCU 22 and Zimmerman kicks a 40 yard field goal to ice it with 1:49 left to go. WCU heaves up four passes and they're all blanks, so we get to kneel on down for the win! [i]ASU 20, WCU 7[/i] Certainly not our best performance of the year so far, but in conference play, it's who comes out on top. We outgained Western Carolina by almost 100 yards, but our defense stood tall when it needed to, and their kicker helped out by missing three field goals. Less than 300 yards allowed by our defense yet again. [b]Total Yards 356-264 Passing 184-154 Rushing 172-110 TOP 32:57-27:03[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 25-34 184 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 19-131 J. Ellis 15-34, 1 TD J. Cappadona 5-15 A. Nelson 1-3 J. Kent 1-0 [u]Receiving[/u] P. Freitas 4-63 M. Doornink 8-48, 1 TD V. Norton 3-24 L. Sweet 5-21 J. Ellis 3-14 J. Cappadona 1-8 W. Smith 1-6

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[b][u]Week Five[/b][/u] We fall to 12 in the media poll and 10 in the coaches poll. We need to have a strong showing this week at The Citadel. They're two and one on the year, and we're looking to go 4 and 0. Their starting quarterback Bill Kilmer is probable with a knee injury, as is their tight end Preston Oliver. We should match up well against them on defense, and Freitas should have a field day. In the secondary, they're a little weaker than Western Carolina. [u]First Quarter[/u] We kick to start the game, and we hold to three and out. A good punt, but they get a 15 yard facemask and we start at the 50. 3 yards on 1st and 23 on second down gets us down to the 24. We can't capitalize completely and kick a 37 yard field goal for the first points. Three and out again, and this time we get a good return down to the 45 yard line of Citadel. Now we go three and out, but we bury them at the 5. 3 and out, and now it's our ball on our own 41. We drive down to the 13, and Kent goes play action and hits Norton for the touchdown! Kickoff, and they hit a huge 49 yard gain to break things open down to our 28. They only get 2 more yards and kick the field goal to get on the board. After a pair of 2 yard losses by Freitas we get lucky with a defensive holding penalty to end the first quarter. [i]ASU 10, CIT 3[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] The drive continues as we take down short chunks of yardage down to the Citadel 2 yard line on third down, where Kent swings it out to Freitas for the touchdown! Citadel gets a good return out to their 45, but three and out and a 36 yard punt return by Doornink puts us back at the 50. First down and Freitas scampers around the end for 19, but be can't convert another first down, and Zimmerman comes up short on the field goal. Citadel moves down the field using the run, but we stiffen up and they have to settle for another field goal, leaving us a bit over a minute in the half. We can't get the ball moving and the clock runs out on the half. [i]ASU 17, CIT 6[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] They kick the ball out of bounds and we start at the 40, but three and out and we punt to their 25. Three and out again, and our ball at our 24. We get the ball moving, and then Kent goes deep to Doornink, and he makes a huge grab of 34 down to the Citadel 2 yard line. Freitas gets behind the line and pounds it in to extend our lead. We get crossed up in coverage after a touchback, and Citadel fires back with an 80 yard touchdown strike! No big plays for us on the next drive, just a run and pass combination to the Citadel 1, and Freitas dives over the right side of the line for the touchdown. [i]ASU 31, CIT 13[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] Our defense gives up another big play of 31 into our territory, but we stiffen up and only give up the field goal. We get a first down, but we get stopped and have to punt it away, and bury them at the 5. They get a first down, but a short punt after we hold gives us the ball at midfield. We can't get moving and punt it down to the 6. Deep pass, and we pick it off at the 46 with a little over half of the quarter remaining. Quick hitter gets a few for Freitas, and then Kent returns the ball to Citadel with a pick. They move a little bit but punt it away to us at our own 13. We eat the clock all the way down to the Citadel 29, but Zimmerman misses another field goal, but it doesn't matter with 20 seconds left. A desperate heave by Kilmer gets picked off, and Kent takes a knee on our next play to end the game. [i]ASU 31, CIT 16[/i] Our defense just barely allows over 300 yards at 303, so we're still happy with our defensive unit. We lose strong safety Jeff Nails for probably the rest of the season though, and that's a tough loss. Solid offensive performance as well, and now our offense is rated 16th in the nation, and our defense is 3rd. No movement for us in the polls. [b]Total Yards 483-303 Passing 339-189 Rushing 144-114 TOP 36:46-23:20[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 36-48 339 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 27-108, 2 TD J. Ellis 11-43 M. Doornink 1-7 J. Kent 2-3 [u]Receiving[/u] M. Doornink 11-112 P. Freitas 9-72, 1 TD T. Bennett 6-62 V. Norton 3-41 J. Ellis 4-31 C. Greisen 3-21

