Weekly SAC Football Notes Oct. 15
Game notes and recaps from around the SAC for games ending Saturday, October 14.
CARSON-NEWMAN - Alex Rouse turned in his best passing performance of the season, going 10-for-17 for 162 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-22 loss to Catawba... The Eagles have scored points in 162 straight games. The last time the Eagles were shutout was the 1992 season when they lost to New Haven, 14-0. The Eagles are now 80-13 against conference opponents since joining NCAA Division II in 1993 and 125-25 overall... Catawba's win was only the eighth against the Eagles in the series history and snapped C-N's five-game winning streak against the Indians dating back to 2001. Catawba defeated the Eagles, 13-10 in 2000...Eric Rice had three tackles for loss for 8 yards against Catawba and remains C-N's leader in that category.
CATAWBA - The Catawba Indians defeated 15th-ranked Carson-Newman 24-22 in an exciting game at Shuford Stadium ... It marked just the eighth win in 40 games against the Eagles, but was the third win in the last five meetings at Shuford Stadium as Catawba also won in 1996 and in 2000 ... The 2002 win by the Eagles came at Salisbury High School ... Brad Roach led the Tribe offense with a career-best 335 yards and three touchdowns ... He connected on TD strikes to Lance Johnson (40 yds), Shane Timmons (8 yds) and Brent Johnson (53 yds) ... The 53-yarder to the younger Johnson was the longest play from scrimmage for Catawba this season ... Antwan Strong was the top target, catching seven passes for 117 yards, both career bests ... Catawba was limited to just 21 yards on the ground with Kory Fisher gaining 24, moving him past T.O. Wilson into ninth place on the all-time rushing list with 1,625 yards ... Fisher also caught three passes for 38 yards ... Catawba surrendered a pair of touchdown passes to the Eagles, but held C-N to a mere 143 yards rushing, the fewest by C-N against Catawba since a 123-yard effort in 1997 ... The Indians allowed just three first downs and held C-N to only 64 yards on 30 plays in the opening half ... The Eagles totaled 319 yards on the day with 126 coming on three plays early in the third quarter when C-N grabbed a 16-10 with a pair of quick scores ... the Tribe answered with a pair of touchdowns, converting a long third down in each drive ... Catawba, which struggled on third down in its last two losses, converted five of 11 on Saturday ... Linebacker Charles McAfee made a career-high 14 tackles, including two for losses, while Ron Ellington ended the game on a fourth-down sack at midfield with 16 seconds remaining ... Ellington was in on two the Tribe's three sacks ... Lester Sconyers made nine stops with two for losses, including a sack ... Marcus Huntley had nine tackles and recovered a third-quarter fumble that led to the score that gave the Tribe the lead for good at 17-16 ... Catawba finished with a perfect 3-0 mark under the new lights at Shuford Stadium ... The Indians will host Tusculum for a 1:30 kickoff this weekend ... Tusculum is making a second straight trip to Salisbury as the Tribe won 28-20 last season ... Catawba is 8-2 in 20 previous meetings with the Pioneers.
