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BOONE, N.C. – Wofford College was defeated by Appalachian State 70-24 on Friday night at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Appalachian State scored on their first six possessions of the game to take a 42-14 lead at the half. Armanti Edwards had a career night for the Mountaineers, with five passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown.
The Terriers are 6-2 on the season (4-1 SoCon) and Appalachian State is 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the Southern Conference. Halloween night was not kind to the Terriers, who had five turnovers on the night. Eric Breitenstein led the team with 157 yards on 18 carries, while Dane Romero scored two touchdowns. However, Appalachian quarterback Armanti Edwards was 17-of-19 passing with five touchdowns, a school record.
“I did not think it would be like this,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “We felt like we had an opportunity to come in here and win if we executed. Bottom line is we faced a great football team and we did not play great. As a matter of fact we played poorly. We had not been turning the football over, and we turned it over way too many times. When the game started they could not stop us and we could not stop them, and all of a sudden they stop us and it turned from there.”
The Mountaineers had the ball first and opened the game with a 48 yard kickoff return to get the ball into Terrier territory. At 12:55, Armanti Edwards found Ben Jorden for a 23-yard touchdown completion to take the early lead.
Wofford responded when from the first play Ben Widmyer completed a pass to Andy Strickland 33-yards down the far sideline for a first down. Dane Romero took the ball in from 22-yards out for a touchdown to even the score at 7-7 at 10:07 in the first quarter. The scoring continued when Armanti Edwards again found Ben Jorden, this time for a 48-yard touchdown pass to take a 14-7 lead at 8:09.
The Terriers once again responded. Dane Romero had a 56-yard run, which set up a twelve-yard touchdown run by Ben Widmyer who reached the ball out to touch the pylon. The score was tied at 14-14 just 7:00 into the game. Five minutes later, the Mountaineers added a touchdown with a five-yard run by Robert Welton to cap a ten-play drive.
On the next possession by Wofford, Ben Widmyer was intercepted on a deep pass by Mark LeGree. Aided by two penalties for first downs, the Mountaineers took a 28-14 on a one-yard run by Armanti Edwards at 13:08 in the second quarter. After forcing Wofford to punt, Appalachian State struck with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Brian Quick for a 35-14 lead with 10:59 remaining in the first half.
Wofford moved the ball into Mountaineer territory on the next drive, however an incomplete pass on fourth and nine turned it over on downs. Appalachian State added to the lead when Devin Radford went 47-yards for a touchdown to make it a 42-14 game. Wofford stopped the Mountaineers on their next drive. With the ball back, Wofford drove into Appalachian State territory, but time ran out in the half.
In the first half, Appalachian State had 372 yards of total offense, while Wofford had 236 yards. Armanti Edwards was 12-of-13 in the half with 233 yards and three touchdowns, plus a rushing touchdown.
To open the second half, Wofford picked up three first downs but the drive ended when Mark LeGree intercepted Ben Widmyer for the second time in the game. The Wofford defense forced a punt by the Mountaineers with 7:25 remaining in the third quarter.
Wofford picked up yardage on a 42-yard run by Eric Breitenstein, but after a sack the Terriers had to settle for a 43-yard field goal by Patrick Mugan at 4:00 in the third quarter. Appalachian State again responded with a touchdown as Armanti Edwards found Brian Quick for a 50-yard touchdown strike to take a 49-17 lead with 3:52 left in the quarter.
Quarterback Mitch Allen entered the game for Wofford on the next drive. On the strength of several long runs by Eric Breitenstein, Dane Romero capped the scoring drive with a five yard run to make it a 49-24 game with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.
Appalachian State added another touchdown when Armanti Edwards found Brian Quick for a 50-yard touchdown completion. It was Quick’s third touchdown reception of the game. The Terriers then fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Mountaineers. Wofford forced a punt, but on the ensuing drive Wofford’s Mitch Allen was intercepted by Mark LeGree, his third pick of the night.
Josh Jackson rushed for a 15-yard touchdown to take a 63-24 lead with 5:43 left in the game. After another Wofford fumble, DeAndre Presley scored on a five-yard run for the 70-24 score with 1:34 left in the game. The Terriers were able to drive to the 13-yard line before time ran out in the game.
Wofford had 497 yards of offense, but Appalachian State had 620 yards. Wofford had a 31:37 to 28:23 edge in time of possession.
Up next, the Terriers will host The Citadel on Saturday, November 8 at Gibbs Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on SportSouth at 3:00 pm.
Wofford vs. Appalachian State
Post-Game Notes
For only the second time in the I-AA/FCS era of the Southern Conference (1982-present), two teams that were undefeated in conference play squared off with four weeks or less left to play in the regular season.
Eric Breitenstein, a graduate of Watauga High School in Boone, had his first 100-yard rushing game with 157 yards on a career-high 18 carries.
The game was the second time his season that two Terriers have rushed for over 100 yards, with Dane Romero running for 106 and Eric Breitenstein going for 157. Against Presbyterian in the season opener, Ben Widmyer (107) and Dane Romero (100) accomplished the feat.
The interception throw by Ben Widmyer in the first quarter was his first of the season (65 attempts without an interception to open the season).
Patrick Mugan’s 43-yard field goal in the third quarter was a career-long.
Jeremy Marshall suffered a sprained knee on the first series of the game and did not return.
The sack of Ben Widmyer in the third quarter was just the second sack allowed all season by the Terriers. The other was at South Carolina on September 20.
The 70 points allowed by the Terriers were the most since falling 70-19 to Mississippi College on November 17, 1990 in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
Wofford had five turnovers in the game, the most this season. Wofford did not have a take-away for the first time this season.
Attendance was 30,931 at Kidd Brewer Stadium, a school record.
