Miscue in the mountains
Dukes lose on road to defending Div. I-AA champions
By John Galle, sports editor
Posted on September 11, 2006

BOONE, N.C. — The No. 1 Appalachian State Mountaineers charged out onto the field of Kidd Brewer Stadium for their home opener Saturday against No. 12 JMU with pyrotechnics, the game ball delivered via sky divers and an all-too-familiar Division I-AA championship trophy being brandished by the school’s president. JMU left with much less fanfare and a 21-10 loss.

“It was a tough environment,” JMU senior quarterback Justin Rascati said. “To me, this was like a playoff game.”

The last time JMU squared off against ASU was in the 1995 playoffs in Boone, N.C. The Dukes lost that contest 31-24, allowing ASU’s feature tailback 196 yards. This time, JMU’s defense didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher, but allowed 161 total rushing yards.

All of ASU’s 21 points came in the first half.

“I think it was just getting used to it [and] feeling them out a little bit,” Madison junior free safety Tony LeZotte said. “The second half was a different story.”

The Dukes gave up no points and only three first downs in the second half.

The JMU offense had two key turnovers in the first half. Rascati’s first-quarter interception resulted in seven points for ASU, senior running back Maurice Fenner fumbled the football at the ASU 24 in the second quarter and senior kicker David Rabil’s 29-yard miss negated points on a red-zone trip.

Rascati finished the game 16 of 27 for 206 yards with a 47-yard touchdown strike to junior wide receiver L.C. Baker and an interception. Baker finished with team-highs in catches (5) and receiving yards (67) and the only JMU touchdown.

Junior running back Eugene Holloman stood in for the injured senior Alvin Banks and finished with team-highs of 63 rushing yards, 17 carries and tied Baker with five catches, totaling 126 all-purpose yards.

“We were moving the ball, we were just bogged down [with bad field position],” Matthews said. “We just couldn’t score.”

In the Dukes’ opening drive of the game, Rascati led JMU 51 yards to the ASU 5-yard line. Rabil’s 22-yard field goal was good and the Dukes took their only lead of the game with 9:39 left in the first quarter.

Then, ASU poured on 21 unanswered points.

“It was important to come out early in the game,” ASU senior defensive back Jeremy Wiggins said. “It gave our team a lot of momentum.”

That momentum could’ve been lost when Elder had to leave the game after a helmet-to-helmet hit from JMU senior safety Phil Minafield at the end of the first quarter. ASU backup quarterback Armanti Edwards came into the lineup and finished the drive himself on the next play with a 7-yard touchdown run.

On JMU’s next possession, they began to move the football once again with two first downs, but were stalled abruptly when ASU’s Wiggins intercepted a pass and returned in 22 yards to the JMU 26-yard line.

“I thought he got held,” Rascati said. “He got held up running a slant and I threw it were I thought he was going to be, [but] he got held [and] wasn’t there.”

With Edwards still at the helm, ASU capitalized on the short field with five-straight running plays, capped by Richardson jumping over the pile for a one-yard touchdown.

With less than three minutes until halftime, Elder returned and led the Mountaineers on another 80-yard drive with another one-yard Richardson touchdown.

At the half, JMU had more time of possession, 11 first downs and virtually identical offensive numbers as ASU, but found themselves down 21-3.

“If [Moore], like myself, had seen the second-half statistics, you would’ve thought [JMU] had won the game,” Matthews said. “I never dreamed we’d dominate them defensively as much as we did in the second half and not win the game.”

In the fourth quarter, senior defensive end Kevin Winston hurried Edwards, who saw extended playing time in the second half, into an intentional grounding penalty. Senior defensive tackle Chuck Suppon and senior linebacker Akeem Jordan registered a 4-yard tackle for loss on Richardson.

ASU punted out of their own end zone and gave JMU their best field position of the day. Rascati capitalized finding Baker on a deep post pattern for the only JMU touchdown with 8:43 left.

“Give [ASU] credit,” Rascati said. “They had a good plan for us. They are a good football team and hopefully we can turn things around and see them again in the playoffs.”

The Dukes will have a week off and then look to rebound against Atlantic 10 rival Northeastern on September 23. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Bridgeforth Stadium/Zane Showker Field. Northeastern defeated Holy Cross 24-14 this weekend.