SAC Football Notes, October 19, 2008
Game notes and recaps from around the SAC for games of Saturday, October 18:
BREVARD - The Brevard College men's football team traveled just 50 miles northwest on Saturday afternoon, as Coach Hamilton's squad gave the Mars Hill Lions all that they could handle before ultimately falling 28-14 at Meares Stadium ... The Tornados shocked the Lions on their opening offensive possession, as sophomore quarterback Trey Wilborn helped guide the BC offense down the field, 66-yards on five-plays, which was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back John Taylor. After sophomore kicker Chase Henry made good on the PAT, the Tornados had quieted the Meares Stadium by going up 7-0 with only 2:29 ticked off the clock ... Yet the Lions answered on their opening offensive series as quarterback Ricky Spradling connected with running back George Stripling at of the backfield on an 18-yard touchdown pass, which topped off an 11-play, 63-yard drive. The extra point attempt would fail as the holder miss handled the snap, leaving the Tornados ahead by one at 7-6 ... The Lions would find the end zone again midway through the second quarter, as tailback George Washington scored on a 5-yard touchdown off the right-side of the offensive line to give Mars Hill their first lead of the game at 13-7 ... The two-teams would go scoreless for the remaining 13:40 to play in the first half, with each team's offense unable to move the ball both effectively and efficiently for most of the quarter, leaving the score at 13-7 at intermission ... In the third quarter, the Tornados scored first, as junior Matthew Gaines, who played at the slot back position for the game, took a pitch from Wilborn on an option play from 4-yards out and ran into the end zone to put the Tornados back on top at 14-13 with 6:35 to play in the third quarter ... Yet Mars Hill again had an answer, as the Lions drove down the field on their next offensive series, as Washington scored on a 22-yard draw play up the middle to put the Lions back on top 19-14. Mars Hill elected to go for a two-point conversion, in which Spradling hit Elroy Harris in left side of the end zone to put the Lions up by one-touchdown at 21-14 ... Mars Hill added an insurance score with 8:14 remaining in the game, as wide receiver Tyrea Allen scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Spradling to put the Lions up for good at 28-14 ... The Tornados had two more chances to score but ultimately good not get the offense going as the Mars Hill defense showed their depth down the stretch to force the Tornados to punt and turn over the ball on downs in their final two possessions ... Brevard had 186 total yards of offense, all of which came on the ground, as Wilborn was 0-for-4 through the air on the day ... The Lions had 358 total yards, with 213 coming on the ground by way of a number of rushers ... Wilborn led the attack for BC, as he had 90 yards on 16 rushing attempts. Gaines had eight carries for 48 yards and a score, while Taylor had 13 carries for 32 rushing yards and a touchdown ... Defensively, senior safety Joshua Durm led the Tornados with 8 total tackles, 5 of which were solo tackles. Junior linebacker Brandon Rawls had 7 total tackles, 3 solo and one sack for the game. Freshman cornerback Chase Waldo had 6 total tackles and an interception ... The Tornados will return home for their next game, as BC will play host to Carson-Newman College on Homecoming Weekend, Saturday, October 25 at 2 p.m.
