Why Our Book Cover Showcases CoCo Hillary’s Big Day

Coco Hillary with Author David Marmins.

The cover photo for Appalachian State Silences the Big House, taken by Kevin Cline, captures the heart and soul of the game.

Coach Jerry Moore recruited CoCo Hillary from South Carolina’s Strom Thurmond High School, just down the road from Greenwood, where App State quarterback Armanti Edwards played at the same time. On September 1, 2007, CoCo was playing in his first college football game of his life in the biggest football stadium in the world. He returned all the kick-offs, but when starting wide receiver TJ Courman went out briefly with an injury, Hillary stepped in and made several big catches in the second half. With the clock running out and losing by a point, Edwards scrambled desperately before hitting Hillary. Hillary caught the ball outside the 20-yard line and dragged multiple Michigan defenders all the way to the five, from where App place kicker, Julian Rauch, would convert the game-winning field goal on the next play.

In a game full of memorable plays, this was possibly the biggest. For Edwards, the play was more athletic than anything Michigan quarterback Chad Henne had done all day, and, for Hillary, it was the climax of an astonishing debut.

It”s a great shot. Brandon Harrison, Michigan’s #27 face down in the background, and Hillary’s gnarly turf burn in the foreground as he charges forward barely holding onto the ball while dragging three defenders.

“I thought I was going to score,” says Hillary.

Said fellow App wide receiver Hans Batichon, “I’m thinking ‘don’t fumble CoCo.’”