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[b][u]First 1/3rd of Season Report[/b][/u] [b]Offensive Statistics[/b] [u]Passing[/u] Jeff Kent 117-152 (77.0%), 1154 yards, 8 TD, 2 INT, 155.5 Rating [u]Rushing[/u] Paul Freitas 67-334 yards (4.99 ypc) 2 TD, 2 Fumbles Jonathon Ellis 80-333 yards (4.16 ypc) 3 TD Jonathon Cappadona 16-65 yards (4.06 ypc) Jeff Kent 8-11 yards (1.03 ypc) Mike Doornink 1-7 yards (7.00 ypc) Art Nelson 2-4 yards (2.00 ypc) [u]Receiving[/u] Mike Doornink 35-403 yards (11.5 ypc), 107 YAC, 3 TD, 0 drops Jonathon Ellis 22-193 yards (8.8 ypc), 112 YAC, 2 TD, 1 drop Paul Freitas 17-169 yards (9.9 ypc), 78 YAC, 1 TD, 0 drops Vince Norton 13-147 yards (11.3 ypc), 34 YAC, 1 TD, 0 drops Todd Bennett 11-115 yards (10.5 ypc), 52 YAC, 1 drop Wayne Smith 7-48 yards (6.9 ypc), 15 YAC, 0 drops Louis Sweet 7-44 yards (6.3 ypc), 12 YAC, 0 drops Curtis Greissen 3-21 yards (7.0 ypc), 6 YAC, 0 drops Jonathon Cappadona 2-14 yards (7.0 ypc), 2 YAC, 0 drops [u]Kicking[/u] Jed Zimmerman 9-14 FG, 15-15 XP [b]Defensive Statistics[/b] [u]Tackles[/u] Nick Bennett 33 Kevin Brenner 28 Duane Jones 20 Jeff Nails 17 Albert Shields 15 Tavon Thompson 14 Barrett Wiley 12 Terry Nix 10 Hoyle Comella 6 Gary Emmons 5 Tony Michaels 5 Ron Weary 2 Donnie Branch 1 Lincoln Paige 1 Jonathon Cappadona 1 Ray Keisel 1 [u]Sacks[/u] Gary Emmons 5 Kevin Brenner 3 Terry Nix 2 Ron Weary 2 Tony Michaels 1 Jeff Nails 1 [u]Passes Defended[/u] Tavon Thompson 7 Hoyle Comella 2 Duane Jones 2 Jeff Nails 2 Ray Keisel 1 Kevin Brenner1 [u]Interceptions[/u] Tavon Thompson 3, 1 TD Albert Shields 2, 1 TD Jeff Nails 2 Barrett Wiley 2 Hoyle Comella 1 [u]Forced Fumbles[/u] Terry Nix 1 Lincoln Paige 1 Ron Weary 1 Kevin Brenner 1 Jonathon Cappadona 1 [u]Fumbles Recovered[/u] Jon Ashworth 1 Gary Emmons 1 Earl Fasani 1 Jonathon Cappadona 1 [u]Punting[/u] Jason Richard 14-629 yards, 44.9 avg, 39.4 net, 0 TB, 0 inside 20

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[b][u]Week Six[/b][/u] Still the same in the polls at 12 and 10. We head to Elon, where we're a 27 point road favorite. Elon is 1-2 on the year, and we're now 4-0. Elon QB Nix and RB Ron Fuller are the keys to shutting down this offense, as Nix's best target is TE Houston Jenkins. When we're on offense, I'll be dissapointed if we don't have 250 yards passing and 150 yards rushing at a minimum. After facing tough defenses the past few weeks, we should blow up today. [u]First Quarter[/u] Our ball to start the game, and we pick up a first down, then Doornink hauls in one for 25 yards to put us past midfield. We get stopped with a 4th and 9 at the Elon 36 though, outside of Zimmerman's range, so we go for it. Ellis on a screen springs for 15 and a first down. We drive down to the 1, and Bennett catches it in the corner on third down for the touchdown. Elon drives down and a big 24 yard catch gets them into field goal range and they pick up the 3. Three and out for us, and we punt it away. Defense holds at their 40, and we get the ball back at our 8 to end the quarter [i]ASU 7, ELON 3[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We drive it out, but have to punt, and we pin Elon deep at their own 9. 3 and out, and we get the ball back on their 48. Down to the Elon 5, but Cappadona fumbles on the 3 and Elon gets it back. We hold another 3 and out, and it's our ball on our 43. Kent goes deep to Doornink, and he beats his man down the sideline for the 56 yard touchdown! Elon moves the ball some, but we are able to hold and they punt it through the end zone. We can't do much with it so we punt it away. Elon gets 26 on a big pass play, but they run out of time to end the half. [i]ASU 14, ELON 3[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Three and out for Elon on the opening kick off, and we start at the 9 after a great punt. Wayne Smith opens up across the middle and picks up 33 to move us down the field. We get across midfield, and can't convert this fourth down to turn over on downs. Bad decison on our part as Elon drives down the field thanks to some big passes by Nix to score the touchdown. They go for the two point conversion, but miss on a pass to make the score 14-9. We move down inside the 20 to end the third quarter. [i]ASU 14, ELON 9[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We move to the 1, and Freitas takes it in on the second try to add back to our lead. Bad decision on the kickoff, and Elon starts on their own 9. 3 and out, and Doornink brings it back 31 yards to the Elon 15. We give it right back at their 5 as Kent gets picked off. They pick up a few yards, but we force the punt. We go three and out, and give them good field position. Our defense holds again, and we pick up the ball. We drive down as time runs out and they use all their timeouts. Kent tosses one over the middle on a third down play and hits Wayne Smith for the touchdown with 12 seconds left. The kickoff ends the game, and we move to 5 and 0. [i]ASU 28, ELON 9[/i] We pretty much dominated the game, although the score was closer than it should have been. We've got to finish drives and not turn the ball over as we keep going in conference play. 18th ranked offense and 3rd ranked defense, but we slip in the polls yet again to 14 and 11. No respect at all for us from the humans, but the Gridiron Power Index has us ranked #1. [b]Total Yards 468-273 Passing 318-99 Rushing 150-174 TOP 32:21-27:44[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 29-36 318 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 28-108, 1 TD J. Ellis 9-33 J. Cappadona 4-21 J. Kent 2-5 [u]Receiving[/u] P. Freitas 5-92, 1 TD M. Doornink 8-62 W. Smith 2-48, 1 TD T. Bennett 5-43, 1 TD J. Ellis 3-24 C. Greisen 2-22 V. Norton 3-17 J. Cappadona 1-10