LENOIR-RHYNE - The Lenoir-Rhyne College football team (2-5, 0-3) became the lone team in the South Atlantic Conference without a win after falling to Wingate (6-1, 3-0), 27-21, last Saturday afternoon at the Irwin Belk Stadium and John R. Martin Field in Wingate, N.C. … Bulldog Anthony Metzelaars threw for a career-high 330 yards and three touchdowns while Wingate cornerback Donald Brown caught a key third-quarter touchdown catch and intercepted a pass to spark the Bulldogs to the victory … Lenoir-Rhyne, down 24-7 in the fourth quarter, tried to rally with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter - senior fullback Patrick Capers' (Summerville, S.C.) four-yard run and sophomore wideout Pete Goodman's (Charlotte, N.C.) 34-yard touchdown catch - but an onside kick with 33 seconds left failed and Wingate held on for the win … For the second week in a row, redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Sanders (Monroe, N.C.) led the team in rushing with 67 yards rushing including a 27-yard touchdown run in the second stanza … Sanders also passed for 127 yards and a touchdown while sophomore running back Ronnie Edwards (Union Hall, Va.) was the Bears top receiver with eight receptions but for only 37 yards … On defense, Lenoir-Rhyne freshman linebacker Dewayne Jones (Reidsville, N.C.) finished with a career-high 13 tackles (also a game-high) while senior lineman Benjamin McDowell (Forest City, N.C.) added 12 takedowns including three for a loss and one forced fumble … L-R's defense also limited Wingate to just 64 yards rushing … Wingate has now beaten Lenoir-Rhyne four out of the last five years after the Bears won the first 11 and 14 of the first 16 games in the series … L-R travels to Jefferson City, Tenn., to take on Carson-Newman (5-2, 1-2) next Saturday at 1 p.m. … The Eagles lead the all-time series and have won the last 27 meetings between the two schools … Lenoir-Rhyne's last win against Carson-Newman came in 1978, a 35-28 win in Hickory, N.C., under then-Head Coach Jack Huss (now L-R's color analyst for radio) … The contest with the Eagles will be the Bears' fourth road game in the last five games.
MARS HILL - No. 18 Newberry College recorded 502 yards of total offense as the Indians defeated Mars Hill College 37-0 on Saturday afternoon at Meares Stadium. MHC fell to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the SAC with the loss ... The Indians (7-0, 3-0) totaled 355 yards on the ground and was led by Alex Haynes with 19 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown. Deshon Rodell carried the ball only four times, but gained 74 yards ... Josh Stepp completed 16-of-20 passes for 147 yards on the day ... The defense held MHC to 50 rushing yards on the afternoon ... The Indians used a six-play 94-yard drive on their first possession of the game to go up by a score of 7-0 when Derek Young took a handoff in motion from Stepp and raced down the sidelines for a 69-yard scamper. On Newberry's second drive, Ryan Lukshis connected on a 26-yard field goal to give the Indians a 10-0 lead ... The Indians extended their lead to 17-0 on their third drive when Haynes scored from 12 yards out. Newberry went on a 15-play, 91-yard drive just before the half to go up 24-0 when Stepp scored on a quarterback sneak from one-yard out with 23 seconds remaining in the first half ... In the third quarter, Rodell bounced out to the outside and raced down the sidelines for a 65-yard touchdown run to give the Indians a 31-0 lead ... Stepp scored on his second quarterback sneak of the afternoon to make it a 37-0 lead at the 3:01 mark in the third quarter ... Will Newell led the Indians on defense with eight total tackles. Devin Robinson had three tackles-for-loss and one sack on the afternoon ... Kendrick Johnson (West Columbia, SC) led Mars Hill on the ground with 12 carries for 35 yards. Ricky Spradling (Roan Mountain, NC) finished 9-for-19 for 105 yards ... Jamel Fayson (Jacksonville, FL) caught four passes for 45 yards on the day ... Stan Gailbrath (Birmingham, AL) led the Lion defense with 11 tackles (6 solo). Nathaniel Smith (Georgetown, SC) and Ryan Douglas (Charlotte, NC) recorded 10 tackles apiece. Kenyari Addison (Jonesboro, GA) added nine stops ... MHC will host Presbyterian College next Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
