BOONE, N.C. ? Appalachian State University's offense scored on 6-of-15 series ? including each of its first three possessions ? to highlight Appalachian's annual Fan Fest scrimmage on Saturday evening at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Six different players found paydirt for the Mountaineers in the two-hour scrimmage, which capped ASU's 11th-annual and easily most successful Fan Fest. An estimated 10,000 fans poured through the gates at The Rock for the festivities, which included two hours of autographs, photographs, face-painting and other family fun before the Apps took the field for their final scrimmage before the Aug. 30 season opener at LSU.
Walter Payton Award candidate Armanti Edwards opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run that capped a seven-play, 70-yard drive on the scrimmage's first series.
On the next possession, the offense marched 70 yards in 10 plays, punctuated by T.J. Courman's touchdown run from three yards out.
The third series was a short one, as redshirt freshman running back Cedric Baker exploded for a 65-yard touchdown gallop on the first play to make it three-straight touchdowns for the Black and Gold offense.
The defense settled in and held the offense out of the end zone in each of its next three possessions, including back-to-back three-and-outs. However, the offense found paydirt once again on the seventh series when Edwards hooked up with CoCo Hillary for a pretty 33-yard touchdown pass to cap an eight-play, 80-yard drive.
On the next series, it was true freshman quarterback DeAndre Presley's turn to get in on the act, which he did by leading the offense on a four-play, 80-yard drive, culminated by his 49-yard touchdown jaunt.
The offense closed out the scoring on its 11th possession when Virginia Tech transfer Devin Radford capped a six-play, 61-yard drive with a 50-yard touchdown run.
In all, ASU's offense racked up 599 total yards on its 15 possessions, including 425 yards and five of the six touchdowns on the ground. Edwards led the way by completing 7-of-11 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown and running four times for 22 more yards and another score.
Radford led all rushers with 99 yards on eight carries. Moore added 81 yards on just five rushes and Baker ran five times for 77 yards. Hillary led all receivers with three catches for 49 yards and B.J. Frazier added four receptions for 45 yards.
Defensively, true freshman defensive back Ed Gainey turned in an impressive performance with five tackles and two pass break-ups, as well as forcing the scrimmage's only turnover with an interception in the end zone late in the evening. Another true freshman, linebacker Demery Brewer, led all tacklers with eight while redshirt freshman defensive end Jason Jones had two tackles for loss among his four total stops. Defensive end Quavian Lewis (five tackles, sack), cornerback Cortez Gilbert (three pass break-ups, two tackles) and safety Travis Dowda (five tackles) paced the first-team defense.
The Mountaineers have a much-deserved off day on Sunday before resuming two-a-days and beginning its preparations for LSU on Monday.
A reminder that for your safety, due to ongoing construction at Kidd Brewer Stadium, all practices held at the stadium in 2008 are closed to the public. ASU athletics thanks its fans for their cooperation and support.