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Seven[/b][/u] We're still peeved after losing ground in the polls last week. Earl Fasani is out for a few weeks with his jaw injury, so we move starting right tackle Dick Johnson to right guard, and Jamal Hopkins moves to right tackle off the bench. On defense, Jeff Nails is still out, and Hoyle Comella has a broken nose. Hoyle will play though. We head to Chattanooga this week, and it's gonna be interesting. UTC has a lot of injuries on both sides of the ball. Starting QB Travis Dyer is out, and junior Alfred Roman is in. Roman is no match for Dyer, so this is lucky for us. Their defense is the 108th ranked defense in the nation, so we should have fun today on the ground and through the air. We're favored by 17. [u]First Quarter[/u] 45 yard return opens the game for Chattanooga. What a way to start. Turns out to be a good thing, as they go three and out, trying a fake punt and turning it over to us. No way they would have done that deeper in their own territory. Run, run run, as Freitas pounds out 24 on 3 carries and catches a screen for another 13. He comes out for a breather, and Jonathon Cappadona scampers in from 11 out for the score, his first touchdown of the season. Blank on first down from their 22, and Roman goes deep, only to get picked off by Tavon Thompson at our 21! He brings it back to the 25. Need to reevaluate Roman's arm strength; we didn't realize he could chuck it that far. Nothing fancy as we pound it down the field with a good mix of run and pass. Doornink catches one on play action for the touchdown from nine yards out to add to the lead. We force three and out but a holding penalty on that third down gives UTC the first down. Not to worry, because injured Hoyle Comella picks Roman off. Roman is 0-5 with 2 picks thus far. We drive to the 13 as the 1st quarter ends. [i]ASU 14, UTC 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] First play of the second quarter is a 13 yard touchdown run for Freitas, and it's starting to get ugly. Three and out for our defense, and we get the ball back at our own 48. One first down, but we get stuffed with 4th and 8 at the 40, so we punt it away, rather than give UTC good field position. It almost backfires as Richard just barely gets it inside the 20 to the 19. UTC picks up a first down, but Roman gives it away again, this time to DT Ron Weary on a batted ball! 3 and 2 yards, so we go for it. TE Bennett catches it on a screen, but he doesn't get enough, so it's UTC ball on their 30. UTC gets their first multiple first down drive, but we stop them and get the ball back at our 17. 3rd down on a loss of yards by Freitas and an incomplete pass, so we go deep and hit Wayne Smith for 61 yards to the UTC 24. We pick up 9 on 3 plays, leaving us with 4th and 1, so Zimmerman heads out, but misses the 33 yarder. UTC moves into our territory, but time runs out on the half. [i]ASU 21, UTC 0[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Our ball on the 19 to start with. Freitas doubles that with a 19 yard move to the outside. Freitas then proceeds to get his foot stomped on, and we have to take him out. Pity, since he just hit 100 yards on the day. Another long drive, this time it's 13 plays and 81 yards for the touchdown as Freitas seems to be okay and caps it off with his second touchdown run of the game. 39 yard return to their 43 on the ensuing kickoff skews field position again. They move the ball well, but Roman tosses his fourth pick of the game to Barrett Wiley, who downs the ball in the end zone. We move it down well, but a 15 yard crack back block makes it 3rd and 24. Luckily, we have playmakers, and Doornink gets 26. Bennett picks up a first down on a 3rd and 6 screen, and then Doornink gets the second of a pair of bubble screens into the end zone for his 10th catch of the game and 2nd touchdown. Short kickoff return, and the next play Ray Keisel picks off another deep pass and brings it back 23 yards to midfield. We pick up a single first down, and that ends the third quarter. [i]ASU 35, UTC 0[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] More yards and Wayne Smith frees up on a hook for 24 yards and another touchdown. 20 yard kickoff return, and after a short 2 yard gain, Roman goes deep again, picked off again, this time by Nick Bennett. Our ball at our 30. 5 yards for Cappadona, but Kent has the pass tipped and picked off at the 40. This leads to their first points as Ike Vrabel catches us off guard for a 13 yard touchdown run. Short gain for Freitas, but Cappadona breaks loose for 21 into UTC territory. We drive it on down more, and Smith and Doornink combine for more yardage, as Doornink catches his 3rd TD of the game. 13 catches, 89 yards on the day. No breakaways for him, but a fine day as the possession receiver. We hold for a three and out again, and it's our ball on our 47. Doornink catches his 14th and 15th, and goes over 100 yards receiving on the day. We can't bang it in from the 1 with less than a minute left, so we run the clock down and let Zimmerman kick the 23 yarder to finish off the game. [i]ASU 52, UTC 7[/i] Total and utter domination. We expected to win, but our defense drove Roman insane. 5-25, 76 yards and 6 picks. What a day by our secondary. Offensively, it was pass, pass, pass, as Kent had his best day ever. Freitas added in some yards, as did Cappadona. Doornink was the go-to guy, even though his average per catch was pretty low. Money all day long there, and since UTC was double and triple teaming him, it allowed Wayne Smith and TE Todd Bennett to come up big. We don't move in the polls yet again, but we're rated #1 by the GPI and 6th in the playoff combination poll. [b]Total Yards 626-153 Passing 464-76 Rushing 162-77 TOP 41:31-18:29[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 46-54 464 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 26-119, 2 TD J. Cappadona 3-37, 1 TD J. Ellis 12-8 J. Kent 1-0 [u]Receiving[/u] W. Smith 7-136, 1 TD M. Doornink 15-105, 3 TD T. Bennett 10-91 P. Freitas 6-54 J. Ellis 3-39 V. Norton 4-33 C. Greisen 1-6

