Maine 14, ASU 13 (Nov. 30, 2002)
This is a story published Dec. 1, 2002, in the Winston-Salem Journal about the first-round playoff game in 2002 between Appalachian State and Maine. The teams will meet again in the playoffs Saturday in Boone.
MAINE KNOCKS APPALACHIAN STATE OUT OF PLAYOFFS
BLACK BEARS RALLY FROM EARLY DEFICIT, EDGE MOUNTAINEERS 14-13 IN FIRST ROUND
BOONE
By Tommy Bowman
JOURNAL REPORTER
With three minutes left in the third quarter of yesterday’s Division I-AA playoff game, Appalachian State appeared well on the way to extending its season for at least one more week.
The Mountaineers had a double-digits lead and a shutout, but they didn’t finish. Their season ended as result, as Maine swept to a 14-13 first-round victory at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The Black Bears (11-2) will play Georgia Southern in next weekend’s quarterfinals.
“Our team continues to persevere,” said Coach Jack Cosgrove, whose Bears have won 10 of their last 12 road games, including a first-round playoff victory at McNeese State last season. “We found another way to win. We found big plays from our offense, and our defense really responded.”
Other than a 1-for-12 performance by the Mountaineers on third-down conversions, the game was basically a statistical deadlock.
But it wasn’t that way throughout.
The Mountaineers outgained the Bears 154 yards to 50 in the third quarter and built a 10-0 lead. But the Black Bears took charge in the decisive fourth quarter, outgaining the Mountaineers 138-26.
“(Maine) never panicked, I think that was pretty obvious,” said Coach Jerry Moore, whose Mountaineers finished 8-4.
Josh Jeffries, Appalachian’s All-America defensive end who played with the flu and had to take an IV at halftime, said: “We gave up some key plays, that’s been our problem all year long. We play hard, it’s just always minus a couple of plays.”
After a scoreless first half, the Mountaineers found some offense on the first play of the second half.
Jerry Beard (119 yards on 18 carries) took a pitch around the left side for a career-best 56-yard run. Four plays later, Joe Burchette scored the first points on a 1-yard plunge.
The Mountaineers followed with a 63-yard drive that stalled inside the 10 but got a 19-yard field goal from Mark Wright to go ahead 10-0.
“We felt pretty good at that point,” Beard said.
But things turned in a hurry.
Burchette, who completed 9 of 17 passes for 73 yards on a blustery day, was pressured on a third-down play from his 9 and threw a high pass across the middle that got caught in the wind.
Joan Quezada intercepted at the 33, and three plays later, Ryan Waller scored on a 27-yard pass from Jon Meczywor. The Bears trailed 10-7 with 1:26 left in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers took a 13-7 lead on Wright’s 47-yard field goal 13 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Bears, however, drove 80 yards for the winning touchdown. Two third-down conversions were part of the drive, including a catch of a tipped pass by Kevin McMahan on a third-and-7 play from the Mountaineers’ 39.
After an offensive pass-interference penalty against Maine had the Bears facing first and 25 at the 41, tailback Marcus Williams broke through the line for the go-ahead 41-yard touchdown with 9:41 left.
“He hit the hole about as hard as he had all day, and nobody was there to tackle him,” Jeffries said. Williams had a game-high 157 yards on 29 carries.
The Mountaineers drove to the Bears’ 39 on their final possession but stalled. They decided to punt with 4:50 left, and Andrew Layton couldn’t hang on to Nate McKinney’s pooch attempt that would have nailed the Bears at the 2.
“I didn’t want to give them the ball right there (at the 39),” Moore said of the decision to punt, feeling that the Mountaineers were out of field-goal range. “There were five minutes to go, and I thought we’d get the ball back.”
But the Mountaineers never did.
The Black Bears, converting on three third-down plays, stuck to the ground, drove from their 20 to the Mountaineers’ 42 and used up the remaining time.
“That was huge,” said Meczywor, a sophomore who started for the second time as a fill-in for injured senior Jake Eaton. “Everybody knew it too, in the huddle.
“Every first down was closer to a win.”