The Appalachian State football team averted a huge upset Saturday afternoon as the Mountaineers rallied and beat the Citadel 30-27 in overtime at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

The win gives ASU (2-2 overall) a 2-0 record in the Southern Conference. It was also Appalachian's 18th win against the Bulldogs in 20 tries. But the Citadel (2-2; 0-1) nearly pulled off the upset, thanks to a poor first half performance by the Mountaineers.

The Bulldogs, who racked up 373 yards offensively, led 13-7 at the break. But they couldn't stop Aramanti Edwards. The ASU senior, who has dominated The Citadel during his four-year career, ran for two touchdowns, threw for 327 yards and a touchdown pass. His 74-yard strike to Brian Quick with 4:28 left in regulation time tied the game at 27-all.

Quick, who caught four balls for 117 yards, forced overtime when he blocked Sam Keeler's 53-yard field goal try as time expired. The Mountaineers then won the toss in overtime, deferred, survived a 37-yard field goal attempt by Keeler that was wide right, and won the game on 30-yard field goal by Jason Vitaris.

It was redemption for Vitaris, who missed two field goals in the first half. But he did score 11 of Appalachian's 30 points. On the day, ASU had 478 yards offensively. Defensively, D.J. Smith had ten stops, and he leads both the Apps and the Southern Conference in tackles.
NOTES: The Apps return home to play North Carolina Central next Saturday, and its Homecoming. The Apps are 34-11-2 in Homecoming games....This will also be the first meeting ever between the schools.....North Carolina Central will join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in 2010......Our coverage begins at 1:30 pm on WATA 1450 AM.....Armanti Edwards, who had 407 yards of offense against The Citadel, has 1,360 yards and 15 touchdowns in his career against the Bulldogs.....And his Saturday was also his sixth career 300-yard passing game, and his fifth 400 total yard offensive game of his career.