[2024] Week 3 Recap: APST 35 -7 WCU

[dearden]

Boone, North Carolina - Inside the huddle, the signal-caller demanded attention.  Going around the circle, clockwise, orders were barked; understanding confirmed all-around with solemn nods and affirmations.  Wasting no time, hands were brought to center - clap - and the group broke with haste.  However, this wasn’t a scene from Friday night at the Kidd Brewer, where Appalachian State ran out convincing 35-7 victors against rivals Western Carolina.  Neither was it the Mountaineer offense, nor was it during a football game or practice.  Rather, this was the scene a mere five-minute drive north of campus in the front lawn of a Mid-19th Century Farmhouse just off State Highway 194; the Appalachian State coaching staff earlier this morning, just after sunrise at 6:30 AM, preparing to celebrate “Victory Saturday.”  In just a few hours, their team would be there, Old Mountain Jug in tow, hungry - for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during a quadruple-header film session.  How many grown men does it take to set up an outdoor projector?  I don’t know, but it only takes one to make enough pit beef to feed over a hundred of them.

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“The secret’s all in the preparation,” Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach Anthony Arias explained.  “Before heading over to the stadium yesterday, I gave each an every one of these a salt rub and combined the seasoning mix,” Arias boasted, gesturing towards his impressive amount of meat and a plastic tub of spices, “that’s over twenty-four hours just to get the flavors to know each other a little bit.  I’m gonna sear all of these off about an hour before lunch, season them about as liberally as my Bachelor’s of Arts - which is to say, liberally - and then we’ll pop these suckers on the fire.  You ever see The Wire?  They’ll come out looking like that - pop some raw onion on it, mustard and horseradish, best you’ll have I guarantee it.  Where was I again?  Preparation - just like this here succulent meat, these guys are gonna have their brains figuratively marinated for the whole day.  I know Coach @dearden has the TV Guide all-set for the big screen; it’s gonna be a relaxing and fun day for these kids, just getting to sit around and hang out, to be a bunch of dudes in college watching football all Saturday, but it’s also a quadruple-feature film session of live games where they can watch and learn a lot.  Like I said, it’s all in the preparation.”

Despite the monumental endeavor ahead of them - that of having to cater to the appetites of just under a hundred college-aged men for a full day - the Mountaineer coaching staff were all smiles, cracking jokes and poking-fun at one-another as they set up for the festivities.  To them, it seemed, Victory Saturday was a nice bookend to an “exciting week.”

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“First regular season win in the books,” said Coach @dearden, beaming with excitement.  “With the way we’d played all Spring and how much we’d fought those first two weeks, we were confident in our boys to get that result yesterday.  Moreover, it felt even sweeter to cap off that first win by keeping the Old Mountain Jug here in Boone - I know that getting our hands all over that thing at midfield after the game was a special moment for myself and my staff, so I could only imagine how special it was for each of the guys to go out there play as convincingly as they did against a rival.  Our guys have bought into the fact that we’re building something special here and they deserve all the praise for their performance; they’re doing such a good job at it, on the field and off, that they’re getting folks talking in the media and they’re getting talented young men like Eric [Smith], John [Hall], Alfred [Perry], and George [Shaw] to buy in too.  It’s been an exciting week for sure; hard to believe it’s only the third week of the regular season.  That said, knowing what these guys can do on a football field, having confidence in their ability to perform against any opposition, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of excitement to come - especially in conference play.  All I know is, we’ve got a few more Thursday and Friday night home games ahead of us, so I’m looking forward to a few more ‘Victory Saturdays’ spent here with my guys.”

As alluded to by Coach @dearden, the Appalachian State Football program received positive news around midday on Wednesday in the form of four commitments ahead of next season.  The “First Four,” as they are being optimistically-dubbed by Mountaineer boosters and supporters alike are:

Eric Smith (Defensive End, 5*) - High Point, North Carolina
John Hall (Free Safety, 5*) - Nokesville, Virginia
Alfred Perry (Offensive Guard, 4*) - Laurinburg, North Carolina
George Shaw (Running Back, 4*) - Charlotte, North Carolina

Next Saturday, the Mountaineers travel to Statesboro, Georgia looking for consecutive rivalry victories against their first conference opponents of the campaign.

Until then, should you wish to follow along with the Appalachian State Football Team’s “programming guide,” the following games will be shown on the front lawn’s big screen:

James Madison vs. Wake Forest (Morning)
#7 Florida State vs. #5 Tulane (Afternoon)
#11 West Virginia vs. #1 Baylor (Evening)
#17 Washington State vs. Hawaii (Night)