CARSON-NEWMAN - The 17th-ranked Carson-Newman Eagles exploded for 42 first-half point en route to a 62-21 win on Saturday afternoon over Lenoir-Rhyne in Jefferson City ... The win makes it 30-straight wins for the Eagles over L-R ... C-N posted 21 points in each of the first two quarters to build a 42-7 halftime lead ... Carson-Newman would take its largest lead at 62-14 on a 27-yard Wendy Desamour run ... C-N exploded offensively to a 35-0 lead, turning out 312 yards of total offense on its first 22 plays before resting many of its starters for the remainder of the afternoon ... Quarterback Alex Good steered touchdown drives of 6, 5, 5, 5, and 1 plays, none shorter than 48 yards, for the fast start ... The 1-play drive came on a Good 80-yard run for the second Eagles score ... He added a 7-yard run on C-N's next drive to push the lead to 21-0 ... Junior Buck Wakefield got the scoring started with a 44-yard rip on the dive to give C-N a 7-0 lead ... Senior Dwayne Mims would cap the next Eagle drive with a 3-yard TD run, he also had a 23-yarder on the drive ... Junior Tony Richardson added a 37-yard reception on a screen pass ... Good capped his day with a 5-play, 48-yard drive on which he found Reggie Hubbard for 16-yard screen pass for a score ... Senior Joel Statham would guide the next four C-N scoring drives, including a 10-play, 69-yard drive just before the half, capped by a 1-yard Otis Rumph TD run, his third of the season ... 12 Eagles carried the ball on the day ... Senior Corey Parks led the defense with 5.5 tackles, including solo ... Junior Brian Brown added two tackles for loss and a sack ... He also forced a fumble ... Carson-Newman is now 5-2 on the year and 3-1 in the SAC ... The Eagles travel to Brevard next week first the first time in school history ... Carson-Newman beat BC last season 52-13 ... Saturday's kickoff is at 2 p.m.
CATAWBA - The Catawba Indians avoided its first three-game losing streak since 1994, pulling out a 37-35 Homecoming victory over Tusculum … Catawba rallied with a trio of third quarter scores to erase a 21-16 halftime deficit … Patrick Dennis threw for a career-high 357 yards and two scores in the win … Both of those TD strikes came in the third quarter, 36 yards to Eric Morman and 51 yards to Brian Terwilliger for a 30-21 edge … Terwilliger added a 27-yard run on a fourth-and-one at the end of the third quarter for a 37-28 lead … The game featured five touchdowns of over 50 yards with Jamelle Cuthbertson staking the Catawba Indians to the early lead on a 63-yard just four minutes into the game … It propelled the senior to his school record-tying fourth straight 100-yard performance … Cuthbertson finished with 121 yards on 14 carries with two scores … He is averaging just over 100 yards per game and 7.7 yards per rush this season … Dennis, who was subbing for injured starter Howard Williamson, completed 19-of-27 passes and had no turnovers … Morman had a season-high five catches for 76 yards … The Catawba Indians defense posted five sacks, four coming over three straight TC possessions after the Indians grabbed the 37-28 lead … Melquan Fair was in on two sacks and added two pressures … Charles McAfee had seven stops and forced a fumble … The defense has recorded 64 stops for losses this season with McAfee leading the way with 11 … A week after not converting on 10 third-down opportunities, Catawba was successful on nine of 18 attempts vs. the Pioneers … Catawba also used possession time to limit the TC offense as the Indians had the ball nearly 40 minutes of the game, running 79 plays to just 54 for the Pioneers … Catawba amassed a season-high 543 yards of offense … Tusculum managed 450 yards of offense, the first team to gain over 400 yards against Catawba this season … Catawba will travel to Wingate this weekend..
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne University football team (3-5, 1-3) suffered its third consecutive South Atlantic Conference defeat Saturday as the No. 18 Eagles of Carson-Newman College (5-2, 3-1) handed the Bears a 62-21 loss at Burke-Tarr Stadium in Jefferson City, Tenn. … With the victory, the Carson-Newman forged a three-way tie with Newberry and Wingate atop the league standings and defeated L-R for the 30th straight year … Carson-Newman took control early, scoring three touchdowns in each of the first and second quarters, in taking a commanding 42-7 lead going into intermission … Carson-Newman, behind quarterback Alex Good, scored touchdowns on seven of its first eight possession and finished with 527 yards of total offense including 363 on the ground … Good finished with 170 yards of offense (95 rushing and 75 passing) and three scores (two running and one passing) … The Eagles' Buck Wakefield opened the scoring with a 44-yard run on the game's first possession before Good scampered 80 yards on the first play of the next drive as Carson-Newman raced to a 35-0 lead before L-R scored: a one-yard touchdown run by junior fullback Anthony Silvers (Burnsville, N.C.) in the second quarter … Carson-Newman kept the pressure on in the second half as three different players scored touchdowns after the break … In all, eight players crossed the goal line and 14 different players ran the ball for the Eagles … Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore running back Andrew Courman (Beaufort, N.C.) scored both of the Bears' touchdowns in the second half … L-R junior quarterback Justin Sanders (Monroe, N.C.) passed for 94 yards to go along with a team-high 68 rushing yards in the losing effort … Bear wideout Pete Goodman (Charlotte, N.C.) added 64 yards receiving on three catches … L-R averages 265.1 yards on the ground … Lenoir-Rhyne returns home to face Mars Hill (5-3, 2-2) on Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. … Mars Hill leads the all-time series with Lenoir-Rhyne, 18-15-1, and won last year by a 39-13 score on October 27, 2007, in Mars Hill, N.C.
