RICHMOND, Va. -- On the raw night that Armanti Edwards' career could have ended, he made sure Appalachian State will play another day.

Some quarterbacks earn the crowd's roars with one fourth-quarter rally. Edwards carried the standard another floor higher. He spurred two remarkable comebacks that carried the Mountaineers past Richmond 35-31 in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Trailing by 10 points, ASU could see the end of the road. Edwards saw something different. "It wasn't over," he said. "We were just two scores down. We just needed to put down a great fourth quarter, and we did it."

Edwards delivered a touchdown in three plays that took only 45 seconds, with Devon Moore scoring from 5 yards out. Moore dominated the next drive, which Edwards finished with a 3-yard run for a 28-24 lead.

That didn't hold, however, and Edwards jogged back onto the field with 3:36 left, down 31-28. He sliced up the vaunted Richmond defense with short passes and sharp runs, but time and ASU timeouts evaporated with 15 seconds left, the ball on the 4-yard line.

Facing third down, with the prospect of a tying field goal quite tangible despite the slick grass, Coach Jerry Moore emphasized the bottom line. "I told Armanti he had to throw," Moore said. "We couldn't risk running. It had to happen fast."

The Spiders pressured Edwards, taking the snap in the spread offense. Edwards noticed the blitz coming, a linebacker rushing past receiver Matt Cline. When Cline felt the breeze, he hurried toward the end zone, suspecting that Edwards would unload quickly.

He did. The ball arrived in a flash, low and away from any defender's fingertips. Cline caught it and curled up on the damp ground, victory virtually assured, along with a trip to Montana for the semifinals.

Only 10 seconds remained.

"He saw that 'backer coming," Moore said. "He's so smart. He sees things that we don't teach. I'm telling you the truth. I wish I could say that we could take credit for it."

Road and rain

During the dreary drizzle of late afternoon, cars rolled into Richmond with ASU and UR flags flapping. The rain briefly gave way to extremely light snowflakes as the crowd arrived in the gravel parking lots around University of Richmond Stadium, an old public-football park two miles from downtown commonly called its ancient name, City Stadium.

The Mountaineers hadn't played a true road playoff game in eight seasons, but you could hardly tell that from the crowd, roughly a half-and-half mix of 7,272 folks happy that the weather hadn't turned completely against them. The rain dwindled to a mere drip by the kickoff, which didn't prevent the returner from slipping but kept the 37-degree air tolerable.

The two offenses instantly raised the competitive temperature. Richmond drove for a touchdown on its first series, and ASU soon matched the Spiders. Moore bolted 45 yards. Edwards did the rest on vital third-down plays, completing a 15-yard pass and running 16 yards for the touchdown.

Richmond contained Edwards the rest of the half, except for the time Blake Elder slid onto his back and caught a low pass, and the Spiders converted field position into a 50-yard touchdown march.

Edwards, set up by a strong kickoff return, responded on the opening possession of the second half, and Moore circled left end for a tying, 17-yard touchdown. Richmond answered promptly for a 21-14 lead but failed to deliver a crushing blow after reaching the ASU 8 early in the final period.

The sense of desperation intensified, but Edwards never looked desperate.

"We had plenty of time," he said.

He had just enough time to extend a season and a career.

lrawlings@wsjournal.com

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