Appalachian State clinches Sun Belt East, tops Troy 45-7

TROY, Ala. (AP) — Chase Brice threw three touchdown passes and Appalachian State rode a dominating defense to a 45-7 rout of Troy on Saturday.

Appalachian State plays Georgia Southern Saturday in its regular season finale, but the Mountaineers already secured a berth in the Sun Belt Conference championship game Dec. 4 against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Appalachian State (9-2, 6-1) held Troy (5-6, 3-4) to just 33 yards on the ground and 142 yards overall.

Brice hit Corey Sutton with a 21-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left in the first half to put Appalachian State up 10-7, then found Thomas Hennigan and Eli Watson with touchdown passes just seconds apart to start the third quarter, pushing the Mountaineers’ lead to 24-7.

Brice was 17 of 24 passing for 212 yards for the Mountaineers, but also threw two interceptions. Nate Noel carried 15 times for 102 yards and a touchdown. Hennigan had seven catches for 85 yards and a touchdown and Sutton caught four for 76 yards and a score.

Troy's Gunnar Watson fired a 37-yard touchdown pass to Deshon Staudemire, who made an acrobatic grab at the goal line.

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