Appalachian State has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903, and until the 2005 football season came to a close, every one of those seasons ended without a national championship.

That factoid is history now after the Mountaineers came from behind to win, 21-16, over the University of Northern Iowa in the Division I-AA Football Championship December 16 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Appalachian State students and fans stormed to the middle of the field to celebrate the university’s first national title in any sport.

“We’ll remember this moment for 10, 20, 30 years,” Mountaineers quarterback Richie Williams told the Charlotte Observer. “No, really, we’ll remember it for the rest of our lives.”

Fittingly, the winning touchdown was scored by the Appalachian State defense. Standout defensive ends Marques Murrell and Jason Hunter combined to put the Mountaineers ahead to stay with 9:14 left in the game.

On the game-turning play, Murrell stripped Panthers quarterback Eric Sanders of the football, and Hunter scooped up the fumble and ran 15 yards to turn a 16-14 deficit into a five-point lead.

“I dropped back to pass, I stepped up and when I was ready to throw it I had it and then the next second I didn’t have it,” Sanders said. “I really don’t know what happened.”

Murrell, whose brother Adrian had a long career as a running back in the National Football League, and Hunter were disruptive forces the entire game.

Murrell finished with nine tackles — five and a half for losses — in addition to two forced fumbles and two sacks. Hunter had 10 tackles — three for losses — along with two sacks and the game-winning fumble return.

The Mountaineers defense made the lead stand up the rest of the way.

“It was a great night, and it speaks wonders for our program and our school,” Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore said. “I can’t say enough about our defense. They were tenacious.”

The University of Northern Iowa still managed to lead most of the game. Panthers kicker Brian Wingert converted field goals of 50, 31 and 26 yards to help his team to a 16-7 halftime lead.

Having to settle for the field goals turned out to be huge in the final outcome, though.

“Of course you always want to try to get seven points, but Appalachian State is a very good defensive football team,” said Panthers coach Mark Farley. “We knew the two defensive ends were good and the secondary was good. This was a defensive football game. This wasn’t going to be a shootout. I wish we had gotten one touchdown out of it, but it was 16-14 going into the fourth quarter. We were right where we wanted to be.”

Senior running back David Horne had a two-yard scoring run for the Panthers’ only touchdown of the game. He gained 102 yards on 22 carries.

The Mountaineers’ lone first-half score came courtesy of a five-yard run by Kevin Richardson with 13:18 left in the second quarter.

Appalachian State turned to Williams to lead the team despite the senior being hobbled by a strained tendon in his left ankle. Williams suffered the injury in his team’s 29-23 semifinal win over Furman.

He threw for 126 yards, but his running ability that produced 1,009 yards on the ground this season couldn’t be utilized.

“It was frustrating. Coach told me, though, that we were going to wing it,” Williams said. “Coach called an option one time, and I called timeout because I knew I could not run the play.”

Reserve quarterback Trey Elder, who was 9-of-16 passing for 123 yards, was solid filling in for Williams, but Moore decided his team needed the spark from its leader.

Richardson added a one-yard touchdown with 6:05 left in the third quarter to cut the Panthers’ lead to 16-14.

From that point, both defenses controlled play, with Murrell and Hunter combining for the turnover that proved to be the final swing of momentum.

“We probably had a thousand ex-players here,” Moore said. “I told those guys they helped set the foundation of everything that was done here. They just didn’t get to play on a championship team.”

From the looks of the celebration after the final tick of the clock, all of the Appalachian State community shared in the institution’s first national title.

Championship game

Appalachian St.   0      7      7      7 — 21

UNI   6      10     0      0 — 16

First quarter

UNI — Brian Wingert 50 field goal, 11:36.

UNI — Wingert 26 field goal, 9:45.

Second quarter

AS — Kevin Richardson 5 run (Julian Rauch kick), 13:18.

UNI — David Horne 2 run (Wingert kick), 8:20.

UNI — Wingert 31 field goal, 1:09.

Third quarter

AS — Richardson 1 run (Rauch kick), 6:05.

Fourth quarter

AS — Jason Hunter 15 fumble return (Rauch kick), 9:14.

Announced attendance: 20,236.

        Appalachian St.   UNI

First downs 18     21

Rushes-yards      28-46        47-102

Passing      252   181

Comp.-Att.-Int.   19-42-1     17-31-0

Return yards       84     99

Punts-Avg. 7-41.9       9-37.9

Fumbles-Lost      2-2    3-1

Penalties-Yards   4-40  5-45

Time of Possession      23:34        36:26

Rushing: Appalachian St. — Kevin Richardson 17-51, Trey Hennessee 1-8, Brandon Turner 1-3, Richie Williams 1-3, T. J. Courman 1-minus 2, Jermane Little 1-minus 3, Team 2-minus 4; UNI — David Horne 22-102, Terrance Freeney 8-41, Jason Breeland 1-minus 11, Eric Sanders 15-minus 14, Team 1-minus 16.

Passing: Appalachian St. — Richie Williams 10-26-0-129, Trey Elder 9-16-1-123; UNI — Eric Sanders 17-31-0-181.

Receiving: Appalachian St. — Zach Johnson 6-101, Brandon Turner 4-78, Kevin Richardson 3-34, Dexter Jackson 3-25, Jermane Little 2-13, T. J. Courman 1-1; UNI — Justin Surrency 5-59, David Horne 3-20, Patrick Hunter 2-20, James Lindgren 2-16, Brian Cutright 2-10, Jamie Goodwin 1-32, Curt Bradley 1-23, Jason Breeland 1-1.