November 24, 2012

Eagles battle Bears for second time Saturday in second round playoff game

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Second-seeded Carson-Newman and third seed Lenoir-Rhyne duel for the second time in 2012 in a second round playoff battle at Burke-Tarr Stadium Saturday at noon. The Eagles received a bye for the first round of the playoffs while the Bears used a dominating defensive performance to take down Fort Valley State 21-6.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Second-seeded Carson-Newman and third seed Lenoir-Rhyne duel for the second time in 2012 in a second round playoff battle at Burke-Tarr Stadium Saturday at noon.

The Eagles received a bye for the first round of the playoffs while the Bears used a dominating defensive performance to take down Fort Valley State 21-6.

Carson-Newman knocked down the preseason-SAC favorite on Sept. 15, 47-23 after the Bears fumbled five times, leading to 24 Eagle points.

"We figure they'll come in here geared up pretty high," Carson-Newman head football coach Ken Sparks said. "They didn't have their starting quarterback and turned the ball over a bunch. I'm sure all those things are things they think very strongly that they can improve on."

Lenoir-Rhyne was without its starting quarterback and second team All-SAC selection Reuben Haynes in the regular season loss – the senior was still sidelined with a concussion. The Bears have won eight in a row with Haynes back in the saddle at quarterback.

"He's their senior quarterback that they have a lot of confidence in. It'll be the same thing with us. You certainly want to have all 11 players in their that brought you this far. You certainly don't change a lot of things at this stage in the game. We're just glad to be playing."

The Bears lead the nation in rushing with 384 yards/game. The Eagles are second in the nation with 378. However, Lenoir-Rhyne is coming off only its second sub-300 yards game of the season following a 243-yard performance against Fort Valley State.

"It's almost like a regular season game because it's C-N and L-R with SAC officials," Sparks said. "In a lot of ways it may not have a playoff feel in some ways. Then playing on Thanksgiving weekend without students here, it could be very easy to not let the main thing be the main thing – blocking and tackling and protecting the football."

Carson-Newman has at least blocked well in the last two weeks, All-SAC first team center and Jacobs Blocking Award winner Kevin Day (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) and the rest of the Eagle offensive line have helped clear the way for the Eagles to garner multiple 150-yard rushers in back-to-back games. The first time that has happened in school history.

First team All-SAC running back Brandon Baker (Miami, Fla.) has gone for more than 180 yards on the ground in each of the last two games, while SAC co-offensive player of the year Brandon Haywood (Rockmart, Ga.) has rushed for more than 100 yards in three consecutive weeks – the only Eagle to accomplish that feat this season.

However, standing in their way is a Lenoir-Rhyne defense that only gives up 94 yards rushing a game. If you factor out the 307 yards the Eagles rolled up in September that number drops to 75 yards a contest.

The Lenoir-Rhyne defense is led by four All-SAC first teamers. Demetrius Greene has the team lead in tackles with 98. The Bears rank 10^th in turnover margin and have 36 takeaways on the year – the fourth best total nationally.

First team safety Myer Nolan leads the Bears with five picks, but eight different defenders have intercepted passes. L-R has recovered 17 fumbles this season with 13 different players falling on loose balls.

Sparks indicated the first round bye was a staunch benefit for the Eagles.

"We had played nine straight weeks, a break to catch our breath to do something different than just play football was very important for us. We got some people a bit mentally sharper and more physically well. That'll help us."

The playoff game at Burke-Tarr will be the Eagles 17^th Division II playoff game at Mossy Creek. The Eagles are 15-1 in those games in Jefferson City, Tenn., with the lone loss coming in the 1997 semifinals to Northern Colorado 30-29.

Carson-Newman and L-R kick at noon Saturday. Pregame coverage begins at 11 a.m. with the Farm Bureau Tailgate Show on the Coca-Cola Eagle Sports Network on the air on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville) and online at cneagles.com.

For the first time this season, the C-N athletic communications department will offer a free video stream as opposed to one that is pay-per-view. Fans can access and watch the game through cneagles.com or by clicking on the following link.

-CN-

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