BOONE, N.C. – Trailing by 18 points with less than six minutes to go, Appalachian State University football rallied to pull within three points but a would-be game-tying field goal missed wide left in the waning seconds and the Mountaineers dropped a heartbreaking 24-21 decision to North Carolina A&T on Saturday evening at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

North Carolina A&T (1-0) led 24-6 following Cody Jones' 27-yard field goal with 8:11 to play but Appalachian State (0-2) scored two touchdowns in a span of 4:59 to to cut the deficit to 24-21 with 24 seconds to go. The Mountaineers then recovered an onside kick and moved 20 yards in three plays to set up a 46-yard field-goal attempt with seven seconds remaining. However, senior Drew Stewart's attempt sailed a couple of feet wide of the left upright to dash Appalachian's hopes of a miraculous comeback.

Appalachian dominated in most phases of the game, outgaining N.C. A&T, 378-244, and picking up 23 first downs compared to the Aggies' 12. However, A&T scored two non-offensive touchdowns on a 91-yard kickoff return and a 57-yard interception return that proved to be the difference in its first win over App State since 1993.

D'Vonte Grant's 57-yard interception return for a touchdown with four seconds to go in the second quarter capped a disastrous opening half for the Mountaineers, who trailed 21-6 at halftime despite surrendering only 100 yards of offense over the first two periods.

The score remained 21-6 until Jones' field goal stretched the Aggies' lead to 18 points nearly midway through the fourth quarter. Behind backup quarterback Kameron Bryant, who replaced starter Jamal Londry-Jackson at the beginning of the second half, Appalachian answered with an 11-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Bryant to tight end Barrett Burns with 5:23 left in the ballgame. A two-point conversion pass from Bryant to Simms McElfresh pulled the Apps within 10 points at 24-14.

After a failed onside-kick attempt, Appalachian's defense forced a three-and-out but a 41-yard punt pinned the Mountaineers at their own one yard line. They were able to move out from the shadow of their own goal post but N.C. A&T seemingly iced the victory when Appalachian turned the ball over on downs at its own 14 yard line with 3:01 remaining. However, instead of kicking a field goal on fourth and five from the App State nine yard line, the Aggies elected to go for what would have been a game-clinching first down. The strategy backfired when Patrick Blalock and Dante Blackmon stuffed A&T running back Dominique Drake for a three-yard loss and the Mountaineers took over on their own 12 with 1:53 to play.

From there, Bryant engineered a textbook eight-play, 88-yard drive. After an incomplete pass on the first play of the series, Bryant completed his final six passes of the drive, including a nine-yard touchdown pass to freshman running back Marcus Cox that drew the Mountaineers within three points with 24 seconds left in the game.

Stewart followed with a textbook onside kick that was recovered by Kevin Walton at midfield. An 11-yard completion to Andrew Peacock and a nine-yard run by Cox set up Stewart's heart-wrenching miss with two seconds left on the clock.

In just one half of work, Bryant completed 21-of-31 passes without an interception for 191 yards and two touchdowns to nearly lead what would have been perhaps the most improbable comeback in program history. Senior Tony Washington had a career-high 11 receptions for 101 yards to lead all receivers while Peacock also hauled in 11 catches (matching a career high) for 93 yards. Cox caught three passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed eight times for 36 yards (4.5 avg.).

Defensively, Appalachian forced five three-and-outs and limited N.C. A&T to 18 yards or less on nine of its 13 possessions. Redshirt freshman John Law led the way with 14 tackles and fellow inside linebacker Karl Anderson added 11 stops and a pass break-up.

Appalachian State gets a bye week to regroup before opening its final season of Southern Conference competition at Elon on Sept. 21. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Elon's Rhodes Stadium.

NOTES: Appalachian State dropped to 5-2 all-time versus North Carolina A&T ... the loss was its first to the Aggies since a 22-10 defeat in Greensboro, N.C. on Sept. 4, 1993 ... Appalachian is 0-2 or the first time since 2009 and only the third time in the last 20 seasons ... in 2009, Appalachian reeled off 11-straight wins after the 0-2 start before losing at Montana in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Football Championship ... the Mountaineers fell to 24-2 in their last 26 games that immediately followed a same-season loss ... the last time Appalachian had lost back-to-back games in the same season was in '09, when it dropped the first two decisions of the campaign to East Carolina and McNeese State ... the home-opening loss was also Appalachian's first since the '09 loss to McNeese State ... the loss snapped the Mountaineers' 32-game home winning streak versus in-state opponents ... the Apps' last previous defeat at home to an in-state foe was a 34-7 loss to Western Carolina on Oct. 6, 1984 at then-Conrad Stadium.