Oct. 23, 2010

Final Stats |  Notes |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - DeAndre Presley ran for three touchdowns including two in the first quarter as No. 1 Appalachian State rushed out to a 20-point lead in the first quarter en route to a 37-14 victory over Western Carolina on Saturday at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.

With the win, the Mountaineers retained possession of the Old Mountain Jug for the sixth-consecutive year while also capturing their 25th-straight Southern Conference victory.

WCU redshirt freshman Deja Alexander hauled in nine passes for a career-best 151 yards to lead the Catamounts, while Michael Johnson plunged in from three yards out for his third rushing score of the season at the 2:36 mark of the third quarter. Also for the Catamount offense, receiver Josh Cockrell caught three passes for 40 yards while tight end Andrew Rogers and wideout Jacoby Mitchell each had two catches.

However, miscues in the form of four turnovers including a fumble at the one-yard line and missed opportunities such as a penalty that erased a kickoff return for a touchdown, plagued the Catamounts.

Taking advantage of a short field, Appalachian State (7-0, 5-0 SoCon) scored on three of its first four possessions, while conversely, the Catamounts were held without points the first six times they touched the ball. WCU twice turned it over on downs on its opening pair of possessions, with two turnovers - a fumble and an interception - and twice punted before finding pay-dirt.

Trailing 20-0 late in the second quarter, starting quarterback Zac Brindise took advantage of good field position in guiding the Catamounts on a four-play, 58-yard scoring drive to close to within two scores. Brindise, a junior from South Fort Myers, Fla., found senior Marquel Pittman for his lone reception of the game - a 32-yard scoring strike that pulled WCU to within 20-7.

Pittman now has 17 career touchdown receptions, one shy of matching former WCU great, Jerry Gaines who had 18 receiving scores from 1970-74. Brindise, who took all but two snaps under center after garnering the starting nod, finished 18-of-32 for 261 yards and a touchdown with one interception.

With momentum seemingly swinging the way of the purple and gold before the break, the Mountaineers deflated the capacity crowd with a 91-yard drive, culminating on the eighth play with Presley's third rushing score of the contest with just 40 seconds to show before intermission handing ASU a 27-7 halftime edge.

"I didn't think the score at halftime truly indicated where we were at in the game. I felt we were still in the game," said head coach Dennis Wagner during post-game comments on the Catamount Sports Network. "We challenged the team to come out and build some momentum in the second half, and I felt if we had gone down and scored, we would have built on the momentum we had in the closing minutes of the second half. Unfortunately we didn't convert and overall put our defense in some tough spots."

In the second half, the Catamounts were able to sustain four sizeable drives but only managed points on one possession. Brindise orchestrated drives of seven, 12, 13 and 11 plays and consumed 18 minutes of clock time with the lone score not coming until late in the third quarter.

Western Carolina (2-6, 1-4 SoCon) moved 51 yards into ASU territory before a fumble thwarted the opening drive of the second half. The Mountaineers, behind a combined 53 yards rushing of the 73-yard drive by Travaris Cadet, converted the Catamount turnover into seven points on a 10-yard Cadet rush and a 34-7 lead.

WCU responded, though, with its longest scoring drive in terms of plays this season, marching 63 yards in 12 plays, culminating with the three-yard Johnson rushing score to close the deficit back to 20, 34-14.

The Mountaineers capped the game's scoring with a Jason Vitaris 33-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter with the two squads playing scoreless the final 14:46 of regulation despite multiple opportunities for the Catamounts.

On the ensuing possession after the Vitaris field goal, the Catamounts moved to inside the Mountaineer six-yard line where on the 13th play - and the fourth-consecutive rush by Michael Johnson - the sophomore was stripped at the one-yard line by Brandon Grier with John Rizor recovering the loose football keeping WCU off the scoreboard.

Later in the quarter, the Catamounts were again in ASU territory at the 13-yard line before a 10-yard sack and a failed fourth-down conversion again kept Western Carolina off the scoreboard and unable to chip away at the Mountaineer advantage.

All told, Western Carolina's defense held the Mountaineers to a season-low 391 yards of total offense in the loss, 100 yards shy of their SoCon-leading 493 entering the game. WCU was led by senior Mitchell Bell led the Catamounts with a dozen tackles including six solo stops and a pass break-up, while Ricky Schwarz finished with nine tackles.

Western Carolina will take next week off before returning to action in two weeks on Saturday, Nov. 6 at nationally-ranked Furman. Kickoff of the regionally-televised game on CSS is scheduled for 12:30 pm from Paladin Stadium in Greenville, S.C.