Flying North: Eagles head to Grand Valley State for ESPN showdown on Saturday

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Things looked bleak for the Carson-Newman football team at the beginning of the 2009 season.

The Eagles got off to an 0-2 start and risked missing out on the playoffs with a loss in any of their nine remaining regular season games.

But fast-forward to Saturday and 11-consecutive wins later, and C-N is one of four teams left vying for the Division II national title.

The 10th-ranked Eagles (11-2) are set to square off with No. 3 Grand Valley State (12-1) on Saturday in the semifinals in a nationally televised game on ESPN. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at Lubbers Stadium in Allendale, Mich. The winner of Saturday's contest will face the winner of California (Pa.) and Northwest Missouri State in the national championship on Dec. 12 in Florence, Ala.

“It’s an exciting time,” said C-N head coach Ken Sparks, who is in his 30th season in Mossy Creek. “It’s the reason everybody comes to Carson-Newman. It’s the reason us coaches coach at Carson-Newman. Our goal is to win a national championship. We are not there but we are one of the four teams that have a chance. That’s a good start. We hope we can make something positive happen and we look forward to taking the next step.”

The Eagles took a huge step toward the title last Saturday in the quarterfinals as they traveled to Florence, Ala., and came away with a 24-21 victory over No. 5 North Alabama. The win was C-N’s first-ever in Braly Municipal Stadium.

Senior running back Buck Wakefield (Drummonds, Tenn.) made a huge impact in the game and continued to leave his stamp in the C-N record books as he rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Wakefield’s two scores made him the school’s all-time leader in career rushing touchdowns with 48.

Wakefield has rushed for 1,396 yards and 18 touchdowns this season despite missing the first three games with a broken leg.

“Buck is a great football player and is growing as a person,” Sparks said. “It’s fun to see what all is going on in his life. At the same time, he’s still got some improvement to do in a couple phases of his game, but we are sure glad he is on our side. He knows where the end zone is. That’s a very special thing about Buck.”

C-N enters Saturday’s semifinal matchup playing arguably the best it has played all season on defense. The Eagles held North Alabama to a season-low 277 yards of offense, including minus four yards rushing, which was the Lions’ lowest rushing total since 1987. C-N also intercepted Harlon Hill Trophy finalist Harrison Beck three times to set up two of the Eagles’ touchdowns.

“That was a huge key to the ballgame,” Sparks said. “Our defense really attacked them and made a lot of things happen. It was a tremendous effort. It looked like a lot of times we had 13 or 14 people on the field. Those orange bullets were flying around everywhere. It was quite an impressive performance, but it could still be better.’

The Eagles will need another impressive performance against Grand Valley State. The Lakers are the most successful Division II program this decade, winning four national titles (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) and finishing runner-up in 2001.

Grand Valley State is making its seventh appearance in the semifinals and fourth in the last five years after punching its ticket with a 24-10 victory over defending national champion Minnesota Duluth last Saturday.

“This is nothing new to them,” said Sparks, who has guided to Eagles to five semifinal berths. “They are a really, really good football team. They are probably the most complete football team we’ve seen this year. It will be a great challenge for us.”

Offensively, Grand Valley State has had plenty of success in its no huddle, one back set, as it is 11th nationally in total offense (458.69), ninth in rushing offense (233.23) and 12th in scoring offense (36.46).

“It’s an interesting concept,” Sparks said of the Lakers’ offense. “They do a good job with it. They are counting on their opponent to get lined up wrong and not be able to make the quick adjustments on the things that they are doing.

The Lakers have also been very productive inside their oppenents 20-yard lide, ranking seventh nationally in red zone offense. Grand Valley State has entered the red zone 61 times this season and has scored points on 56 of those possessions.

The Eagles will be facing a Harlon Hill Trophy finalist for a second straight week. Grand Valley State senior quarterback Brad Iciek, who has been a finalist for three consecutive years, is the leader of the Lakers offense. Iciek has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 2,786 yards and 31 touchdowns. He ranks second nationally in passing efficiency with a rating of 174.11.

“(Iciek) is really good,” Sparks said. “He’s been in their program for four years and knows what they are trying to get done. They are pretty sophisticated offensively, and you can’t be too sophisticated if you don’t have that guy pulling the trigger. They’ve got him (in Iciek).”

Saturday’s matchup will pit the nations top rushing offense against one of the best rushing defenses in the country. C-N leads the nation in rushing, averaging 349 yards per game, while the Lakers are ninth nationally in rushing defense, giving up 83.85 rushing yards per contest.

Grand Valley State has held opponents below 100 yards rushing in all but four games this season.

“Minnesota Duluth had a really high average rushing, and (the Lakers) shut them down pretty good,” Sparks said. “But they haven’t seen the veer, so they don’t know how we are going to line up. We don’t know how they are going to line up. It’s going to be interesting to see how it comes out.”

The meeting will be just the second between the Eagles and Lakers. C-N defeated Grand Valley State, 42-9, in its season opener in 1984.

C-N is playing for a berth to its first national title game since 1999. The Eagles have been to three Division II championship games and are 0-3 in those contests.