Weekly SAC Football Notes Oct. 8

Weekly game notes and recaps from around the SAC for the week ending October 7.

CARSON-NEWMAN - Alex Rouse tossed a 10 yard TD pass to Otis Miller with 1:15 remaining in the fourth quarter as Carson-Newman overcame threee turnovers to defeat Mars Hill, 10-7 in front of a Homecoming crowd of 5,018 at Burke-Tarr Stadium. With the win, head coach Ken Sparks becomes the all-time winningest football coach in Division II football with 256 career wins ... The Eagles (5-1, 1-1 SAC) could only manage a field goal in the first quarter when Aubrey Ingham connected on a 32-yarder to give the Eagles a 3-0 advantage at halftime. The Eagles managed just 124 yards of offense in the first half, but the Eagle defense held Mars Hill to 57 yards in that half ... In the second half, the Eagles drove the ball to the Mars Hill 21 yard line in the third quarter. Alex Good fumbled and MHC's Nathaniel Hill recovered it at the 8-yard line and scampered to the end zone to give Mars Hill a 7-3 lead with 8:03 to go in the third quarter. The Eagles got the ball back in the fourth quarter and drove 14 plays to the Mars Hill 13 yard line. On fourth and one, Good fumbled the snap and Mars Hill took over on downs, but the Eagle defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with 4:28 remaining ... Jeremy Arrington and Vincent Smith combined for 18 yards rushing on five plays to get the ball to the 10 yard line. On fourth and three, coach Sparks and offensive coordinator Mike Turner decided to go for it with a little more than a minute remaining ... "We felt good about the play, " coach Sparks said. "Coach Turner made the call, it was a great call, and Otis [Miller] knew what to do with it when he caught it. Our defense probably put in one of the top two performances at this place today." ... Mars Hill got the ball back with 58 seconds remaining and proceeded to a wild finish. MHC quarterback Ricky Spradling faked the intentional spike on 3rd down and eight, but the referees called the play dead and reset the clock to 25 seconds. Spradling then completed a 10 yard pass and then a 31 yard pass on fourth down to give the Lions a shot at the end zone, but the Eagles deflected Spradling's final pass in the end zone to preserve the three-point win ... Although the win gave Sparks the record for most Division II football wins as a head coach, he deflected praise to the team ... "[The record] is just the advantage of being old and around a long time. This win was about a group of kids who refused to get beat and I'm thankful for their hearts." ... The Eagles will travel to Salisbury, North Carolina for another crucial SAC game against Catawba. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 14.

CATAWBA - Catawba came up a touchdown short as Alex Haynes scored from two-yards out with just under two minutes remaining to give 18th-ranked Newberry a 21-14 win over the Tribe on Saturday night at Setzler Field … Newberry cashed in early in the first quarter to grab the lead as Catawba fumbled on the first play from scrimmage … Newberry marched 34 yards and scored on a one-yard run on fourth down ... Lance Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Newberry 39 and after a pair of third down penalties kept the Catawba drive alive, Roach capped the march with a five-yard pass to Daniel Granzyk … Newberry marched 89 yards with the opening possession of the second half to take a 14-7 edge when Josh Stepp passed to Gannon Mozeak from 10-yards out … Catawba answered the score early in the fourth quarter as Lance Johnson caught a 23-yard pass from Brad Roach on fourth down with 13:32 remaining ... Catawba held Newberry on its next possession, but Roach was intercepted at midfield … Newberry would fumbled back, but Catawba was unable to move the ball and a short punt gave Newberry the ball back at the Tribe 45 ... Haynes ran for two big gains to the 16-yard line which was followed by a pass interference call in the end zone ... Haynes scored on the next play for the winning score … Catawba drove to the Newberry 14 in the closing seconds, but Roach misfired on the final two plays ... Roach was 18-of-35 for Catawba for 157 yards, while Kory Fisher had 70 yards rushing ... Lance Johnson made five catches for 70 yards … Catawba limited the high-powered Newberry offense to just 317 yards ... Ron Ellington made 13 tackles, including a sack, and forced a fumble ... Thomas Presley had a dozen stops … Catawba sacked Stepp three times ... The Indians struggled on third downs for the second straight week, converting just two of 11 tries and had three turnovers ... Catawba returns home for the first time since Sept. 16 when it hosts Carson-Newman on Saturday in the final home night game this season.

LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College football team (2-4, 0-2) is still searching for its first South Atlantic Conference win after falling to Tusculum College (4-2, 1-1), 17-10, Saturday afternoon in front of 5,463 fans at Moretz Stadium on Homecoming … The Bears had numerous opportunities to score but could not take advantage, particularly in the third quarter when they failed to score on consecutive possessions inside the Pioneers' 10-yard line … Tusculum's Patrick King broke a 10-all tie with a 40-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter which proved to the game-winning score … Although L-R held a 298-235 advantage in total yards, the Bears turned the ball over twice and missed a field goal … Quarterback Justin Sanders (Monroe, N.C.) found Brian Terwilliger (Wilmington, N.C.) in the back of the end zone for a 27-yard scoring pass, the lone touchdown of the game for L-R … Terwilliger, who registered his second touchdown catch of the year, was able to catch a pass that was deflected by a TC defender … Junior defensive back Chima Okoro (Charlotte, N.C.) tallied a career-high 12 tackles and senior defensive back Rian Jefferson (Irmo, S.C.) finished with 10 takedowns on a Lenoir-Rhyne defense that produced four quarterback sacks … On offense, Sanders led the team in passing (158 yards) and rushing (78 yards including a 50-yard run) … The loss to Tusculum was L-R's sixth in the last seven years in the series between the two squads … Lenoir-Rhyne starts the second two-game road trip in 2006 new week against Wingate … L-R leads the all-time series with Wingate, 15-5, and won the first 11 meetings in the series … The two teams have met every year since 1986 … Lenoir-Rhyne's next two opponents, Wingate and Carson-Newman, have hosted L-R three of the past four years including two straight … Wingate defeated Lenoir-Rhyne last year, 28-7, on October 1, 2005 … Kickoff for Saturday is set for 1:30 p.m. … Wingate (5-1, 2-0) is tied for first in the SAC with Newberry.

MARS HILL - Alex Rouse tossed a 10 yard TD pass to Otis Miller with 1:15 remaining in the fourth quarter as Carson-Newman overcame three turnovers to defeat Mars Hill, 10-7 in front of a Homecoming crowd of 5,018 at Burke-Tarr Stadium ... MHC fell to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the SAC with the loss ... The Eagles (5-1, 1-1 SAC) could only manage a field goal in the first quarter when Aubrey Ingham connected on a 32-yarder to give the Eagles a 3-0 advantage at halftime. The Eagles managed just 124 yards of offense in the first half, but the Eagle defense held Mars Hill to 57 yards in that half ... In the second half, the Eagles drove the ball to the Mars Hill 21 yard line in the third quarter. Alex Good fumbled and MHC's Nathaniel Smith (Georgetown, SC) recovered it at the 8-yard line and scampered to the end zone to give Mars Hill a 7-3 lead with 8:03 to go in the third quarter. Smith ended the game with 17 tackles ... The Eagles got the ball back in the fourth quarter and drove 14 plays to the Mars Hill 13-yard line. On fourth and one, Good fumbled the snap and Mars Hill took over on downs, but the Eagle defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with 4:28 remaining ... Jeremy Arrington and Vincent Smith combined for 18 yards rushing on five plays to get the ball to the 10 yard line ... On fourth and three, coach Sparks and offensive coordinator Mike Turner decided to go for it with a little more than a minute remaining ... Mars Hill got the ball back with 58 seconds remaining and proceeded to a wild finish. MHC quarterback Ricky Spradling (Roan Mountain, TN) faked the intentional spike on third down and eight, but the referees called the play dead and reset the clock to 25 seconds. Spradling then completed a 10-yard pass and then a 31 yard pass on fourth down to give the Lions a shot at the end zone, but the Eagles deflected Spradling's final pass in the end zone to preserve the three-point win ... MHC will host Newberry College in the Lions' annual Homecoming game next Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 2:30 p.m.