MARS HILL - The Lions' football squad defeated local rival and SAC foe Brevard College, 28-14 Saturday afternoon at the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium. Mars Hill improved to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the SAC ... Brevard had 186 total yards of offense, all of which came on the ground, as Wilborn was 0-for-4 through the air on the day ... The Lions had 358 total yards, with 213 coming on the ground by way of a number of rushers ... For Mars Hill, Spradling was 13-of-18 for 145 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while also rushing six times for 38 yards. Washington led the way with 92 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns, while Stripling had 73 yards on 12 rushing attempts ... Allen had six catches for 64 yards and one touchdown. Safety Keadran Pinckney (North, S.C.) led the way for Mars Hill with 13 total tackles (8 solo), while defensive lineman Jeff Pell (West Jefferson, N.C.) had 11 tackles (6 solo) and one sack to go along with a forced fumble. Zach Johnson (Newland, N.C.) and Maurice Harris (Hendersonville, N.C.) tallied nine tackles apiece ... MHC is 115-90-1 at home. MHC leads the series against the Tornados, 3-0 ... The Lions will play at SAC rival Lenoir-Rhyne College next Saturday night at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WKYK 940-AM in Burnsville and on the Internet at RedZoneMedia.com. The pregame show starts at 6:05 p.m.
NEWBERRY - The Newberry College football team moved into a three-way tie for first place in the South Atlantic Conference with a 32-21 win over previously undefeated and 15th-ranked Wingate University at Setzler Field on Saturday night… The win moves Newberry to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in SAC play… The defense used three long turnover returns - all of which resulted in scores - to defeat the Bulldogs… Andre Moyd intercepted a Wingate pass at the Newberry 25 just before halftime, and returned it to the Wingate 35, where he lateraled the ball to Kamaal McIlwain, who got inside the Wingate 1… Eric McCollom rushed in from a yard out to give Newberry a 10-7 halftime lead… Newberry scored first in the second half on Britt Blackmon's second field goal of the night, and scored again on the next Wingate drive when McIlwain returned a Patrick Pinchinat fumble 60 yards for a score, making it a 19-7 game after the two-point conversion attempt failed… The Bulldogs answered with a touchdown, and Newberry missed a field goal on its next drive… But three plays into Wingate's ensuing drive, defensive end Derrell Kinard intercepted a pass at the Wingate 15 and went untouched into the endzone for a 26-14 Newberry lead… Newberry put its final points on the board following the legs of running back Gerald Legree... Legree carried the ball five times on the six-play drive, with his final rush resulting in a 20-yard touchdown run… The PAT was missed, making it 32-14 in NC's favor… Wingate added a late touchdown for the final score… The Bulldogs outgained their hosts offensively, 349-324, but the three turnovers proved to be costly, as all three directly resulted in scores… Legree was Newberry's leading rusher, carrying the ball 18 times for 110 yards and a touchdown… Tharry Salley carried the ball 17 times for 92 yards… All told, seven Newberry players carried the ball in the game... Newberry's McCollom completed 5-of-11 passes for 76 yards on a run-heavy night for Newberry… Kelton Tindal was the leading receiver with two catches for 43 yards… Defensively, McIlwain recorded 94 total return yards with a touchdown for Newberry… Newell was the leading tackler for Newberry with 12 tackles, a forced fumble, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry… He now has 311 career tackles, passing Reggie Deas for sixth place all-time in the Newberry records… The Newberry defense provided pressure on the potent Wingate passing attack all night, with two interceptions, four pass breakups and eight quarterback hurries, led by David Harris, who had three… The win is Newberry's fourth straight in the series over Wingate... Newberry has five straight in the series at home... The scarlet and gray are also 19-1 at Setzler Field since installing the artificial turf before the 2006 season…Newberry will try to stay atop the South Atlantic Conference when it hits the road next week to take on Tusculum College... Kickoff from Pioneer Field in Greeneville, Tenn., is set for 2 p.m… Tusculum leads the all-time series 6-4, but Newberry has won the last three… The last four matchups have been decided by five points or fewer… Newberry has won the last two matchups in Greeneville.