NEWBERRY - Newberry College racked up 502 yards of total offense and pitched their third shutout of the season as the 18th-ranked Indians defeated Mars Hill College 37-0 on Saturday afternoon at Meares Stadium… The Indians (7-0, 3-0 SAC) totaled 355 yards on the ground and was led by Alex Haynes with 19 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown… Deshon Rodell carried the ball only four times, but gained 74 yards... Josh Stepp completed 16-of-20 passes for 147 yards on the day... The defense dominated the Lions' (4-3, 1-2 SAC) offense, shutting them down to just 50 rushing yards on the afternoon… The Indians used a six-play 94-yard drive on their first possession of the game to go up by a score of 7-0 when Derek Young took a handoff in motion from Stepp and raced down the sidelines for a 69-yard scamper, his first touchdown of his career… On Newberry's second drive, Ryan Lukshis connected on a 26-yard field goal to give the Indians a 10-0 lead… The Indians extended their lead to 17-0 on their third drive when Haynes, the South Atlantic Conference's reigning Offensive Player of the Week, scored from 12 yards out… Newberry went on a 15-play, 91-yard drive just before the half to go up 24-0 when Stepp scored on a quarterback sneak from one-yard out with 23 seconds remaining in the first half… In the third quarter, Rodell bounced out to the outside and raced down the sidelines for a 65-yard touchdown run to give the Indians a 31-0 lead… Stepp scored on his second quarterback sneak of the afternoon to make it a 37-0 lead at the 3:01 mark in the third quarter… Will Newell led the Indians on defense with eight total tackles… Devin Robinson had three tackles-for-loss and one sack on the afternoon… The Indians are coming off another milestone week where they were named the No. 1 team in the Southeast Region according to the NCAA Regional Poll… This marks the first time in school history that a Newberry football team has been named No. 1 in a region poll… The Indians have racked up the individual honors as well this season, having three players earn four SAC Player of the Week honors… Will Newell kicked things off on September after being named the Defensive POTW… Josh Stepp followed with an Offensive POTW honor on September 18, and followed that up with another POTW accolade on October 2… Lastly, Alex Haynes was named the Offensive POTW on October 9… Stepp continues to lead the nation in passing efficiency with a efficiency rating of 186.77… He has tossed 14 touchdowns and has yet to throw an interception in 2006… Haynes has become the workhorse for the Indians, rushing for over 100 yards in the last four games… He leads the team and the league with 723 rushing yards… Ryan Lukshis is one field goal away from moving into third place on the all-time field goals made list with 20… Will Newell leads the squad and the SAC in tackles with 60… He has now amassed over 100 tackles in this just his sophomore season… To look at the strength of the Indians this year, you do not have to look no further than the defensive line… This unit is being led by junior Devin Robinson, who has tallied 23 tackles and 12 tackles-for-loss… His 12 TFL along with his five sacks places him in the Top five in the league… Sophomore Derrell Mills has made a splash in the secondary, leading the defensive unit with four interceptions… Head coach Zak Willis has a career record at Newberry of 20-17… His overall career record now stands at 29-28… The Indians have won the coin toss in every game this season… The Indians will host Wingate University in a pivotal SAC showdown this Saturday at Setzler Field… Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm.
PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterian's S.J. Worrell scored the first touchdown of his intercollegiate career at the 2:39 mark of the fourth quarter to commandeer the Blue Hose a 30-21 win over Tusculum College before a homecoming crowd of 2,132 at Pioneer Field ... Presbyterian led for almost the entire contest, but Tusculum closed the margin to two with just under five minutes left when Travis Oliver caught a Corey Russell pass to make the score 23-21 ... Worrell, who finished the game with 60 yards, found daylight up the middle on Presbyterian's next series to net the final score of 30-21 after Carl Stevenson's extra point sailed through the uprights ... Justin Durant led the Blue Hose in the victory, finishing the contest with a team season-high tying seven catches for 128 yards and one touchdown ... The real story of the day might have been the Blue Hose special teams, particularly the kicking unit. PC, who had hit only three field goals all year prior to the TC game, was successful on all three of its