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Eight[/b][/u] After going 6 and 0 to this point, we play our toughest opponent yet in Furman. Furman is ranked 2nd in the nation and they hold the same record that we do. Somehow, we're favored by 4 points against them, probably since we're at home. The key to this game is our pass defense holding out Ike Pease and his talented crew of receivers to as little as we can. JoJo Smith, Jack Butler and Will Von Oelhoffen, along with TE Dick Robinson will be giving us fits all day long if I see this right. Luckily, their best running back Nick McElroy is questionable for this week, and may not play at all. Our offense will have some trouble moving on the ground, but we should be okay through the air. Our best bet is to get into a defensive struggle and win the field position battle. [u]First Quarter[/u] We hold Furman to 3 and out to start the game. Moral victory for us! Too bad it's 3 and out for us too. One first down for Furman, but we hold after giving them good field position. Now it's our ball at the 2. We move the ball across midfield, but it's a stuff for Furman. At least we changed field position out of this one, and pin them at the 5. Three and out for Furman, and Doornink gets a nice return of 7 to give us the ball at the Furman 30. We drive down to inside the one but get stymied on third down, so we send in Zimmerman... and he misses a field goal shorter than an extra point!!! GAH! End of the quarter. [i]ASU 0, FURM 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] Furman picks up the first down to the 30, and Pease goes to Butler for a 70 yard strike to give them the first score of the game. We move the ball all the way to the Furman 29 before Kent gets sacked and then throws a pick. Furman moves the ball but our defense stands tall, but we get pinned at the 5 yard line. Another decent drive for us into Furman territory, but another negative 2nd down play gives us 3rd and long and we can't convert. Richard punts it into the end zone. Three plays and Pease goes 66 yards to Smith for another score for Furman. Not looking good for us. Since our running game is virtually nonexistent at the moment and it's late in the half, Kent goes to the air and makes pass after pass until he hits Bennett for the score at the end of the half. [i]FURM 14, ASU 7[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We get good field position to start thanks to a personal foul facemask on the return, at our own 45. We move backwards on two penalties, and Richard pins Furman at their 12. Furman marches down the field, but we stiffen up when we have to and force the field goal. 12 yards to Doornink and a 28 yard break by Freitas gets us into Furman territory before Kent goes back to the air to Norton for the 31 yard touchdown! We're still in this one! At least I thought so, as Pease drives his team to our 43 and he hits backup wideout Earl Huffman for the touchdown strike. They've answered everything I could toss at them so far. [i]FURM 24, ASU 14[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] It's our turn now, as Kent throws 13 times and Freitas one run before Louis Sweet gets open on third and goal for the touchdown! My guys are playing their hearts out out there, and Kent is slinging the ball around like an All-American! We force a three and out, and we get the ball back at our own 20. We drive to the Furman 43, but we go for it on fourth down and miss by inches. Furman pounds it down field and kick a 35 yard field goal. It's probably over now. We need a touchdown to go ahead, and we've got 3 minutes left. Hey, Kent did it in the first half, let's see if he has the magic. We move the ball a bit, but two false starts leave us on 2nd and 20, then 3rd and 19 with 2 minutes left before Victor Norton frees up for a 26 yard gain to the Furman 38! 6 yards, 4 yards, 11 and 15 get us to the Furman 2 with 48 seconds left, and Kent screens to Freitas for the touchdown! Zimmerman's extra point gives us the lead! But no, Pease to Butler for 46 to our 36 with 11 seconds left! Furman goes to their top notch kicking unit, but Fred Lundy comes up short on the 54 yarder, and we win! [i]ASU 28, FURM 27[/i] After all that, we come away with the victory! Jeff Kent was absolutely amazing on two drives, one to end the first half and put us on the board, and the final drive starting with 3 minutes left to give us our first lead of the game with less than a minute to go. Our defense almost gave up the game, but we held on! Bad news though, as we lose our starting center Todd Adams, and Earl Fasani is already out. Two of our best offensive linemen are out. No wonder we can't run the ball. Kent is our offensive MVP so far for the season. Now we're 9 and 3 in the polls, 3rd in the playoff poll, and #1 still in the GPI. Home this week against a tough Cal Poly team. Why in the world did we schedule them in the middle of conference play? Still and all, our guys are celebrating tonight, and ready to go back to work tomorrow. [b]Total Yards 525-434 Passing 446-381 Rushing 79-153 TOP 33:43-26:17[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 46-64 446 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 17-78 J. Cappadona 2-9 J. Ellis 3-3 J. Kent 2-2 [u]Receiving[/u] V. Norton 7-116, 1 TD M. Doornink 9-89 T. Bennett 7-87, 1 TD P. Freitas 13-85, 1 TD J. Ellis 5-49 C. Greisen 4-18 L. Sweet 1-2, 1 TD

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Coach Choate Post Game Press Conference Highlights[/b] Appalachian State v. Furman[/u] [b]Reporter 1:[/b] "Coach Choate, what was going through your head when you went to strictly an aerial attack on your final drive of the game?" [b]Coach Choate:[/b] "Honestly, I told Jeff, 'Just go out there and do what you did at the end of the first half.' And he went out there and did it. This group of guys made me extremely proud with the poise they showed under fire out there, down the entire game until having less than a minute left." [b]Reporter 2:[/b] "Coach, this is by far the biggest win of the season for you guys. How does it feel to now be in sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference?" [b]Coach Choate:[/b] "It feels good, especially to have started 7-0, and 5-0 in conference. We still have Georgia Southern and Wofford left at home in conference, but one more win could wrap up the conference. We're going to play both of those games with intensity and try to go undefeated in conference, and overall as well." [b]Reporter 3:[/b] "Coach, you're playing a very dangerous Cal Poly team that many feel has just had a run of bad luck to be only 4-3. What are your thoughts on this game coming up?" [b]Coach Choate:[/b] "Now, remember, this Cal Poly team started 4-0 on the year, and have recently run into Montana State and Northern Iowa. True, they should have beaten Gardner-Webb, but they're a good team, make no mistake about it. They have a good quarterback in David Marsh, and several good receivers. I see this game shaping up similar to today's game, though maybe not with so many big plays. We have to play our A game out there to win it." [b]Reporter 4:[/b] "Coach, besides Wofford and Georgia Southern past this coming week, you also have another tough foe in Northern Colorado. Do you as a team hold aspirations for an undefeated season, or do you feel like you can lose one along the way and still head to the Division I-AA playoffs?" [b]Coach Choate:[/b] "Obviously the goal is to go undefeated in the regular season, but our ultimate goal is to win the Division I-AA national championship. If that means going undefeated in the regular season and then going that way, we will do it. If we lose one and still win the championship, I don't think our fans will be upset. Now, if we go undefeated in the regular season and don't win the championship, I'll be upset. We're in this to win the big one, and all the games to that point are just stops along the way."

