FCS Powers to meet in Boone

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Last week, we compared two football programs and their ups and downs since their last meeting, which was three seasons ago. Similarly, the team that ended Appalachian’s season back in 2009 is the program they will face this weekend in their home opener. For only the third time ever, Appalachian and Montana, two of the best programs in FCS/I-AA history will play a football game. The previous two games were dandies, both basically decided on the games final play. Erasing the image of Jimmy Farris catching the game clinching touchdown over Appalachian All-American Corey Hall will always be tough. Perhaps even tougher, most of us watched Armanti Edwards play his final game as a collegian in a blizzard on television, thousands of miles from home. This time around, Montana finally hits the road to play the Mountaineers; the first such meeting between the two schools in the regular season. Montana was able to escape from South Dakota last week while the Mountaineers fell to East Carolina in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated. Montana seems to be the same team they always have been, a power running team that will dominate the line of scrimmage, while Appalachian looked much like its former self, compiling 419 yards of offense despite only scoring three times. Only once last year did Appalachian eclipse that yardage mark on the road: Jamal Jackson’s first start against The Citadel.

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