Inspired Rally Gives App State Dramatic Road Win at ECU

GREENVILLE, N.C — App State Football’s third straight win against East Carolina required a first-half rally and plenty of fourth-quarter resolve.

Traveling for their first FBS-vs.-FBS matchup against the Pirates in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, after a 2021 win in Charlotte and 2023 victory in Boone, the Mountaineers prevailed 21-19 on Saturday despite falling behind 16-0 in the opening 10 minutes with a big crowd of 46,117 on hand for the in-state showdown.

Joey Aguilar threw for a career-high 424 yards and two touchdowns, including a 36-yard, go-ahead score to Makai Jackson late in the third quarter. Jackson finished with 86 yards, compared to 129 on seven catches from Kaedin Robinson and 108 on five receptions from Christan Horn.

A defense that recorded four sacks and recovered one fumble made another key stop when cornerback Seth Robertson intercepted a deep pass at the App State 31 and returned the ball 21 yards with the Mountaineers holding a two-point lead in the final five minutes.

Jackson made a diving grab to beat a nearby defender to the ball on third-and-6 reception for 11 yards after the pass slipped through both hands of an interception-minded defensive back and popped high into the air. Eli Wilson moved the chains again with an 11-yard reception to set up the two-minute timeout, and the Mountaineers were able to kneel out the clock when Anderson Castle gained 10 yards on a second-and-10 rush after ECU had used its final timeout.

“I live and die with these kids, and tonight showed we have a very gritty football team,” App State head coach Shawn Clark said. “It couldn’t start off any worse than it did going down 16-0. We kept telling our team, ‘One play at a time. One moment at a time.’ “

Facing an up-tempo opponent that had run 89 plays a week earlier in a win against Sun Belt foe Old Dominion, App State possessed the ball for 39 of the game’s 60 minutes and totaled 505 yards of offense, with 47 pass attempts and 36 runs for 83 total plays. Ethan Johnson forced a fumble that Jordan Favors recovered for the defense’s first takeaway of the season, while Joshua Donald, Cahari Haynes, Montez Kelley, Thomas Davis and Santana Hopper had a hand in sacks.

App State trailed 16-0 after one quarter, starting with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Jake Garcia to Winston Wright Jr. on the third play of the game from the Pirates, who added a field goal and then missed the extra point after Shavon Revel Jr. returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown. They had 110 yards of offense in the first quarter but managed 214 yards the rest of the way.

The Mountaineers cut their deficit to 16-14 by the end of the half, scoring their first touchdown on Aguilar’s 6-yard pass to Wilson early in the second quarter. An unsuccessful two-point try was negated by a defensive penalty, and Aguilar hit Wilson again for two points to cut the deficit in half at 16-8.

Michael Hughes then converted field goals from 28 yards midway through the second quarter and from 35 yards with nine seconds left in the half. After Hughes’ first field goal, the Mountaineers stopped one ECU drive in App State territory as Johnson stripped the ball from the receiver after a catch, leading to the recovery by Favors.

Donald’s drive-starting sack late in the half put ECU behind the chains, contributing to a three-and-out punt that gave App State possession at its 28 with 1:04 remaining before halftime. Completions of 22 yards to Wilson, 11 yards to Dalton Stroman and 22 yards to Robinson pushed the Mountaineers into scoring range.

The Pirates were looking to build on a 16-14 lead in the third quarter, but ECU missed a 36-yard field goal after App State recorded sacks on back-to-back plays. Hopper and Davis combined for one on a second-down snap from the 15, with Davis forcing a fumble, and Kelley brought down Garcia behind the line on third down.

App State’s defense forced a three-and-out punt on the next series, which included the first career sack from Haynes on third down, and the Mountaineers took their first lead of the day on Aguilar’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Jackson. Being chased by two defenders, he ran under a high-arching pass from Aguilar inside the 5, near the front-right pylon.

“I was just trusting in myself and my receivers,” said Aguilar, who completed 32 of his 47 passes, topped his previous high of 391 yards and overcame two interceptions, including the pick-six return. “They have a really good run defense, so we had to keep them honest and keep pushing down the field. We were successful at that.”

App State held ECU to a 43-yard field goal to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 21-19 with 12:39 remaining — the Pirates lined up with their offense on the field for a fourth-and-3 play from the 20 but kicked after being called for a false start.

After a series of punts, App State moved into scoring range but lost a fumble at the ECU 20 with 5:11 remaining. The Pirates advanced past midfield with a 6-yard run and 29-yard completion, but Robertson came up with the huge interception on the next play.

“As the play developed, I had one man on my side running a skinny post, and I just saw a crosser coming back,” Robertson said. “We were in a deep zone, so I saw it coming straight to me and thought, ‘No way he’s throwing this.’ Then, boom. Game.”