NEWBERRY - Alex Haynes scored a touchdown from two yards out with 1:49 remaining in the game while the defense made a big defensive stand to give the 18th-ranked Newberry College Indians a 21-14 Homecoming victory over Catawba College in front of a crowd of 4,296 on Saturday evening at Setzler Field… The Indians (6-0, 2-0) forced a Catawba quarterback Brad Roach to fumble which was picked up by Emil Gibson to set up Newberry's first possession of the game… Newberry had a seven-play drive that was capped off by Cory Smalls one-yard plunge to give the Indians a 7-0 lead… Catawba (3-2, 0-2) countered on their second drive of the game, tying the game at 7-7. Roach capped off an eight-play drive when he found fullback Daniel Granzyk in the flat for a five-yard touchdown pass… Neither team could muster any points in the second quarter… The first half ended when Roach fired a pass that was intercepted by Derrell Mills to keep the game tied going into the locker room… Newberry used a 12-play 89 yard drive to begin the third quarter to take a 14-7 lead… On a third and goal from the Catawba 10-yard line, Josh Stepp found tight end Gannon Mozeak open for a touchdown to give the Indians the lead… Catawba would score on their first possession of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 14-14… On a fourth-down and four play, Roach completed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Lance Johnson to tie the score with 13:32 remaining in the contest… The Indians started their game-winning drive with 3:52 remaining in the game… Haynes started the drive off with a 16-yard run and followed that up on the next play with a run of 13 yards to the Catawba 29 yard-line. Two plays later, Stepp delivered a pass to wide receiver Tymere Zimmerman in the end zone that was ruled incomplete… However, pass interference was called on Catawba, placing the ball at the two-yard line… It was time for Haynes heroics when he scored the game-winner with 1:49 remaining… Catawba would put together a game-tying drive however… Roach completed passes of 13 and five yards to get into Newberry territory at the 45-yard line…. After Roach completed a pass to move Catawba to the 29-yard line, Johnson was stuffed by Indian linebacker Stewart Good for a six-yard loss… On a fourth-and-15 play, Newberry was called for pass interference to put the ball on the 19-yard line… After an offside penalty, Newberry defensive back Levi Bennett broke up two game-tying passes to end the game, giving Newberry the victory… Haynes finished the game with 21 carries for 162 yards… Stepp was 12-of-23 for 123 yards and a touchdown… Kelton Tindall led the receiving corps with four receptions for 53 yards… Defensively, Will Newell tallied seven tackles, five solos, and one tackle-for-loss... Corky Howell had five solo tackles while Mills finished the game with two interceptions… Devin Robinson had an all-around solid performance, registering three tackles, two tackles-for-loss, two sacks and one forced fumble… The Indians are 6-0 for the first time since the 1971 season… Haynes leads the SAC in rushing yards as well as all-purpose yards… Newell is five tackles away from 100 for his career…Robinson is third in the league in sacks (4) and fourth in tackles-for-loss (9)… Stepp is averaging a league-best 238.5 yards of total offense… He has also thrown touchdown passes to seven different receivers this year… The Indians will hit the road for the first time during the 2006 season as they will face Mars Hill in a pivotal SAC game… Kickoff is set for 2:30 pm.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian scored the game's first points to take a 6-0 lead going into halftime, but PC allowed the Wingate Bulldogs to score 14 points in the second half and Wingate improved to 2-0 in league play with a 14-9 victory before a Presbyterian homecoming crowd of 4,251 ... The loss marks the first time in nine league contests that Presbyterian has faltered in a South Atlantic Conference game. The last time prior to today's loss that PC succumbed to a conference foe was in November of 2004 in a 28-25 loss to rival Newberry on Nov. 6, 2004 ... Presbyterian had a chance to go ahead on the final play of the game, but the 35-yard heave by quarterback Grayson Mullins fell just out of the reach of three Presbyterian wide receivers in the right corner of the end zone ... Wingate obtained the eventual game-winning touchdown scamper with 9:22 left in the