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Nine[/b][/u] We're riding a huge emotional high coming into this week against Cal Poly. They started out 4-0, but have dropped 3 straight to some tough opponents. They won in week two at the #10 team in the nation right now in Western Kentucky, so they've got some good talent. Offensively, we've got to slow down David Marsh, who hasn't had the greatest of seasons, but is a very good quarterback. Walt Kasper running the ball shouldn't be hard to stop, but Michael Gajan and Keena Jones are two top notch receivers. Defensively, they're really not anything special, but they run a 3-4, which is vastly differnt from most of the teams we've played. They're talented in the secondary moreso than up front, but I think we should be able to pass pretty well and run as much as we need to to win. [u]First Quarter[/u] Cal Poly takes the opening kickoff and we force them to punt. Short passes all over the field drive us down, and Kent swings it out to Freitas for a 2 yard touchdown catch. Cal Poly answers right back with a good drive of their own before Kasper punches it in from 4 yards out to tie the game. [i]ASU 7, CLPL 7[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We drive right back down, and this time Freitas takes it in from 2 on a run to put us back up by a touchdown. 3 and out, then we go back down the field again for a 5 yard touchdown run by Freitas this time. Looking good for us, as we take a 2 score lead. Big 27 yard gain, but we hold them up and force a punt to take the ball back. We get down to the Cal Poly 19 before we stall out and kick the field goal. Cal Poly runs out the clock. [i]ASU 24, CLPL 7[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Another drive down the field and we stall out at the Cal Poly 8, where Zimmerman makes it 27-7 with a 26 yarder. We hold after Cal Poly gets a couple of first downs, and it's our ball at the 12. We're eating a lot of clock with the ground game, and we keep doing so through the end of the quarter [i]ASU 27, CLPL 7[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We drive to the Cal Poly 11, and Zimmerman misses this one. I hoped he would go ahead and put us on up. 3 and out for Cal Poly, and it's a decent punt brought back 26 yards by Doornink into Cal Poly territory. 3 and out for us, and Richard just barely puts it into the end zone. Tough break. A couple of good passes, and Marsh hits Gajan for six. They've closed it up to 27-14. Ensuing drive, and Kent tosses a pick to Cal Poly, and it's their ball on our 39 now. We hold them to 3, but it's getting way too close for comfort. We move the ball into Cal Poly territory, but Jonathon Ellis fumbles, and Poly picks it up. We hold them on 4th down and take the ball back with a minute left, but we have to punt after they use their timeouts. 3 sacks later, we pick up 2 points on the last play of the game to seal it up. [i]ASU 29, CLPL 17[/i] Impressive in the first half, not very much so in the second. We finished last week's game against Furman, but our guys didn't come out to play in the second half. Still a good showing all around, and we did win the game. We held Marsh to 244 yards through the air, and -9 yards rushing on the day for Cal Poly. We had over 130 again. Next up is Wofford, and another key conference game for us. [b]Total Yards 510-235 Passing 376-244 Rushing 134-(-9) TOP 38:16-21:44[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 38-46 376 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 27-95, 2 TD J. Ellis 7-26 J. Cappadona 5-10 M. Doornink 3-5 [u]Receiving[/u] P. Freitas 8-94, 1 TD M. Doornink 8-81 C. Greisen 4-59 V. Norton 8-46 T. Bennett 4-36 J. Ellis 4-35 J. Cappadona 2-25

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]2/3rd of Season Report[/b][/u] [b]Offensive Statistics[/b] [u]Passing[/u] Jeff Kent 276-352 (78.4%), 2758 yards, 20 TD, 6 INT, 159.6 Rating [u]Rushing[/u] Paul Freitas 165-734 yards (4.45 ypc) 7 TD, 2 Fumbles Jonathon Ellis 111-403 yards (3.63 ypc) 3 TD, 1 Fumble Jonathon Cappadona 30-142 yards (4.73 ypc), 1 TD, 1 Fumble Jeff Kent 12-18 yards (2.20 ypc) Mike Doornink 5-12 yards (1.50 ypc) Art Nelson 2-4 yards (2.00 ypc) [u]Receiving[/u] Mike Doornink 75-740 yards (9.9 ypc), 235 YAC, 6 TD, 0 drops Paul Freitas 49-494 yards (10.1 ypc), 270 YAC, 4 TD, 1 drop Todd Bennett 37-372 yards (10.1 ypc), 148 YAC, 2 TD, 2 drops Jonathon Ellis 37-340 yards (9.2 ypc), 191 YAC, 2 TD, 1 drop Vince Norton 35-359 yards (10.3 ypc), 94 YAC, 2 TD, 2 drops Wayne Smith 16-232 yards (14.5 ypc), 60 YAC, 0 drops Curtis Greissen 14-126 yards (9.0 ypc), 29 YAC, 0 drops Louis Sweet 8-46 yards (5.8 ypc), 12 YAC, 2 TD 0 drops Jonathon Cappadona 5-49 yards (9.8 ypc), 20 YAC, 0 drops [u]Kicking[/u] Jed Zimmerman 12-20 FG, 33-33 XP [b]Defensive Statistics[/b] [u]Tackles[/u] Nick Bennett 67 Kevin Brenner 53 Barrett Wiley 41 Duane Jones 34 Albert Shields 29 Tavon Thompson 25 Jeff Nails 17 Terry Nix 14 Gary Emmons 9 Tony Michaels 9 Hoyle Comella 7 Ron Weary 3 Mike Brown 2 Donnie Branch 1 Lincoln Paige 1 Jonathon Cappadona 1 Ray Keisel 1 [u]Sacks[/u] Gary Emmons 7 Terry Nix 5 Tony Michaels 4 Ron Weary 3 Kevin Brenner 3 Tavon Thompson 1 Nick Bennett 1 Jeff Nails 1 [u]Passes Defended[/u] Tavon Thompson 13 Duane Jones 5 Kevin Brenner 3 Hoyle Comella 3 Ray Keisel 3 Jeff Nails 2 Barrett Wiley 1 Nick Bennett 1 [u]Interceptions[/u] Tavon Thompson 4, 1 TD Barrett Wiley 3 Albert Shields 2, 1 TD Jeff Nails 2 Hoyle Comella 2 Ray Keisel 1 Nick Bennett 1 Ron Weary 1 [u]Forced Fumbles[/u] Kevin Brenner 2 Terry Nix 1 Lincoln Paige 1 Albert Shields 1 Ron Weary 1 Jonathon Cappadona 1 [u]Fumbles Recovered[/u] Earl Fasani 2 Jonathon Cappadona 2 Jon Ashworth 1 Gary Emmons 1 Wayne Smith 1 [u]Punting[/u] Jason Richard 25-1061 yards, 43.2 avg, 36.3 net, 3 TB, 2 inside 20

