Zac Thomas & App State roll through Charlotte with a 45-9 win

For two solid years many App fans have heard that Charlotte was gunning for our in-state G5 power spot and on Saturday Charlotte was reminded that their time is not now. In front of a record setting crowd at Jerry Richardson Stadium (thanks to App’s presence), the storm trooper clad Mountaineers took a 10-0 1st quarter lead and turned it into a 45-9 route of the 49ers.

Zac Thomas had a career day in the Queen City, going 14 of 14 for 295 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Thomas’ perfect completion percentage marks the first time a Appalachian State or Sun Belt quarterback finished a game with at least 10 completions and no incompletions.

Corey Sutton continued to show why he is a deep threat as he turned in three catches for 155 yards two touchdowns, one of which was a 90-yard strike from Thomas.

App State scored with offense, defense and special teams thanks to a Thomas Hennigan 59 yard punt return for a TD. Akeem Davis-Gaither and Noel Cook led the way on defense with eight and seven tackles, respectively. Jalin Moore was quiet as he only managed 38 yards on 11 carries.

Charlotte did some things well early on in this game and saw pretty good success on third down against the App State defense but nine penalties for 80 yards hurt Charlotte during the game as the niners fell further and further behind. Chris Reynolds went 12-22 passing for 108 yards and 1 INT. Kicker Johnathan Cruz comes out of this game as the 49ers MVP as he put all the points on the board for Charlotte and used his big leg to do it from 46, 54 and 48 yards each.

Next week Appalachian will welcome Southern Miss to “The Rock” for the 2018 home opener while Charlotte will prepare for Old Dominion. Kickoff in Boone is slated for 3:30pm.