Wake Forest wakes up, holds off Appalachian State 20-19
Wake Forest’s offense was woken up at halftime and returned the dangerous form it’s shown all season in a nail-biting 20-19 victory over Appalachian State at Kidd Brewer Stadium on Saturday.
It came down to the final seconds, when a Wake Forest player partially blocked a 39-yard field goal with five seconds left.
After a stagnant first half that saw five straight three-and-outs, Wake Forest (4-0) had back-to-back touchdown drives of 97 and 75 yards to start the second half, grabbing a 17-16 lead.
App State (2-2) took back the lead with a field goal, which was answered by Mike Weaver’s 25-yard field goal with 7:22 left. That marked the fifth and final lead change in the second half of this sleepy-turned-thrilling rekindled rivalry matchup.
Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford, after ending the first half completing 1 of 10 passes, threw touchdowns of 10 and 6 yards to Greg Dortch and Cam Serigne, respectively, in the third quarter. Dortch, a redshirt freshman, has a touchdown in every game this season. Serigne has six catches this year, four of them for touchdowns.
Wake Forest marched to App State’s 10-yard on the game’s opening possession before stalling and settling for a 27-yard field goal. The Deacons picked up a combined 40 yards on their first three plays of that drive.
For the rest of the first half, the Deacons had 32 yards on 19 plays. Wake Forest went five straight possessions without a first down.
App State struck for the first half’s only touchdown on a trick play, quarterback Taylor Lamb throwing to well-covered tight end Levi Duffield in the back of the end zone. Wendell Dunn blocked the ensuing extra point, and the Mountaineers added a field goal in the second quarter for a 9-3 halftime lead.
For the rest of the first half, the Deacons had 32 yards on 19 plays. Wake Forest went five straight possessions without a first down.
App State struck for the first half’s only touchdown on a trick play, quarterback Taylor Lamb throwing to well-covered tight end Levi Duffield in the back of the end zone. Wendell Dunn blocked the ensuing extra point, and the Mountaineers added a field goal in the second quarter for a 9-3 halftime lead.
This story was originally published September 23, 2017 at 7:16 PM with the headline "Wake Forest wakes up, holds off Appalachian State 20-19."