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Award Watch List[/b][/u] [u]Top QB[/u] Jeff Kent is listed here, with the highest completion percentage in Division I-AA, the 7th most touchdowns, and 15th passer rating. Dont' know if he has a chance to win, but it'll be interesting for sure. [u]Top Running Back[/u] Paul Freitas is on this list, but probably doesn't have a chance to win it. Let's face it, he doesn't have a 1000 yards rushing yet, although his combined rushing and receiving breaks the 1200 yard mark. [u]Top Wide Receiver[/u] Mike Doornink leads Division I-AA in receptions by 20, but his YPC average isn't all that hot. He is in the top 10 in receiving touchdowns as well. [u]Top Tight End[/u] Todd Bennett is up there, and this could be our best chance at an individual award. 7th in receptions for tight ends. Other than that, we're not really in the running for any other awards except for Jason Richard as best punter and Mike Doornink with an outside shot at best return man.

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Ten[/b][/u] 8-0, we're at home, and Wofford comes in as a 10 point favorite? They're ranked 20th and 21st, with 2 losses, one coming to Furman, who we pulled out a come from behind victory on. I guess the oddsmakers are tired of us not covering the spreads, so they give us one we can cover. Jeremy Gant is a superb quarterback, as is wide out Dan Lemons. RB Chris Jaworski is pretty hot too, leading the Southern Conference in rushing. Their defense is about as good as ours is, which means we should be able to pass on them. Running may be a different story, as they're pretty good up front. If it comes down to the kicking game, Zimmerman will be beat all day long by Bernard Flores. [u]First Quarter[/u] 3 and out to start the game for us, and a big pass play to their tight end of 54 yards, they get to our 1, where Jaworski gets in for the touchdown. Curtis Greisen fumbles the ensuing kickoff at our 25, but our defense hangs tough and they miss the field goal. Another 3 and out for us, and Gant drives them down the field to get the touchdown. Not looking good for us at all. Our running game takes over for the first time since early in the season and we pound it down the field before Kent hits Freitas for a 19 yard screen, and Ellis drives it in from the 11 to make it a one touchdown lead. Gant drives them down methodically as the quarter comes to a close. [i]WOF 14, ASU 7[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] Flores hits a field goal of 25 yards to make it a two score game again as the quarter opens. Our running game continues to pound it out as Freitas and Ellis swap out carries, and Kent hits a few passes before going to Doornink on a play action post for a 35 yard touchdown. Gant drives them down the field again, but he fumbles it after a sack by Nick Bennett, and Brenner picks up the loose ball! We can't get anything going, so Richards punts it away. Big play on the next one for 53 yards, and Jaworski drives through us on three running plays for 18 yards and the touchdown. Greisen takes it out to the 16. Glad he didn't fumble it this time. Freitas take it around the end for 84 yards, and we're back on the board again! [i]WOF 24, ASU 21[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Gant pushes the ball down the field, but after another sack by Bennett, they have to settle for another Flores field goal. 3 and out for us, and then 3 and out for them. Doornink brings it back 18 yards to help out in the field position battle. We get stopped at the wofford 31, but Zimmerman comes through with a huge 49 yard field goal! 3 and out for Wofford, 3 and out for us. Good ball movement again for Wofford, as they kick another field goal to push it back to a 6 point lead at the end of the 3rd. [i]WOF 30, ASU 24[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] 3 and out again for us, and Gant takes them down methodically for another touchdown. They're starting to pull away now, as Gant also converts the two point conversion. Ellis and Freitas move it down after a 29 yard pass to Doornink, and Freitas takes it in from 2 yards out. 7 point game with a little over six minues to go. Our defense comes up big with a pick by, who else for today, Nick Bennett! Two sacks, a fumble forced and now a pick! Coffin corner kick by Richard after a 3 and out, to the Wofford 3! 3 and out for Wofford, and it's a screen for 15 to Freitas. 21 yards to Todd Bennett, and we're in business at the Wofford 18! Kent to Bennett again, for 6 and he's out of bounds, and another screen to Freitas for 12 yards and the touchdown! Play it safe time, and Zimmerman kicks the point after with 46 seconds remaining! Wofford can't get anything going, and we're off to my first overtime game, after coming from 13 down! [i]WOF 38, ASU 38[/i] 1st OT Wofford with the ball first in OT, and Gant takes advantage of a slipped corner for a 16 yard touchdown. It's all on Kent and the offense, and he hands off to Freitas, who responds with 18 of the 25, and he takes it in form 5 yards out to tie the game back up with a Zimmerman extra point. [i]WOF 45, ASU 45[/i] 2nd OT We have the ball first, and this time Kent goes to the air for 10 yards to Doornink. Freitas gets shut down, and we have to settle for a field goal. Defense time. Jaworski gets taken down for a loss of five, but picks up 16 on the next play. 1 yard more, and Gant goes to the air, and Barrett Wiley picks the ball off and hits the turf! We pull it out, and we're still undefeated! [i]ASU 48, WOF 45[/i] It was pretty much statistical domination by Wofford, but we made the plays when it counted there in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Kent had his worst game of the year, but Freitas goes over 200 yards on the game and it was that which put us over the top. Northern Colorado next, which could be a very interesting game. After that, we have Georgia Southern at home, who, unless Wofford comes off of this loss and take it to them at Georgia Southern, we'll have to beat to win the conference championshp [b]Total Yards 457-559 Passing 210-385 Rushing 247-174 TOP 28:20-31:40[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 16-30 210 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 31-203, 3 TD J. Ellis 7-38, 1 TD J. Cappadona 1-4 J. Kent 1-1 M. Doornink 3-1 [u]Receiving[/u] M. Doornink 6-86, 1 TD T. Bennett 6-66 P. Freitas 3-46 C. Greisen 1-12