final quarter when Bryson Summers' 39-yard punt was returned by preseason All-SAC first team member Donald Brown for a touchdown to give Wingate a 14-6 lead ... Presbyterian on the very next series gave itself the chance to take the game, marching 69 yards to the Wingate 11-yard line after starting the series at its own 20-yard line. The Blue Hose could not move further, garnering three yards on its next three plays ... Carl Stevenson then connected on his second field goal in as many weeks, hitting a 27-yarder to make up for an earlier missed extra point and to set the score at 14-9 in favor of Wingate ... Wingate originally acquired the lead in the third quarter on its second series of the half after opportunistically taking advantage of a Mitch Doolittle fumble at the PC 11-yard line. After a one-yard run by Jamie Lilly, Anthony Metzelaars threw a 10-yard strike to Gabe Neil to tie the game at 6-6 ... Wingate's Jonathan Bedford was on target on the extra-point try to give Wingate its first lead of the game at 7-6 ... Presbyterian scored the first touchdown of the contest at the 2:45 mark in the second quarter when Doolittle found Chris Pope for a nine-yard touchdown. The 10-play, 66-yard scoring drive by Presbyterian lasted almost five minutes, but was somewhat marred by Stevenson's failed extra-point attempt ... Presbyterian finished ahead of Wingate in the contest in many statistical categories, including first downs (PC 17, WU 9) and total net yards (PC 263, WU 196) ... The PC defense had as stout of a performance as it has had all year, holding the league's leading passer in Metzelaars to just 122 yards through the air. Antwan Thomas led the charge individually, concluding the contest with nine total tackles and two quarterback hurries ... The quarterback tandem of Doolittle and Mullins ended the contest with a cumulative 154 yards passing, which bested Wingate's total of 140. Doolittle threw for 80 yards and one touchdown, while Mullins threw for 74 yards and rushed for another 19 ... Presbyterian falls to 3-3 on the year and 1-1 in SAC play, while Wingate improves to 5-1 overall ... Presbyterian continues its SAC title defense next weekend against Tusculum. The Pioneers and Blue Hose will kick things off at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 in Greeneville, Tenn.

TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers ended a conference four-game road losing skid with a 17-10 win at Lenoir-Rhyne College… With the win, the Pioneers improve to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in SAC play… Tusculum mounted a pair of goal-line stands, while the offense orchestrated an 11-play, 96-yard drive to post the winning points in the fourth quarter… Patrick King led Tusculum with 87 rushing yards on 16 carries, including the game-winning 40-yard TD run early in the final quarter… Sophomore Corey Russell returned to the TC line-up, where he went 13-for-22 for 113 yards and a touchdown, that coming on a 17-yard strike to Candics Jones with a minute left before halftime… Antrez McDaniel recorded a career-high 12 tackles, including two for loss and recovered a fumble… The Pioneers are 4-0 this season when scoring 17 or more points… Since 2003, TC is 22-3 when it scores at last 17 points… Junior receiver Jamichael Caldwell is approaching a pair of milestones… Caldwell needs four more catches to become only the seventh player in school history with 100 career receptions… He needs three more receiving yards to eclipse the 1,400-yard mark, which has been accomplished by three others… Senior kicker Glen Black is also looking to climb in the TC record books… Black scored five points in the win at L-R, giving him 91 for his career, which are tied for third all-time with Jack Whittenburg (1993-94)… Black connected on his 11th career field goal on Saturday, moving him in a tie for second place with Mike Carter (1996-99)… Tusculum ends its four-game road swing, the longest in school history… Tusculum went 3-1 during that run… The Pioneers will host a home game for the first time since Sept. 9 when TC welcomes defending conference champion Presbyterian… This week will be the Pioneers' homecoming game… Since 1936, the Pioneers are 8-15 at homecoming… TC has won five of its last six homecoming contests and the Pioneers are 5-3 when playing before the alumni during the Coach Frankie DeBusk era… This will also be the second time TC has hosted Presbyterian for homecoming.

