Oct. 24, 2007

By Willie T. Smith III, The Greenville News

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The mothers of Furman University quarterback Renaldo Gray and Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards will be donned in unusual garb at Saturday's game between the Southern Conference schools.

That's because the game also is a meeting of the two cousins from Greenwood.

"We've got about 28 to 30 people coming," Edwards said. "A couple of the relatives -- my mama, his mama and a couple more ó are going to have split shirts (ASU/FU) with both of us on it."

That makes sense considering the cousins' relationship.

"I didn't have brothers. I only had two sisters. He was kind of like my younger brother," Gray said. "Whenever I went to hang out with guys when I was younger, I would go hang out with him. I guess we were close and we're still pretty close now. We still talk two or three times a week."

"We've been close as long as I can remember," Edwards said. "There never was a time when we weren't."

When Gray graduated at Greenwood High, Edwards took over for him at quarterback.

One of the first people to reach Edwards after the Mountaineers' momentous victory against the University of Michigan was Gray. Edwards returned the favor after Gray's best individual performance of the season against The Citadel.

"I called and left him a message right after we saw the final," Gray said about the Michigan game.

After Gray passed for 289 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 76 yards and another touchdown in the 54-51 overtime loss against The Citadel, Edwards immediately got in touch.

"Actually, he was the first person I talked to," Gray said. "He left me a message, so we talked right after the game."

"When I saw the score (of The Citadel game) I wanted to get in touch with him as soon as I could and give him support," said Edwards.

Although the teams square off at Paladin Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the cousins haven't placed a moratorium on phone calls this week.

"We'll probably talk until (today)," Gray said. "After (today) we'll probably calm the talking down. We'll probably talk before the game a little bit, but that's it."

Gray said he'll also fight the urge to follow his cousin's play during Saturday's game.

"I caught myself last year when we played them getting up and watching what he was doing," Gray said. "I was rooting for my defense -- 'please stop him, please stop im.' "

The Paladins lost 40-7 to Appalachian last year. Edwards says Gray and several other Paladins let him know they plan to play better this season.

"When I go home, I stop by and hang out with them," Edwards said. "They told me they would be ready."