Sept. 26, 2009
Box Score
BOONE, N.C. -
The Samford football team dropped its Southern Conference opener, 20-7, at 10th-ranked Appalachian State Saturday afternoon at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Samford drops to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in SoCon play with the loss. Appalachian State improves to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in league play.
"We're disappointed we didn't win, but you have to tip your cap to App. State," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "Jerry (Moore) has done a tremendous job here and they have a lot of great players. They played well and we didn't execute as well as we should have."
Samford's Chris Evans rushed 22 times for 86 yards and a touchdown, and he had three receptions for 11 yards in the loss. Jonathan Lowery had three receptions for 27 yards. Dustin Taliaferro completed 12-of-33 passes for 86 yards and one interception.
Bryce Smith led the Samford defense with 12 tackles. Bob Hooper punted nine times for an average of 42.8 yards per kick.
Appalachian State was led by Armanti Edwards, completing 19-of-28 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown. Devon Moore rushed 17 times for 106 yards to lead all rushers. D.J. Smith led the ASU defense with 16 tackles.
All of Appalachian State's points came in the first half. ASU put its first points on the scoreboard when Edwards scored on a 13-yard run with 6:47 to go in the first quarter. Jason Vitaris added the extra point to give ASU a 7-0 lead.
Appalachian State made the score 10-0 when Vitaris kicked a 21-yard field goal with 9:50 to go in the second quarter. Edwards hit Jordan Gary for a 13-yard touchdown with 5:06 to go in the second quarter. Vitaris' extra point gave ASU a 17-0 lead. Vitaris added a 44-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to give ASU a 20-0 halftime lead.
Samford got on the scoreboard when Evans scored on a one-yard run with 6:16 to go in the game. Cameron Yaw added the extra point to make the final score 20-7.
As a team, Appalachian State rolled up 366 yards of total offense to Samford's 192. The Mountaineers totaled 23 first downs to Samford's 14.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 3, when the Bulldogs play host to Western Carolina in the Bulldogs' first home Southern Conference game of the season. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. kickoff from Seibert Stadium.