WINGATE - The Wingate University football rallied from a 6-0 halftime deficit to take a 14-9 South Atlantic Conference victory at Presbyterian College Saturday before a PC homecoming crowd of 4,251. With the victory, Wingate improves to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the SAC ... Wingate is 5-2 in the PC-WU series in games decided by eight points or less. The Blue Hose (3-3 overall, 1-1 SAC) saw an eight-game SAC winning streak end Saturday. Presbyterian's most recent SAC loss was Nov. 6, 2004, when Newberry handed their arch-rival a 28-25 setback ... Presbyterian had a chance to go ahead on the final play of the game, but a 35-yard heave by quarterback Grayson Mullins fell out of the reach of three Presbyterian wide receivers in the right corner of the end zone ... Wingate obtained an insurance touchdown with 9:22 left in the final quarter when senior return specialist Donald Brown returned a Blue Hose punt for a 48-yard touchdown to give Wingate a 14-6 lead. Brown has four career punt returns for touchdowns ... On the next series, Presbyterian gave itself the chance to take the game, marching 69 yards to the Wingate 11-yard line after starting the series at its own 20-yard line. The Blue Hose could not move further, garnering three yards on its next three plays ... Carl Stevenson then connected on his second field goal in as many weeks, hitting a 27-yarder to make up for an earlier missed extra point and to set the score at 14-9 in favor of Wingate ... Wingate originally acquired the lead in the third quarter on its second series of the half after opportunistically taking advantage of a Mitch Doolittle fumble at the PC 11-yard line. After a one-yard run by redshirt junior running back Jamie Lilly, Bulldog senior quarterback Anthony Metzelaars threw a 10-yard strike to senior wide receiver Gabe Nail to tie the game at 6-6 ... Wingate redshirt junior place kicker Jonathan Beford was on target on the extra-point try to give Wingate its first lead of the game at 7-6. Beford's boot gave the Bulldogs the lead for good ... Presbyterian scored the first touchdown of the contest at the 2:45 mark in the second quarter when Doolittle found Chris Pope for a nine-yard touchdown. The 10-play, 66-yard scoring drive by Presbyterian lasted almost five minutes, but was somewhat marred by Stevenson's failed extra-point attempt ... Presbyterian finished ahead of Wingate in first downs (PC 17, WU 9) and total net yards (PC 263, WU 196). The PC defense held the league's leading passer in Metzelaars to only 122 yards through the air. Antwan Thomas led the charge individually, concluding the contest with nine total tackles and two quarterback hurries for the hosts ... The quarterback tandem of Doolittle and Mullins ended the contest with a cumulative 154 yards passing, which edged Wingate's total of 140. Doolittle threw for 80 yards and one touchdown, while Mullins threw for 74 yards and rushed for another 19 ... Three Wingate defenders posted 10 tackles each. Bulldog junior defensive end Kenwin Cummings (Maxton, N.C.) had 10 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, three QB hurries, two sacks and one forced fumble. Wingate redshirt junior linebacker Bobby Floyd (Fairmont, N.C.) had 10 stops and one pass break-up. Senior linebacker Stuart Sheppard (Fletcher, N.C.) compiled 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, one QB sack and one pass break-up ... Bulldog senior cornerback David Jones (Greenville, S.C.) made a big third quarter interception in the end zone to thwart a Blue Hose rally. Both Jones and Cummings earned first team All-SAC honors in 2005. Cummings was named to the 2005 Don Hansen's Football Gazette NCAA Division II All-America first team defense ... "This was a great team win for us today," Wingate head coach Joe Reich said. "We kept fighting. We had some good things and bad things happen, but we didn't get too high or too low." ... Wingate returns to Irwin Belk Stadium and John R. Martin Field Saturday, hosting league foe Lenoir-Rhyne College for a 1:30 p.m. encounter. On October 1, 2005, the Wingate defense forced seven Lenoir-Rhyne turnovers and returned two interceptions for touchdowns in a 28-7 SAC football victory at Irwin Belk Stadium and John R. Martin Field on the Wingate campus ... Both David Jones and Donald Brown returned interceptions for touchdowns in the 2005 contest. Lenoir-Rhyne leads the series between the two schools 15 5. L-R is one of two teams (Mars Hill is the other) Wingate has played every year since the institution revitalized football in 1986 ... Wingate has won three of the last four games in the series. Eleven of the 20 games (and nine of the last 13 games) in the Lenoir-Rhyne versus Wingate series have been decided by nine points or less. Lenoir Rhyne is 9 2 overall in LRC/WU games decided by nine points or less.