Appalachian State tops Troy, will host Sun Belt championship game

The first Sun Belt football championship game is coming to the Blue Ridge mountains.

Appalachian State clinched the East division Saturday with a 21-10 victory over Troy. That also locked up the Mountaineers hosting the Western division champions Saturday at noon at Kidd-Brewer Stadium by virtue of their 7-1 conference record. Their opponent will be Louisiana (7-5, 5-3).

Appalachian State’s chance of even appearing in this first conference title game were seriously damaged by a 34-14 road loss to Georgia Southern Oct. 25. But then Georgia Southern lost games to Louisiana-Monroe and Troy, setting up Saturday’s stakes.

Troy was 7-0 in conference and 9-2 overall. But the Mountaineers (9-2) dominated the first half, taking a 21-3 lead. Former Mallard Creek star Corey Sutton, who transferred to Appalachian State from Kansas State, caught two first-half touchdown passes from Zac Thomas. Thomas also ran untouched for a 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter before Troy finally answered with a 26-yard field goal.

Appalachian State’s defense held Troy to just 149 yards in the first half. Troy converted only two of eight third downs before halftime.

Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPN..

Three who mattered

Sutton: His catch and toe-drag in the back of the end zone nearly went unrewarded in the second quarter, but replay declared it a spectacularly acrobatic touchdown.

Clifton Duck: The former Butler High star set the tone early, breaking multiple tackles on a 46-yard punt return. Duck added a third-quarter interception.

Darrynton Evans: A long run in the first half got the Mountaineers out of terrible field position.

Observations

▪  Troy’s players, seemingly to show they weren’t thrown off by mountain weather that brought freezing rain Friday night, came out for initial pre-game warmups shirtless. Funny thing is, by noon Saturday it was well above 40 degrees in Boone.

▪  It didn’t feel much like a game day in Boone Saturday morning, as far as traffic both by vehicle and pedestrian, probably because school wasn’t in session. What traffic there was coming up the mountain appeared as much Christmas tree shopping as football fans.

▪  Strange no-call on Appalachian State’s missed field-goal try on its first possession. There was clearly movement before the ball was snapped, so it should have been a penalty on one of the teams. But no flag.

▪  The Mountaineers’ offense was pretty stagnant in the third quarter: no first downs and just 10 total yards gained.

Worth mentioning

▪  There was a big cheer when the Mountaineers seniors were announced for running back Jalin Moore, who played at Crest High. Moore had a severe ankle injury against Arkansas State that ended his college career.

▪  This will be the first Sun Belt championship game in football. The winner gets an automatic bid to the New Orleans Bowl Dec. 15 against a Conference USA team.

▪  Since the rule now allows a player to play up to four games and still red-shirt, Appalachian State could now use freshman running back Camerun Peoples in the remaining two games and not sacrifice a season of eligibility. Coach Scott Satterfield expressed lots of excitement over Peoples’ potential. Peoples is 6-foot-2 and 202 pounds, notably bigger than typical Mountaineers running backs in the past.

They said it

“It will mean a lot (hosting) because this will be the first true championship game. It’s going to be here in Boone, a true reflection of how we played through the season. So that will be awesome.” - Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield.

This story was originally published November 24, 2018 at 6:13 PM.