No. 5 App. State Edges No. 4 Richmond In Quarterfinals: Postgame Quotes

Dec. 6, 2009

Richmond Head Coach London

Opening Statement:

"What a great football game. My hat goes off to Coach Moore. Appalachian is a very good football team. We'd gone toe to toe for a while but then hey tied it up and they made some plays and they stopped us and scored a touchdown there at the end. I'm really proud to be the head coach of this football team. And let me tell you that's a hurt locker room in there. I'm so proud of those guys and the fans. That's what this game is about. I have a lot of gratitude for being able to be a part of this team."

Post-game locker room:
"You tell them `don't let a loss like this define who you are as an individual. Yea, you lost a football game. But those guys in there won two conf champ, one national, they're going to graduate from a great university with a degree and have some much potential. They have to learn how to win and learn how to lose and be humble in both. Those guys did a great job today and I think the best team won today."

Appalachian State's dominant fourth quarter:
"It's called Armanti Edwards. He's a terrific player. The style of their offence is to spread you out across the field. And you have a guy assigned to him and if that guy doesn't tackle, you're going to have a problem and he's going to make a big play. We did a great job against them last year but today they had a two pronged approach and they did a good job."

Eric Ward's career:
"I'll tell you what. Eric Ward's is a guy that is a tremendous leader. He's a quiet kind of guy with a tremendous amount of poise and confidence. I've never been around a guy that can take the blame with the credit like him. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the CAA. Eric has a pretty established career. When it's time to perform, he's a winner. You can look at stats and other guys have more of this or that, but Eric's a winner."

Final Play:
"We blitzed and it happened so fast that the guy working the receiver was working his way over but Cline came clean and Armanti made a great throw and the guy came up with the catch. I almost thought it had bounced but it was a catch. That's the way the game goes sometimes. Sometimes you make plays and are happy as they were here but sometimes you don't and you come away dejected. And again my hat is off to them."

Eric McBride's punt takeaway:
"We scored the touchdown. McBride did a great job and then scored. It was a tremendous job. And then I thought that if we could just make one stop that would be the game. They did a great job of coverage using lanes and Armanti did a great job of using his arm and putting the ball where he needed to."

Developing rivalry with Appalachian State:
" You're going to end up playing, if you win, someone close to you. Hopefully Richmond can be an App State, where every year it's a given you're going to be in the playoffs. It's a great rivalry. Both teams are striving to be the best in their respective conferences."

Appalachian State's physicality:
"There was a lot of hitting going on. It was a very physical game on both sides. If you want to win championships, you're going to have to be able to hit and tackle. That game was a good football game out there that I had the privilege of being involved in."

Match-up between quarterbacks [Eric] Ward and [Armanti] Edwards:
"Armanti's thrown over 14,000 yards and Eric has thrown over 10,000 yards. You have two good quarterbacks that are the main stage of their respective teams. Those two guys have played in a lot of games, won championships and are leaders. That was a great game for people to watch and see those two guys compete. Congratulations goes out to App State; they did a great job."

Junior LB Eric McBride's
On punt takeaway:
"We see them in practice [takeaways]. It was last effort. I knew I had to make the play. I'm just sorry that all the seniors had to got out with a loss like this. All that's on my mind is the seniors and how much they've put into the program and how much we've all accomplished as a team."

Stopping App State after takeaway:
"They have a great team. They have a great quarterback in Armanti Edwards. It's just the way the game goes sometimes. Best of luck to App State in the playoffs."

Playing with Ward and playing for London:
"I love the coaches. I love the players. Eric Ward's picked us up whenever we were down. He's done it throughout his whole career [making big plays]. Ward is one of the best captains we've had since we've been here. Eric Ward's has been a great motivation for me."

Next season:
"We have a lot of up-and-coming fifth year seniors. The next season starts tomorrow. Your next season starts after your last loss. We'll think about this loss for a little bit, then we'll forget how it feels. Then we'll come out tomorrow and start it all over again. We're just going to carry on what the seniors started. We plan on keeping this program great, with no fall-off at all."

Senior QB Eric Ward's

Going head-to-head with Armanti Edwards:
"He's a great player. Every time we've faced off, they've shined. The games have been a battle. You can't say enough about him. He finds ways to make plays. He finds ways to pick up yards with his feet or he finds it in the air."

Talk about your career:
"I'm thankful for my parents for all the support they've given me. I'm thankful for my teammates. We've accomplished a lot. I'm thankful for everyone who made it possible for me to come to this school. We've done a lot of great things. I'm thankful for the opportunity I've been given. If I had to go back, I'd make the same decision [in choosing Richmond as his school to play for]."

Playing for London:
He's been a great motivation for me, as far as my career is concerned. He's been a great guy, a great coach. I can't say enough about him as a man and I'm really thankful I had him as a coach.

Appalachian Head Coach Jerry Moore

Opening Statement:
"Amazing. Awesome. Graceful. A bunch of great people. I was just telling the guy coming up here that in the fourth quarter we had a lot of rough spots, we had a punt return taking away from us. It looked like at that point we hit a turning point in the game. But these guys are resilient in lots of ways; they can't be crowded up. To come up here and beat a team like Richmond, who I think is the best defensive team we play, bar none. I think we rushed for 170-something. Just a great night I'd say."

On the last play:
"Last thing we said to Armanti is you've got to throw the ball. We could kick a field goal and tie it up, at worst. We got all we could out of the last minute and 36 seconds. I think we really managed that time well."

On the postseason rivalry with Richmond:
"I know we've got great respect for Richmond, and I know I've got tremendous professional respect for Mike London. There's no quit and no give up in those guys."

On the third head-to-head meeting between Ward and Edwards:
"They're probably the best two quarter backs. I can't think of anybody else that's been that caliber in the four years since Armanti's been here. Both quarterbacks have tremendous competitiveness. Armanti was probably in tougher physical condition last year than he has been this year, but he's still competing. I think that's the thing about both of them that's really classy, how both of them compete."

Senior QB Armanti Edwards

On the final play:
"Well, I was being rushed and I just saw him open up."
On how this victory feels:

"This was less about revenge and more about competition. We always go into games thinking we've got to push ourselves, no matter what we always push ourselves. We had a great fourth quarter. It feels good."

Final drive:
"He really caught it. We just got one more chance and we felt really comfortable going out there and trying to get it. We had a long pass and before you know it we're in the red zone and then Cline caught it."

Carrying the ball:
"It felt great. We were close to 100 percent. But the wet grass made it hard to plant your feet. Everybody was slipping out there."

Junior WR Matt Cline

On the final play:
"I saw the guy lined up over me, and whenever he blitzed off the line I could feel that the ball was going to be coming my way. I just tried to get my head around and prepare for it."

Last catch:
"The ball got through pretty well. Edwards put it low and outside and it was pretty clear. I knew I wouldn't have much time but it was a great pass. I didn't really try to secure the ball. It was just a play that we've run over and over."

Junior RB Devon Moore

Success against the UR running game:
"The whole line did a great job up front this week. Their line is slanted in different ways but we played against them well."

Sophomore WR Travaris Cadet

On the fumbled punt return:

"I kept trying to secure the ball, and then trying to fall. And then at the last minute it was stripped. That play was a mistake on my part."

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