Eagles Welcome Newberry in SAC Opener Saturday
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman football team begins its quest for a 21st South Atlantic Conference title on Saturday afternoon when it takes the field against Newberry to open conference play.
1989 Championship Reunion: Carson-Newman will
honor its 1989 NAIA National Championship team on Saturday with a
20-year reunion. The '89 team closed out a decade of championships
with a 34-20 win over Emporia State in the Champion Bowl. The
Eagles went 12-1, completing a stretch of four-straight
championship game appearances, with three titles. The '89 squad
included All-Americans Brent Collins, Robert Hardy, Joe Fishback,
David Pool, and Kelly Rasnic. Registration for the reunion will
begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Ken Sparks Athletic
Complex.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman football team begins
its quest for a 21st South Atlantic Conference title on Saturday
afternoon when it takes the field against Newberry to open
conference play.
The Eagles and the scarlet and gray are scheduled to kickoff at 1
p.m. at Burke-Tarr Stadium.
C-N head coach Ken Sparks said he and his team are focused on a
dangerous Newberry squad and not the number of conference
championships within their reach.
"I'm not worried about the 21st (SAC championship)," Sparks said.
"I'm worried about Newberry. They are a very, very talented
football team. I'd say they are one of the top two or three
talented teams in the conference. They've got most everybody back
from last year. It's going to be a great challenge for us."
The Eagles (2-2) don't have to look far back to remember just how
dangerous Newberry can be. The scarlet and gray defeated C-N 27-21
in overtime last season.
C-N was its own worst enemy in the loss as it committed four
turnovers and drove inside the Newberry 35-yard line on seven
occasions and came away without scoring any points.
"That's pretty mind boggling," Sparks said. "I don't think we
showed up to play over there last year like we wanted to."
Newberry, the No. 16 team in the latest D2Football.com Media Poll,
enters the contest with a 2-1 record, including a win over
perennial Division II power Valdosta State.
The scarlet and gray have won two out of the last three meetings
against the Eagles and will be looking to make it two straight
behind the leadership of senior quarterback Brandon Gantt
(Lexington, S.C.).
With Gantt under center, Newberry leads the conference in total
offense as it averages 433 yards per game. Gantt has accounted for
a lot of Newberry's success by completing 65.7 percent of his
passes and averaging 248.3 passing yards per game.
Newberry is also at or near the top of the conference in several
other statistical categories, including pass offense (second), pass
defense (second), turnover margin (third), punt return average
(first), pass efficiency (second) and time of possession
(first).
"On paper they are scary," Sparks said. "They are very balanced
and do a good job. We will need to continue to play Carson-Newman
football. I'm excited about lining up on Saturday and seeing what
we can get done."
A key to Saturday's matchup will be field position. With Newberry
having the No. 1 punt returner in the SAC in Antonio Patton (16.9
yards per return), Eagles junior punter Chris Jones (Rome, Ga.)
will need to have another performance like the one he had last week
against UNC Pembroke.
Jones earned SAC Special Teams Player of the Week after averaging
46.2 yards on five punts against the Braves. He limited UNC
Pembroke's return game to just 10 yards on the day.
"He is big time," Sparks said. "Chris had two punts with a
five-second hang time. He had a 5.13 and a 5.07. When you start
talking about the five flat in hang time in a game, that's unheard
of."
"I've never seen one before Saturday and I saw two. When you kick
it that high, it gives coverage time to get there. He had a very
special day on Saturday, and I hope he can continue to do
that."
The Eagles are coming off their best outing of the season as they
took down UNC Pembroke, 35-22, last Saturday. The win snapped a
10-game Braves winning streak.
C-N broke the 300-yard plateau on the ground for a third straight
week, rushing for 322 yards. The Eagles are averaging 349 rushing
yards per game in their last three contests and are fourth in the
nation in rushing offense with a 288.8 yards per game average.
The return of preseason first team All-SAC running back Buck
Wakefield (Drummonds, Tenn.) gave the Eagles an added dimension in
the backfield that they had missed the first three weeks of the
season.
Wakefield rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns and also
caught three passes for 47 yards to lead C-N past UNC-Pembroke.
"(Wakefield) made some plays Saturday," Sparks said. "Of course,
the running back is only as good as the other 10 guys, but he does
add a different dimension. There is no question about that. He
gives us another level of speed that we are missing sometimes. It
is certainly a blessing to have him back.'
Sparks gives a lot of the credit to C-N's resurgent running game
to the Eagle offensive line. The unit has been shuffled every game
this season due to injuries but has consistently showed
improvement.
"I don't think it's been the same starting unit all year," Sparks
said. "That makes it tough when you are moving from one position to
the other. When you have to learn a whole new setup every week, it
makes it a little tougher."
