No. 20 Carson-Newman Cruises Past Brevard, 77-7
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The 20th-ranked Carson-Newman football team amassed a season-high 598 yards of offense and returned a school-record four fumbles for touchdowns en route to a 77-7 victory over Brevard on Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action at Burke-Tarr Stadium.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The 20th-ranked Carson-Newman
football team amassed a season-high 598 yards of offense and
returned a school-record four fumbles for touchdowns en route to a
77-7 victory over Brevard on Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic
Conference action at Burke-Tarr Stadium.
With the win, the Eagles (7-2, 5-0) extend their winning streak to
seven games and remain atop the SAC standings. Brevard falls to 6-3
overall and 2-3 in conference play.
“That was an amazing ballgame,” C-N head coach Ken
Sparks said. “I’m really proud of our kids. I was
impressed with the speed and tempo of our football team. It was
really encouraging to have such a good day on both sides of the
ball. Now the question is can we play two weeks in a row playing
the way we are supposed to play?”
C-N senior quarterback Alex Good (Greensboro, N.C.) had a
record-setting day as his 25-yard run on the Eagles’ third
possession of the first quarter pushed him past former C-N standout
Leonard Guyton for first place in school history in career total
offense. Good finished the day with 129 yards of offense (59
rushing, 70 passing) and now has 6,731 yards for his career.
“He’s been a great leader for us, especially this
year,” Sparks said of Good. “He’s a pretty good
package.”
Good wasn’t the only Eagle to set a record, as sophomore
kicker Carlos Lopez (Seymour, Tenn.) broke the school mark for the
most extra points by making all 11 of his attempts on Saturday.
Robby Milam (2000) and Aubrey Ingham (2007) held the old record of
nine.
C-N’s defense turned in its best performance of the year. The
Eagles held Brevard, the fifth-ranked rushing offense in the
nation, to 75 yards on the ground and just 84 yards of offense for
the game. C-N was in Brevard’s backfield for most of the
contest as it recorded 10 tackles for a loss. C-N also forced seven
fumbles and returned six of them for 146 yards and four
touchdowns.
“It was a pretty dominating performance,” Sparks said
of his defense. “We moved the line of scrimmage the other way
and we had a bunch of our jerseys around the football all day. I
think we have something that we can build on next week.”
Freshman Jamar Neal (Columbia, Tenn.) tallied 10 tackles, two
forced fubmles and a fumble recorvery to lead the C-N defense.
The Eagles finished the contest with a season-high 500 yards on the
ground, led by Nate Inman’s (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 94 yards and a
score on five carries. Buck Wakefield (Drummonds, Tenn.) chipped in
64 yards and a score on three carries, while Ricky Harris (Perry,
Ga.) finished with 58 yards and a touchdown. Jamie Bennett (Marven,
N.C) added 49 yards and two touchdowns.
The Eagles needed less than two minutes to put points on the board
as they took the opening possession 82 yards in four plays.
Wakefield capped off the drive with a 26-yard touchdown run.
Lopez’s extra point gave C-N a 7-0 lead with 13:28 left in
the first quarter.
C-N added to its lead on its next possession. Senior receiver
Reggie Hubbard (Chattanooga, Tenn.) took a pitch from Good and
weaved through the Brevard defense for a 54-yard touchdown run to
push the Eagles’ lead to 14-0 at the 10:10 mark of the first
quarter.
On the ensuing possession, C-N returned its first fumble for a
touchdown. Eagles linebacker Byron Bell (Knoxville, Tenn.) stripped
Matthew Gaines (Simpsonville, S.C.), and Jermel Demps (Valdosta,
Ga.) scooped up the fumble and raced 20 yards for the score to give
C-N a 21-0 cushion.
Harris and Bennett added touchdown runs of four yards and one yard,
respectively, on C-N’s next two possessions to give the
Eagles a 35-0 lead.
Brevard scored its only points of the contest on the ensuing
series. A 64-yard kick return by Justin Fleming (Morganton, N.C.)
gave the Tornados the ball at the C-N 21. On the next play, Xavier
Johnson (Chester, S.C.) broke loose for a 21-yard touchdown run to
make it a 35-7 ballgame. Johnson led the Brevard offense with 64
yards on 15 carries.
Inman’s 78-yard touchdown run and Elliette Jackson
(Fairfield, Ala.) and Issac Kinley’s (Johnson City, Tenn.)
fumble returns for touchdowns of 15 and 31 yards, respectively,
gave C-N a 56-7 advantage at halftime.
C-N tacked on three more scores in the second half, including
touchdown runs by Bennett and Brandon Baker (Miami, Fla.) and a
36-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Kinley, his second of the
day.
The Eagles return to the gridiron next Saturday for a key SAC
matchup at Wingate. The Bulldogs (6-2, 4-1) are a game behind C-N
in the conference standings. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at Irwin
Belk Stadium in Wingate, N.C.