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Eleven[/b][/u] 9-0, ranked 2nd in the country! We go out to Northern Colorado, where we're an 11 point favorite. The Bears are 5-4 on the year, with the 41st ranked offense and the 13th ranked defense. Their top quarterback Arnaz Dunsmore is questionable for the game, which leaves them with less-than-impressive David Houston at the helm, with Ashley Thomas as their top back. WR Howard Burch and TE Heath Morgan will be their go-to guys, and their line is outstanding. Defensively, they're solid all around, so we'll be playing conservatively with the ball. They like to force turnovers, so we'll be careful. [u]First Quarter[/u] Our ball to begin, and we go three and out. Howard Burch breaks through our punt coverage and takes it 64 yards to the house! Very auspicious start to a game we're supposed to dominate. 3 and out again, but we hold Burch to a fair catch. He does it to us again, as their top quarterback Dunsmore is starting, and he tosses a 32 yarder to Burch, which sets up a field goal. 10-0 and we've ran 6 plays. We move the ball into Northern Colorado territory, but Freitas gets rocked on a screen pass, and it's a turnover. We do hold this time , and since Kent hasn't really gotten the passing game going, we're going back to what worked last week. Freitas goes for 18 and 10 before Ellis comes in and takes it up the middle for a 19 yard touchdown! Dunsmore does it again, this time to another receiver for 44 yards, and they kick the field goal after three more plays net -2 yards as time expires on the quarter. [i]UNC 13, ASU 7[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] Freitas and Ellis move the ball down quickly, along with a 21 yard pass to Freitas from Kent, before we get stopped and Zimmerman kicks the field goal. 3 and out for Northern Colorado. Freitas picks up some yardage into UNC territory, but Richard has to kick it away, and it's a touchback. 3 and out for our defense again, and we go three and out. Richard hits a good one, but Burch does it again and takes it to the end zone! He seems to be a one man wrecking crew today. We drive down the field towards the end of the half and convert a field goal before kicking off and they take a knee. [i]UNC 20, ASU 13[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We move the ball right down the field to start the third, but we get stopped and Zimmerman kicks the field goal to pull us within 4. 3 and out for Northern Colorado, and it's a huge kick, but Doornink springs free and pays them back with a punt return touchdown of his own to give us our first lead of the game! UNC moves the ball into field goal range, but they miss it from point blank range and it's our ball. We move the ball a bit, but Kent gets picked to end the quarter. [i]ASU 23, UNC 20[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] They pick up one first down and that's all, but they are able to kick a field goal to tie it up. 11 yard screen to Freitas, and then he goes around the end for 24, but takes a hit to his knee and gets helped off the field. That's not what we needed. Or maybe it was, as Ellis catches a screen and takes it 44 yards to the 7 yard line. He picks up 2 more before Kent gets on the board with a touchdown strike to Norton! A couple of first downs for UNC, but we force the punt with half the quarter remaining. Ellis and Kent drive the ball down to the UNC 19 with a good balance of running and passing, but we go for it on 4th down and get stopped. 48 yards from backup quarterback Houston to Burch, and I might be second guessing that decison. They get another big pass to Burch for 23 yards, and then he hits Burch for a 5 yard touchdown! Extra point coming, and Johnathon Cappadona comes through the line to block it! We still lead by one! A screen to Ellis gets 24, and we pick up one more first down as UNC has used all their timeouts and we hang on to win. [i]ASU 30, UNC 29[/i] Statistically we dominated from gun to gun, but Howard Burch had our number on two punt returns. Luckily for us, Doornink picked a great time to come up with his first of the year and gave us the lead. Johnathon Cappadona gets the special teams gameball after that blocked extra point, which was absolutely huge. [b]Total Yards 585-280 Passing 340-186 Rushing 245-94 TOP 34:29-25:43[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 28-40 340 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 23-162 J. Ellis 16-86, 1 TD J. Kent 1-2 J. Cappadona 1-1 [u]Receiving[/u] J. Ellis 4-91 M. Doornink 6-83 P. Freitas 8-57 V. Norton 4-43 W. Smith 3-39 T. Bennett 2-22 L. Sweet 1-5

[kennywanchizoate]

[u][b]Appalachian State Mountaineers claim Southern Conference Championship![/u][/b] As a result of Wofford pounding Georgia Southern 47-16, the Mountaineers claim the Southern Conference championship. If Georgia Southern were to defeat Appalachian State this Saturday, they would cause a first place tie between the Mountaineers and Furman, who Appalachian State defeated earlier in the season, if Furman defeats Chattanooga this weekend. Appalachian State head coach Kenneth Choate had this to say after being informed of the score of the Wofford-Georgia Southern game: "We're extremely pleased at this news, but we've still got two more games left on our plate for the year with Georgia Southern coming to town this week and Dartmouth on the last week of the season. We have to keep focused on the task at hand, and try to continue on and win the national championship. I know that Coach Hebron at Georgia Southern will have his guys ready for the game on Saturday, and we have to be ready as well." Mountaineer fans are calling for an undefeated season en route to their demand for a Division I-AA national football championship. Coach Choate has previously stated that he doesn't care where the Mountaineers finish on the season, as long as they win the championship.

