Boone, NC -- (Sports Network) - Armanti Edwards ran for 132 yards and three touchdowns as Appalachian State rallied and then held on to defeat James Madison, 28-27, in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

After scoring 10 points in a three-minute, 41-second span inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter, Appalachian State defensive back Pierre Banks needed to recover a fumble at ASU's own nine-yard line to preserve the win.

Edwards had given the Mountaineers a one-point lead with 1:10 left when he capped a five-play, 32-yard drive with a five-yard TD run. Minutes earlier, Julian Rauch hit a 44-yard field to draw ASU within one score.

Edwards ended completing 12-of-17 passes for 126 yards for two-time defending national champion Appalachian State (10-2), which advances to face either second-ranked McNeese State or Eastern Washington on December 1 in the quarterfinals.

Rodney Landers completed 10-of-15 passes for 124 yards with one TD and one pick for James Madison (8-4), which drove the length of the field after Edwards scored the go-ahead TD, but fumbled with 22 seconds left to let the game slip away.

Landers started the scoring by hitting Griff Yancey with a 10-yard TD pass less than five minutes into the game.

Edwards answered with a four-yard run to tie the game 7-7 with 12:14 left in the first half.

Yancey, though, put JMU back in front nearly four minutes later with a five- yard TD run.

However, the Mountaineers went into halftime with a 19-14 lead thanks to one- yard TD runs by Kevin Richardson and Edwards. Both PATs failed.

JMU went ahead 27-19 courtesy of a Dave Stannard seven-yard TD run and a Jamal Sullivan two-yard scoring run.