11/17/2018 football Edit

App State Win Over Georgia State Sets Up Big Finale

Corey Sutton had a huge day for the Mountaineers with 101 receiving yards and a score. (Jonathan Aguallo, ASI)

App State Athletics

BOONE, N.C. — One home game down. At least one more big one to go.

Returning to Boone for the last two games of the regular season, App State posted a 45-17 victory against Sun Belt Conference foe Georgia State to set up a winner-take-all finale with East Division leader Troy next weekend at Kidd Brewer Stadium. If the Mountaineers (8-2, 6-1) beat the Trojans to win the division via the head-to-head tiebreaker, they would host the inaugural Sun Belt Championship Game on Dec. 1.

App State quarterback Zac Thomas accounted for four touchdowns, including three through the air as he completed 20 of his 24 passes for 282 yards, and Darrynton Evans rushed for a 56-yard touchdown to highlight a 15-carry, 127-yard performance. Corey Sutton also had a 100-yard day, catching four passes for 101 yards and one score.

Defensively, Desmond Franklin's two interceptions included a 26-yard return for a third-quarter touchdown that followed pressure from Anthony Flory, who had seven tackles to help lead a group that limited the Panthers (2-9, 1-6) to 132 passing yards.

Georgia State used a 7-yard touchdown pass on the game's opening drive to take a brief lead, but App State responded with a four-play, 75-yard series that ended with Thomas' 39-yard touchdown pass to Sutton. Freshman tight end Henry Pearson hurdled a defender close to the end zone on a 10-yard touchdown reception with 3:16 left in the opening quarter, and Chandler Staton's 23-yard field goal 11 seconds before halftime gave the Mountaineers a 17-7 advantage heading into the break.

Thomas scored on a 1-yard keeper about six minutes into the third quarter, and Franklin scooped up a low, desperate throw toward Georgia State's bench before racing untouched down the left sideline.

The Panthers trailed 31-10 when Thomas hit Dominique Heath for a 21-yard touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter, and Franklin's 38-yard interception return from the App State 6 to the 44 preceded Evans' touchdown run on the second play of the next series.