BOONE, N.C. – Hitting the reset button, App State football opened the 2023 season by rallying in the second half and winning in front of a big crowd at The Rock.
Freshmen and non-starters delivered valuable performances in the 45-24 win over Gardner-Webb in front of 36,075 fans at Kidd Brewer Stadium on Saturday.
In relief of starting quarterback Ryan Burger, who completed 7 of 10 passes with an early touchdown pass before being sidelined for the rest of the game with a finger injury, Joey Aguilar completed 11 of his 13 passes for 174 yards and four touchdowns. He threw a touchdown on his first play for the Mountaineers and set a school record for most touchdown passes by a quarterback in his App State debut.
“Joey came in, his first college pass for App State was a touchdown, and that gave us the spark we needed,” head coach Shawn Clark said.
Eli Wilson, Kaedin Robinson, Dalton Stroman, Dashaun Davis and Christan Horn each had a touchdown catch, and Nate Noel rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown on a career-high 24 carries.
Three forced turnovers in an eight-minute span from the end of the third quarter to the start of the fourth quarter allowed the Mountaineers to pull away from the Runnin’ Bulldogs, who led 24-21 in the third quarter before App State scored the final 24 points against It was scored by an opponent who will take part in the FCS playoffs in 2022.
With App State leading 31-24 following a 43-yard field goal by Michael Hughes, defensive end Michael Fletcher’s second QB pressure of the game resulted in an interception by senior safety and team captain Jackson Greene, who returned the ball 25 yards to the Gardner-Webb 23. Noel followed a 16-yard run with a 7-yard score, and pressure from Shawn Collins contributed to an interception by fellow freshman Jack Scroggs shortly thereafter.
Kevin Abrams-Verwayne later forced a fumble that was recovered by freshman Montez Kelley, and Aguilar’s fourth-down touchdown pass to Horn capped the score.
Burger and Aguilar both threw touchdown passes in the first half, as Burger’s 12-yard strike to Wilson followed running back Maquel Haywood’s fourth-and-2 conversion late in the first quarter. The Runnin’ Bulldogs scored the next 10 points and Aguilar took the field for the first time on a 14-yard punt that gave the Mountaineers possession at the Gardner-Webb 32 with 2:13 left in the first half.
Aguilar looked to his left and found Robinson wide open along the left lane at the 7-yard line. Robinson caught the throw, evaded a defender and scored easily to put App State back in the lead.
“You have to go out there and just play, whether it’s first, second or third,” Aguilar said. “It’s always the next man up and you just have to be prepared.”
The Runnin’ Bulldogs began the second half with an 11-play touchdown drive, App State regained the lead on Aguilar’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Davis, and Gardner-Webb took the lead for good on running back Jayden Brown’s third touchdown – a 41-yard touchdown reception.
The Mountaineers took the lead for good with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Aguilar to Stroman down the right sideline, and Nate Johnson and Fletcher forced consecutive three-point punts.
Hughes’ field goal increased the lead to seven points, and the Mountaineers extended their lead to two points for the first time after Greene’s interception on the next series. As he returned to the sideline, he was surrounded by a large group that included head coach Shawn Clark and injured teammate Anderson Castle, a fellow Watauga High School graduate who managed to join the fray on his rolling scooter.
Nick Ross led the defense with 12 total tackles and had three takeaways in the second half, while Andrew Parker Jr. and Tyrek Funderburk each contributed six stops.