field goals, with Bret DiTulio hitting one and Carl Stevenson picking up two ... Bryson Summers had probably his best game of the season punting, averaging 40.4 yards-per-punt on 7 punts ... With the score 16-14 after a 26-yard pass from Tusculum's Russell to Jamaal Gray for a touchdown, Chetyuane Reeder scored what would eventually become the game-winning touchdown at the 12:02 mark of the fourth quarter when he scored from 12 yards out to give the Blue Hose a 23-14 advantage ... It was the second touchdown of the year for the Clinton native ... Presbyterian went into halftime up 16-7 after Carl Stevenson hit his second field goal of the afternoon and the third of the half for the Blue Hose with no time left on the game clock. Stevenson's 31-yard kick was made plausible after PC obtained the ball at the TC 36-yard line after a bad snap by center Mike Simpson gave the Blue Hose opportune field position ... The Blue Hose deferred the coin toss to the second half to commence the game, but once PC obtained the ball the Blue Hose wasted no time on etching their name on the scoreboard ... DiTulio, who had not hit a field goal since the West Georgia game, nailed his second field goal of the season to place Presbyterian ahead 3-0 with 11:30 left in the first quarter. DiTulio's 42-yard field goal was the longest of the year for the Blue Hose ... Presbyterian garnered its first touchdown of the game in the second quarter when Grayson Mullins connected with Justin Durant for a 19-yard touchdown. It was the second touchdown pass of the season from Mullins and it gave PC a 10-0 lead ... Under three minutes later PC took advantage of preseason All-American Chad Burgess' first interception of the year, getting its second field goal of the afternoon when Carl Stevenson hit a 20-yard field goal through the uprights to spot Presbyterian a 13-0 lead ... Tusculum did not take long though to get on the board, as the very first play on the next series Jamichael Caldwell caught a Corey Russell pass for a 61-yard touchdown to make the game 13-7 after a successful Glen Black extra point ... Defensively, the Blue Hose were led by Antwan Thomas and Burgess. Thomas concluded the game with 11 total stops and a season-high tying two sacks, while Burgess hauled in his first two interceptions of the season ... Burgess' final interception with just under a minute left in the game gave the Blue Hose a chance to run out the clock offensively ... Presbyterian improves to 2-1 in SAC play and 4-3 overall ... The Blue Hose continue their South Atlantic Conference title defense on Saturday, Oct. 21 against Mars Hill. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at Meares Stadium in Mars Hill, N.C.
TUSCULUM - The Tusculum Pioneers (4-3, 1-2 SAC) committed four critical turnovers as TC lost 30-21 to Presbyterian during homecoming festivities on the Greeneville campus…Tusculum won the yardage battle (354-300) and dominated time of possession (32:26 to 26:52), but three interceptions and a muffed kickoff return spelled doom for the home team… Sophomore quarterback Corey Russell had a career day as he established career-bests with 338 passing yards and three touchdown passes… Unfortunately, he was also picked off a career-worst three times… Travis Oliver had his best outing as a Pioneer, making nine receptions for 158 yards and a TD… Russell completed passes to seven different receivers, including Jamichael Caldwell, who made three grabs for 83 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter to put the Pioneers on the board… Caldwell has joined elite group and is one of only four players to record 1,400 receiving yards in his career… He is currently third all-time with 1,480 yards and needs one more catch to join the 100-receptions club… Senior kicker Glen Black continues to climb the Tusculum record book as he has connected on 61 career extra points, which is tied for third all-time with former All-American kicker Paul Czerniak (2000-01)… Black needs four more extra points to pass Jack Whittenburg's 65 PAT's (1993-94)… Black also owns sole possession of second place on the all-time career kick scoring list… He has tallied 94 career points, but is still 47 points shy of the all-time mark held by Czerniak (141)… Tusculum will be in action this week as it travels to Catawba… Five of Tusculum's six road games this season will be played in the State of North Carolina, including this week's trip to Salisbury… TC is 3-1 on the road this season, including 2-1 in its trips to the "Tar Heel State."
