Carson-Newman Hosts Catawba for Homecoming on Saturday
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- When Carson-Newman and Catawba meet on the gridiron, one thing has become constant -- the game is usually decided by a touchdown or less.
Letterman's Breakfast: Carson-Newman College
will hold its annual C-N Letterman's Club breakfast on Saturday
morning at 8:30 a.m. in the three-gym area of the Maddox Student
Activities Center.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- When Carson-Newman and Catawba meet on
the gridiron, one thing has become constant -- the game is usually
decided by a touchdown or less.
The Eagles (4-2, 2-0 South Atlantic Conference) and Indians are
set to square off on Saturday at 3 p.m. on homecoming at Burke-Tarr
Stadium.
The last three games of the series have been decided by a combined
15 points. Catawba (3-2, 0-2) has won two of those meetings,
including a 55-49 win on C-N's homecoming in 2007. Eagles head
coach Ken Sparks said his team better be ready for a battle come
Saturday.
"It's always been an exciting series," said Sparks, whose team
defeated Catawba 21-14 last season. "They have a good football
team. The last time they came in here on homecoming they beat us,
and I'm sure they have visions of grandeur again. They will come in
here ready to get after it, and we will have to play well."
C-N enters the contest riding a four-game winning streak,
including an impressive 55-28 victory at Mars Hill last Saturday.
The win vaulted the Eagles to a No. 23 ranking in the
D2Football.com Media Poll and a No. 3 ranking in the first NCAA
Super Regional Two Poll of the season.
Sparks believes his team is showing signs of becoming a good
football team.
"I see some good things from them," he said. "I think we are
moving in the right direction. We are still not a team that's
playing every snap like we want to play it. We are trying to
convince our guys that they can get better, and I think they
believe they can get better."
The Eagles continued to produce offensively against the Lions as
they amassed 441 yards of total offense. C-N was able to get back
on track with its passing attack in the contest. Senior quarterback
Alex Good (Greensboro, N.C.) completed 9-of-10 passes for 196 yards
and a touchdown.
"When you complete 90 percent of your passes, we can live with
that. It was a great game for (Good). He's a complete football
player. He can throw it and run it. He probably could kick it,"
Sparks quipped.
Senior running back Buck Wakefield (Drummonds, Tenn.) rushed for
152 yards and three scores, giving him seven touchdowns in three
games this season. Good added three touchdown runs in the win.
"(Buck is) special with getting the ball into the end zone,"
Sparks said. "When you get him and Reggie Hubbard (Chattanooga,
Tenn.) and Alex well, they give us a pretty good combination of
skill people."
Sparks was even more pleased with the effort he received from the
defense against Mars Hill. The Eagles did give up three long plays
of 65, 53 and 49 yards but they also forced four turnovers,
including a fumble return for a touchdown, and had three sacks and
eight tackles for a loss. Sophomore defense end Zeke Andrews
(Eastman, Ga.) had a breakout game with four tackles and two
sacks.
"They had almost 170 yards on three plays," Sparks said. "You take
off that 170 yards, and it's a pretty dominant ballgame. The
defense is playing better. Zeke had a great game. It's the first
time we've had multiple sacks by one player in a long time, and
that was great to see what he did. Again, I think the defensive
coaches are doing a great job."
The Eagles defense will need another solid outing on Saturday
against a Catawba offense led by North Carolina transfer Cameron
Sexton. The senior signal caller has completed just 44 percent of
his passes for 641 yards and four touchdowns, but Sparks said
Sexton can still be dangerous.
"He has a big-league arm," Sparks said. "They are certainly
letting him throw it a lot. We are going to have to figure out some
way to get pressure on him and get a good mixture of coverage and
pressure."
"He struggled a little bit this past week (against Newberry), but
a lot of people struggle throwing against Newberry. We struggled
throwing it against them. It's going to be a good challenge for us
to see if we can play good pass defense against them."
Sparks said the ultimate challenge will be finding ways to score
against a solid Indians defense. Catawba is near the top of the
conference in several defensive categories, including second in
scoring defense (16.2), second in pass defense (126) and second in
total defense (272).
The Indians struggled in Saturday's 40-21 loss against Newberry,
giving up 545 yards of total offense, but Sparks expects his team
will see a refocused Catawba defense.
"I think they were leading the nation in a couple of categories
until they got to Newberry," Sparks said. `I don't know what
happened at Newberry, but they will be back against us. You can
guarantee it. They always play us tough defensively."
Saturday's matchup will mark the 43rd meeting between C-N and
Catawba. The Eagles hold a 32-9-1 lead in the series.
