Eagles Travel to Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday

Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Streaks are meant to be broken, but if the 25th-ranked Carson-Newman football team wants to keep its postseason hopes alive, the Eagles must attempt to keep not one but two streaks from ending on Saturday in a South Atlantic Conference matchup at Lenoir-Rhyne.

C-N and the Bears are schedule to kickoff at 7 p.m. at Moretz Stadium in Hickory, N.C.

The Eagles enter the contest riding a five-game winning streak and have won the last 30 meetings with Lenoir-Rhyne, but C-N head coach Ken Sparks said his players can’t let those numbers creep into their minds.

“Anytime you win a few games in a row, then all you think you have to do is show up to win,” said Sparks, who has never lost to the Bears. “There’s a tendency to think that way, and I hope that we have enough maturity to realize that (the Bears) are a very much improved football team.”

“The second thing is anytime you hold a winning streak over a team they are always anxious and geared up to be the team that broke the streak. It’s going to be a challenge for us.”

C-N (5-2, 3-0 SAC) is coming off another gutsy win over Catawba last Saturday. The Eagles scored 28 fourth-quarter points, including two key touchdowns in the final four minutes, to upend the Indians 41-31.

One thing that has impressed Sparks this season has been his team’s willingness to fight until the end.

“It really makes me proud,” Sparks said. “They are growing, and I think we are a maturing team. We certainly haven’t arrived and have a long way to go. We are still making mistakes that will cost you ballgames. Fortunately, we’ve been able to recover from them so far. I’m just glad that we have had a willingness to not get beat.”

The Eagles defense has played a large part in the team’s success this season by coming through with big plays when it matters most. C-N forced a fumble late in the first half against Catawba that led to their first touchdown of the night, and senior linebacker Elliette Jackson (Fairfield, Ala.) came through with an interception with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

“That’s usually a trademark of a (C-N defensive coordinator) Jim Deaton coached defense,” Sparks said. “They will give up some yardage but they won’t give up the points, but we’ve given up too many points lately. It would help my heart a whole lot if we could get a few more three-and-outs, but they are getting better.”

Lenoir-Rhyne (4-3, 1-2) is coming off a disappointing 50-49 loss to Wingate last Saturday, in which it led by as many as 21 points in the second half. All three of the Bears’ losses have been by a combined 13 points. Lenoir-Rhyne will be facing C-N with a winning record for the first time since 1999 when it was 5-3.

Saturday’s matchup will feature not only the top two rushing offenses in the conference but also two of the top three in NCAA Division II. Lenoir-Rhyne leads the nation, averaging 327.6 yards per game, while C-N is third in the nation with an average of 302 yards per contest.

Senior quarterback Justin Sanders has had plenty of success this season leading Lenoir-Rhyne’s Bear Bone attack. Sanders has amassed 453 yards and four touchdowns on the ground and 386 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Sophomore running back Byron Darby is second on the team in rushing with 431 yards and four scores.

Sparks said C-N’s defense must play smart football on Saturday.

“They do some very dangerous things,” Sparks said. “They do things that undisciplined teams have a hard time with. You have to play assignment defense against them or they will eat your lunch out of the wishbone. Then they will rock you to sleep and hit the play action pass.”

The Bears defense, which ranks second in the SAC in total defense, will also provide the Eagles with a stiff test. Sparks said Lenoir-Rhyne head coach Fred Goldsmith’s background against the veer offense gives the Bears and their 3-4 scheme an advantage.

“Coach Goldsmith has been all of the places where they have lined up against the veer,” Sparks said. “He was the coordinator at Arkansas when they had to lineup against Texas and Houston. He’s been at Rice and at Duke. He knows how to play marbles. We are going to have to do a good job. They won’t give us anything. We will have to go earn it.”

Eagle Notes:
C-N senior quarterback Alex Good (Greensboro, N.C.) now has 6,425 yards of total offense for his career… Good needs just 59 yards to pass former Eagle quarterback Shane Kelley (6,483) for second place in school history in career total offense and 202 yards to pass Leonard Guyton (6,626) for the top spot…Eagles senior running back Buck Wakefield (Drummonds, Tenn.) has seven rushing touchdowns this season and 37 for his career, which ranks fourth in school history and is 10 shy of passing Tyrone Westmoreland (46) for second…Lenoir-Rhyne will be the first triple option team C-N has faced since its matchup with Brevard last season.