Courtesy: TBD The Mountaineers worked out for nearly an hour-and-a-half on Saturday in front of a large Fan Fest crowd at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

BOONE, N.C. — An estimated crowd of 8,500 attended Appalachian State University football’s annual Fan Fest on Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

One of the most popular events on Appalachian’s athletics calendar began with the annual “Meet the Team” activities on the KBS turf. For an hour-and-a-half, Mountaineer players and coaches signed autographs, posed for pictures and played games with fans of all ages. Head coach Jerry Moore remained at his autograph station for more than two hours, signing for fans even after the Apps were on the field for warm-ups prior to their intrasquad scrimmage.

Following the meet-and-greet, the Mountaineers conducted 11-on-11 workouts in front of the large crowd for nearly an hour-and-a-half, including a 32-play intrasquad scrimmage.

Appalachian’s offense scored touchdowns on three of the scrimmage’s five series. The scrimmage opened with an impressive three-and-out showing by the first-team defense, in which the first-team offense didn’t pick up a yard. However, the offense answered by scoring on each of its next two possessions.

Quarterback Travaris Cadet almost single-handedly drove the Apps to paydirt on the second series with a 39-yard run on the first play and a 19-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Frazier that capped the four-play, 80-yard scoring drive. On the next possession, running back Cedric Baker accounted for all 80 yards on the five-play drive, including a 58-yard gain on a screen pass from DeAndre Presley and a six-yard touchdown run.

The offense strung together 13 plays and drove 53 yards behind Cadet on its next possession but the defense stood up its offensive couterparts inside the 30 to stall the drive. The highlight of the series came when freshman receiver Tony Washington laid a vicious block that helped spring Cadet for an 18-yard run.  

On the fifth and final series of the scrimmage, the offense needed only four plays to find the end zone for a third time, as Baker broke free for a 56-yard touchdown to cap an 80-yard drive.

Thanks in large part to sophomores Baker and Cadet, the offense racked up 283 yards on 29 plays, good for a gaudy 9.8 yards per snap. Baker rushed five times for 86 yards (17.2 ypr) and two touchdowns and added 58 yards on his only reception to give him 144 all-purpose yards on just six touches. Cadet ran four times for 76 yards (19.0 ypr) and completed  2-of-6 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown. Presley completed 3-of-5 passes for 74 yards.

Defensively, defensive back Dominique McDuffie led all players with four tackles. Defensive end Jabari Fletcher, tackle Gordy Witte and linebackers Michael Frazier, Terrence McLean and Zac Baker all made tackles for loss and Frazier, linebacker D.J. Smith and defensive back Demetrius McCray broke up passes.

Prior to the full-team periods, Appalachian put its special teams on display. Highlights included three 57-yard field goals - two from incumbent place kicker Jason Vitaris and one by redshirt freshman Sam Martin - and back-to-back 30-plus-yard kickoff returns by CoCo Hillary and B.J. Frazier.

Appalachian holds its final day of fall camp on Monday with two practices at Kidd Brewer Stadium.