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (5-3, 2-2 SAC) dropped a 37-35 South Atlantic Conference thriller at Catawba… The lead changed hands on four occasions as both teams combined for almost 1,000 yards of offense ( CAT 543, TC 450)… Senior QB Corey Russell had another banner day as he passed for 402 yards and four touchdowns… Russell also accounted for 433 yards of total offense, which is the fifth most ever by a Pioneer in a single-game… He tallied 463 yards earlier this season against Wingate, which established a new TC mark… Russell's final three TD tosses went to junior Nate Binder as he made four grabs for 145 yards… Binder's scoring touches were from 17, 59, and 60 yards out… Sophomore Calvin Britt added three receptions for 139 yards, including a 73-yard TD play, which is the ninth longest pass play in school history… Russell has passed for 300 or more yards in his last six games (355.8 ypg during that stretch)… The 402 passing yards are the second most in Russell's career and the fifth-best performance by a TC signal caller… The three TD catches by Binder are tied for the second most in a game-by a Pioneer… In just 15 games, Britt is already approaching 1,000 receiving yards for his career… He needs 41 yards to become the ninth player in school history with over 1,000 receiving yards… Britt and Binder combined for the fifth multi-100 receiving yardage game in TC history… Britt has been involved in three of those five, including twice this year… Junior punter John Gregory continues to shine, averaging 44.7 yards per punt this season… Of his 27 punting attempts, 14 have been inside the 20-yard line, including both of his punts this week… Gregory's average would be ranked in the top five in the nation, but he is still shy of the minimum punt attempts average he needs to qualify (3.6 punts per game average minimum - Gregory is averaging 3.375 per contest)… Russell, who already owns almost every offensive mark in school history, is closing in on several more records, most of which he owns already… His 2,645 passing yards this year are 172 shy of the mark he established last season… His 23 touchdown passes are second and one shy of tying the 24 he tossed in 2007… He is also 150 total offensive yards off the single-season mark set last year… Speaking of yardage, Russell is also closing in on a personal milestone, needing just 36 rushing yards to become the first TC quarterback to eclipse 1,000 ground yards for his career… Senior LB Justin Scott continues his climb up the career tackles list… Scott posted nine stops against Catawba, giving him 225 for is career, which are now seventh all-time at Tusculum… He also added to his career tackles for loss tally adding two on Saturday… His 42 hits behind the line of scrimmage are fourth all-time in TC history… Junior WR Ryan Tallent is now fourth all-time at Tusculum with his 114 career receptions… He is also eighth in career receiving yards (1,207), fourth all-time in career punt returns (31) and third in career kickoff return average (20.46 ypr)… Tallent eclipsed 2,000 all-purpose yards this week, giving him 2,013 yards for his career… Tusculum is at home this week when it hosts Newberry… It will be the 11th meeting between the two schools… TC leads the all-time series 6-4, but Newberry has won the last three encounters… The last four meetings between Tusculum and Newberry have been decided by five points or less, including last year's 17-14 decision at Newberry… This week will also be Tusculum's homecoming game… Since 1936, Tusculum is 9-15 during in its homecoming game (TC didn't play football from 1950-91), but the Pioneers have won six of their last eight… This will mark the second time Newberry has been TC's homecoming opponent (TC defeated Newberry 39-9 in the 2003 game)… Tusculum also enters this week's action riding a nine-game home winning streak (TC is 4-0 at home this year), which is the longest in school history.