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Twelve[/b][/u] 10-0 now, and we're the number one team in the nation! The oddsmakers aren't giving us long to stay there, as they've given Georgia Southern a 2 point advantage over us. We'll just have to see about that. Ian Carmichael is a favorite to win the nation's top quarterback award, and Larry Milburn is a top notch running back. He really doesn't have a lot to throw to, but they've set him to the tune of over 2500 yards on the season. Defensively, they're solid in the secondary, but I've seen gaps in their middle of the line and in the safeties, especially against the run. Freitas will have another good game, believe you me. [u]First Quarter[/u] A time consuming, ground and pound drive down the field as Paul Freitas stuffs it right down Georgia Southern's throat. He punches it in from 2 yards out to give us the lead. Georgia Southern follows it up with a good drive of their own, but we stiffen up and they have to kick a field goal. Kent goes to Doornink for 20 on 2nd and 9, but we have three no gos and we have to punt it away. [i]ASU 7, GAST 3[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We hold 3 and out, but our drive stalls at the 40 of Georgia Southern, and Richard puts them inside the 20. Our defense holds yet again, and it's looking like a defensive struggle is going to be the tone of the game. Big runs from Freitas and Ellis gets us down to the Georgia Southern 3 after a facemask, and Ellis pounds it in for the score. Carmichael answers right back with a good drive of their own, and he makes a nice 4 yard toss for the touchdown. We get the ball back, and Kent tosses a pick-six to Georgia Southern, brought back 25 yards to the house, and Georgia Southern all of a sudden has the lead. We get a pair of passes, but time expires on the half. [i]GAST 17, ASU 14[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] First play of the second half and Nick Bennett is at it again with a sack and forced fumble, which we pick up at the Georgia Southern 16! 11 yards to Doornink, and after two runs, Freitas drives it in for the touchdown to reclaim the lead! We force another fumble, and Freitas takes the next play when we're on offense 20 yards for the score! We knock out Ian Carmichael, and their backup Jimmy Cromartie has to come in. Punt by Georgia Southern, and Kent goes to Bennett for 43 yards on the next play! 23 yards to Smith, and Freitas is in the end zone again from 12 yards out. Zimmerman's kick makes it 35-17, and all of a sudden it's looking like a blowout against one of the best teams in our conference. Cromartie gets picked by Brenner at our 43, and it's all on now. Nothing and nothing and a 10 yard sack, so we punt it away. 2nd play they have it back, Ron Weary nails their fullback, causing another fumble! Weary smothers it at the Georgia Southern 36. We get to the 21 after a Freitas 21 yard scamper, but Zimmerman has to kick the field goal after we get held on 3rd down. Punt, and it's our ball back as the fourth quarter begins. [i]ASU 38, GAST 17[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We pick up a first down, but have to punt it away. One first down and they punt it back to us, to our 3. I scream at Doornink to get away from it, but he has a bead on it and brings it back out to the 38. We get stuffed again, so we punt away. Punt after a few plays for Georgia Southern, and it's time to sit Freitas. Ellis picks up 14 on 2 carries, then Kent goes to Doornink for 49 yards and the touchdown. Zimmerman has his extra point blocked, which doesn't make me very happy. We hold for another 3 and out, and it's our ball again. Nothing doing, so we punt it away, We hold on fourth down at our own 28, and Kent takes a knee to seal up the win! [i]ASU 44, GAST 17[/i] Quite possibly the best single quarter of football we played all year. We come out of the halftime break fired up and go out and bloody up Georgia Southern's nose. They pretty much rolled over after we went up by 2 scores and Ian Carmichael went down. No one can say we didn't win the conference outright now! We've got two weeks off before we come back to face Dartmouth for the season finale. That'll give us a good tune up for the playoffs, and give us momentum. [b]Total Yards 509-320 Passing 332-226 Rushing 177-94 TOP 31:17-28:43[/b] [b]ASU Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] J. Kent 20-33 332 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] P. Freitas 24-140, 4 TD J. Ellis 8-41, 1 TD J. Kent 2-6 J. Cappadona 2-6 M. Doornink 2-5 [u]Receiving[/u] M. Doornink 6-146, 1 TD T. Bennett 3-57 W. Smith 4-51 P. Freitas 3-36 C. Greisen 2-30 J. Cappadona 1-10 V. Norton 1-2

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[b][u]Mountaineers Nominated for National Awards![/b][/u] Nominations for the most prestigious awards in Division I-AA college football were announced today, and several Mountaineers are in the running for various awards. [u]Coach of the Year - Kenneth Choate[/u] Taking over a storied program in his first head coaching job, Coach Choate has the Mountaineers poised for a deep run in the Division I-AA playoffs and a shot at the national title. [u]Division I-AA Most Outstanding Player - QB Jeff Kent & RB Paul Freitas[/u] Just like love and marriage, you can't have one without the other, and have success. Kent and Freitas have complimented each other all year, and both deserve a shot at this award. [u]Most Outstanding Quarterback - Jeff Kent[/u] Currently sitting at 3640 yards and 24 touchdowns, Jeff Kent has lead his team to a couple of fourth quarter comebacks. Currently 2nd in yards passing and 10th in touchdown passes. [u]Most Outstanding Running Back - Paul Freitas[/u] Freitas has been one of the most exciting backs in Division I-AA this season. He currently has over 1200 yards rushing and 63 receptions for 633 yards and 19 total touchdowns. [u]Most Outstanding Wide Receiver - Mike Doornink[/u] Mike leads all receivers in Division I-AA with 93 receptions, 17 more than his closest competitor. 1055 yards receiving is good for 9th, and 8 touchdown receptions is good for 13th. [u]Most Outstanding Tight End - Todd Bennett[/u] Bennett has been a sleeper for several years, but Coach Choate's offense really brought out the best in Todd. 48 receptions is good for 3rd out of all tight ends. [u]Most Outstanding Kicker - Jed Zimmerman[/u] Not even a blip on the kicking radar until the past several weeks when he has made key kicks to extend and take leads in the game. Congratulations to all of those nominated, and good luck in those competitions!