WINGATE - Wingate University senior cornerback David Jones caught a touchdown pass and intercepted a pass as well as the Bulldogs defeated Lenoir-Rhyne College 27-21 in South Atlantic Conference football action Saturday at Irwin Belk Stadium and John R. Martin Field on the Wingate campus. Jones also recovered Lenoir-Rhyne's last-chance onsides kick in the waning moments ... With the home victory, Wingate improves to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the SAC. Lenoir-Rhyne falls to 2-5 overall and 0-3 in the SAC. The Bulldogs visit number 18 Newberry College Saturday night for a 7 p.m. contest. Wingate and Newberry (7-0 overall, 3-0 SAC) are the only undefeated teams in league play ... Jones made the most of his first career reception. Bulldog senior quarterback Anthony Metzelaars found Jones over the middle for a 47-yard catch-and-run play that gave the hosts a 21-7 advantage with 3:22 to go in the fourth quarter ... Metzelaars had a career-day for the Bulldogs. The Charlotte Christian High School graduate completed 21-of-35 passes for three touchdowns and a career-high 330 yards. Metzelaars and the Bulldogs compiled 424 yards total offense and 22 first downs ... Wingate redshirt junior place kicker Jonathan Beford made two fourth-quarter field goals (25 and 22 yards) that proved to be the winning margin. Beford was also a perfect three-for-three on extra points ... After Beford's 25-yard field goal gave the Bulldogs a 24-7 lead with 11:50 left in the fourth quarter, Lenoir-Rhyne redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Sanders marched his troops 49 yards on eight plays. Bear senior fullback Patrick Capers did the honors, punching the ball into the end zone from four yards out. L-R junior place kicker Andrew Coln added the PAT to cut the margin to 24-14 with 8:39 remaining in the contest ... Metzelaars and the Bulldog offense used almost seven minutes to set up Beford's second field goal. Wingate took 6:56 to move 69 yards (on 11 plays), finishing the deal with Beford's 22-yard field goal with 1:43 to play ... Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore running back Matthew Taylor returned the ensuing kick-off 52 yards to the Wingate 42-yard line. Sanders used one minute and 10 seconds to put the visitors' final TD on the board, completing a 34-yard scoring strike to sophomore wide receiver Pete Goodman with 33 ticks left on the clock ... The subsequent extra point pulled the visitors within six at 27-21. Coln's onsides kick went through the hands of two Bulldogs before Jones pounced on it at mid-field. Metzelaars took a knee (twice) to end the game ... Metzelaars and redshirt sophomore quarterback JD Moore utilized 10 different receivers on the afternoon. Wingate sophomore wide receiver Gary Tatum led the way, catching six passes for 85 yards and one touchdown. Bulldog junior tight end Chris Conklin caught the other TD from Metzelaars ... Conklin and Tatum both caught TD passes from Metzelaars in the second quarter as the hosts took a 14-7 lead to the locker room at halftime. Tatum had four catches for 53 yards in the opening half ... Senior linebacker Stuart Sheppard compiled a team-best 11 tackles for the hosts. Bulldog senior defensive lineman Tee Overman had seven tackles and one QB sack. Wingate redshirt junior linebacker Bobby Floyd also notched seven stops for the victors ... The Bulldogs will visit Newberry Saturday with first place in the SAC on the line. Wingate leads the series between the two schools 10-6. Wingate had a five-game winning streak (in the series) from 1989-1995. The teams did not play in 1992 or 1993 ... Wingate's 33-0 win over Newberry on Nov. 2, 2002 was the largest margin of victory for either team in the series. All the other games in the series have been decided by 12 points or less. Newberry won last year's contest 34-31 at Newberry ... Newberry College sophomore place kicker Ryan Lukshis hit a 36-yard field goal with 3:12 remaining in the contest and the Indians withstood a last-minute Wingate University drive, giving the Indians a 34-31 South Atlantic Conference football victory over the visiting Bulldogs Thursday night, October 20, 2005 at Setzler Field ... The Bulldogs made a heroic last drive, getting the ball with 1:01 remaining. Metzelaars led the visitors down the field for a potential game-tying field goal. Metzelaars completed fourth-and-ten and third-and-ten passes to move the ball to Newberry's 30 ... The Bulldogs took advantage of a defensive holding penalty on the Indians to move the ball to the Newberry 20 yard line. On Wingate's last play, Beford missed a 37-yard field goal wide right with 4.7 seconds to play ... Bulldog defensive end Kenwin Cummings gave the Bulldogs their final lead with 12:39 left in the fourth quarter, recovering a fumble by Newberry quarterback Josh Stepp in the end zone to give Wingate a 28-24 edge ... Last year, Wingate quarterback Brandon Boone was 16-of-31 for 204 yards and two touchdowns against Newberry, with both scoring strikes to wide receiver Dan Brooks. Cummings had 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks, one fumble recovery and six points against the Indians.