WINGATE - The Newberry College football team picked up two defensive touchdowns and posted 248 rushing yards on offense en route to a 32-21 South Atlantic Conference victory over number 15 Wingate University Saturday night at Setzler Field on the Newberry campus ... The scarlet-and-gray victory creates a three-way log jam for first place in the SAC standings: Newberry, Carson-Newman and Wingate are each 3-1 in the league fray. Newberry is 4-3 overall following Saturday's contest, while Wingate slips to 7-1 overall. The Bulldogs saw an eight-game winning streak end Saturday (dating to the final game of the 2007 season) ... In the third quarter, Newberry sophomore defensive back Kamaal McIlwain returned a fumble 60 yards for a touchdown. The score gave Newberry a 19-7 lead with 5:03 remaining in the third frame ... Wingate answered on the next drive. Bulldog sophomore running back Patrick Pinchinat returned the ensuing kick-off 63 yards. Three plays later, Wingate redshirt senior quarterback JD Moore found junior tight end Ryan Webber with an 18-yard TD pass. Redshirt senior place kicker/punter Michael Crutchfield booted the extra point to cut the Wingate deficit to 19-14 with 3:23 to play in the third quarter ... The scarlet-and-gray added another defensive TD midway through the fourth quarter. Newberry redshirt freshman defensive end Derrell Kinard scored his first career touchdown on a 15-yard interception return with 6:12 to go in the fourth quarter. The Kinard touchdown put Newberry up 26-14 ... Newberry added to its advantage when junior running back Gerald Legree scored on a 20-yard run with 1:52 left in the contest. Wingate redshirt senior wide receiver Shawn Barrett completed the scoring with nine seconds left, as he collected a six-yard scoring strike from Moore ... Wingate took an early lead when redshirt sophomore Delric Ellington grabbed a 30-yard touchdown pass from Moore. Crutchfield's PAT gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 advantage with 7:38 remaining in the first quarter. The Ellington TD catch climaxed an 11-play, 80-yard drive for the visiting Bulldogs ... Early in the second quarter, Newberry got on the board when sophomore place kicker Britt Blackmon nailed a 33-yard field goal at the 11:59 mark. The scarlet-and-gray took a 10-7 lead at intermission, thanks to a one-yard TD run by senior quarterback Eric McCollom with 45 seconds to go in the second quarter. McCollom's score was preceded by a Newberry interception return ... Blackmon added his second field goal of the contest to put the hosts up 13-7 with 6:41 on the third quarter clock. The 34-yard field goal capped a 10-play, 50-yard drive for Newberry. The scarlet-and-gray utilized 4:45 on the game clock ... For Wingate, Moore completed 25-of-45 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Ellington topped the receiving charts, grabbing seven receptions for 95 yards. Bulldog redshirt sophomore running back Nelson Woods rushed 20 times for 75 yards. On defense, Wingate sophomore linebacker Ben Hinson had 14 tackles, while Bulldog junior safety Tylan Merkerson added 10 total stops ... Wingate returns home Saturday, Oct. 25, hosting Catawba College for a 1:30 p.m. SAC contest. Catawba edged Tusculum College 37-35 Saturday afternoon. Catawba leads the all-time senior college series with Wingate 15-5 ... The Bulldogs and the Catawba Indians have split the last four contests in the series. Last year, Catawba topped Wingate 45-20 in Salisbury. In 2006, Bulldog cornerback David Jones and linebacker Bobby Floyd had two interceptions each as the Bulldogs picked up a 24-8 home victory. Jones is currently a member of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals ... In 1988, the Bulldogs won the first senior college game between the two teams 21-17 at Walter Bickett Stadium in Monroe. Wingate won a barnburner at Catawba 61-55 in 1993. The next season, Catawba edged Wingate 44-43 in overtime at Walter Bickett Stadium. The Catawba Indians are 2-0 in Wingate-Catawba contests decided in overtime.