Bennett Smith celebrates burying the game-winning PAT in Carson-Newman's 28-27 comeback win over Mars Hill on Oct. 12, 2024 at Meares Stadium

September 12, 2025

No. 23 Eagles make moves up mountain to challenge Mars Hill

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-0) revisits the site of one of its most improbable wins when it makes the trek into the mountains north of Asheville for a 1 p.m. kickoff against Mars Hill (0-1) Saturday at Meares Stadium.

#23 Carson-Newman

1-1

Mars Hill

1-1

Final	1	2	3	4	OT	T
#23 Carson-Newman (1-1)	0	0	10	14	0	24
Mars Hill (1-1)	7	14	3	0	7	31

C-N Game Notes

MHU Game Notes

VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Presser

VIDEO: 2024 C-N at MHU Cinematic Highlights

VIDEO: 2024 C-N at MHU Full Broadcast Replay

VIDEO: C-N at MHU "In the Booth" Radio Feed

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-0) revisits the site of one of its most improbable wins when it makes the trek into the mountains north of Asheville for a 1 p.m. kickoff against Mars Hill (0-1) Saturday at Meares Stadium.

Carson-Newman will hope that its first South Atlantic Conference contest in the 50^th year in the league is a tad less dramatic than last year's affair.

The Eagles scored 14 points in the final 96 seconds, recovered an onside kick and never led until Bennett Smith booted through the game-winning PAT with all zeroes on the clock in last year's 28-27 comeback win. The 13-point fourth-quarter comeback was the largest in school history.

"We have a big challenge this week," Carson-Newman head coach Ashley Ingram said. "Mars Hill's got a really good football team. They've got a great quarterback. Obviously. Coach (Kevin) Barnette's been in the program for a long time. Really defensively, they played great against us last year, and we were obviously very fortunate to get away with a win. Hopefully we can play better and hopefully we can go up there and represent."

For the first time in 32 years, Carson-Newman will go toe-to-toe against Mars Hill with no Tim Clifton on the sidelines. The longtime MHU mentor retired in early August, handing the reigns of the program over to his long-serving defensive coordinator Kevin Barnette. Barnette was 0-4 against C-N as a player at MHU from 1981-84. Since joining the coaching staff at MHU in 1988, he has a 6-29 record as an assistant against Carson-Newman. Half those wins came in succession from 2021-23.

Mars Hill has put at least three touchdowns on the board against Carson-Newman in every game the teams have played since 2012. The Eagles' limited the Jon Richt (Mark Richt's son)-led Lions to 17-points to clinch a playoff berth. MHU has scored at least 20 in the last 11 meetings. Mars Hill has gained at least 400 yards of offense against Carson-Newman in 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two teams. The 2019 meeting, a 48-21 C-N win, and last year's buzzer-beating C-N triumph, are the exceptions.

MHU QB JR Martin is second among active NCAA Division II players in total offense per game, averaging 263.7 yards per game.

Martin is second in the league in yards per game this season (267); he tossed a pair of touchdowns in the Lions' season-opening 28-25 loss to Winston-Salem State.

"I think one of our coaches said it best," Ingram said. "He's like a magician back there. He stays alive. He can make the throws when he needs to make the throws, but when he needs to use his feet and run, he can do that. He presents a lot of problems and a lot of challenges."

Last season, Carson-Newman started slow against the Lions. C-N had run eight plays, gained six yards of offense and trailed 17-0 at the end of the first quarter. C-N scored 14 unanswered second-quarter points to make it a three-point game at halftime before MHU re-established a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to set up C-N's late game dramatics.

"We've got to avoid the negative plays on offense," Ingram said. "We didn't play very well offensively. They played great. Obviously attribute that to what they did on defense. We've got to move the ball forward, we've got to avoid the negative plays and then when we have an opportunity to make some plays we need to. Which we did last year. We've got to find a way to keep those guys out of the end zone and get the ball back to us."

Carson-Newman had sensational offensive success against the Lions running triple option offense. Ever since the Mars Hill Lions deprived former head coach Ken Sparks of his 300th victory on his first try in 2011, the Eagles rattled off eight straight wins thanks to a marvelous run game that didn't rush for fewer than 380 yards over that span. The Eagles rushed for 488 in 2012, 433 in 2013, 428 in 2014, 435 in 2015, 428 in 2016, 420 in 2017, 546 in 2018 and 388 in 2019. What's more, the Eagles produced at least 500 yards of total offense in six of those eight games, including 672 yards in 2016, the eighth highest single-game total in school history and 628 in 2018, the 16th most all-time. C-N averaged 445.75 yards per game on the ground in that stretch.

Mars Hill held the Eagles to 182 yards on 49 carries in C-N's bonkers 28-27 comeback win last year.

Prior to Mars Hill's 44-13 win over C-N in Meares Stadium in 2022, Carson-Newman had rattled off wins in seven of their last eight trips into the mountains outside of Asheville.

Whether its on the field or off it, Ingram wants to see continued growth from the Eagles.

"The thing about Carson-Newman is if kids will just stay in our program, it'll change their lives," Ingram said. "Just being at school here, obviously being in a Christian university and being around the kind of people that we are surrounded by; it has this ability to change your life if you'll do it. And then on the field, we're working hard and we're trying to grow in that area as well."

Carson-Newman has kept the defensive pressure dialed up. With a sack in every week of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the last two years' teams are the fourth and fifth this century to tally a sack in every week of the season. C-N has registered a sack in 24 straight weeks and 32 of the last 33.

Mekhi Brown has 15 career sacks, good for eighth among active players in NCAA Division II. Brown is 15th all-time in school history for career sacks. His next half a sack moves him into a tie for 14th with Robbie Tebow (yes, Tim's older brother). He needs three more sacks to move into the top-10 all-time in school history - 18 for a career to be tied with Eric Rice and David Roberts.

Since 2009, Carson-Newman's offense topped 350 yards rushing on 59 occasions, or 5.09 times per season. The Eagles were fourth nationally in rushing yardage last year. C-N topped 350 yards rushing last year against Reinhardt, Barton and UVA Wise. C-N's 345 yards rushing in week zero were the second-most in NCAA Division II.

Carson-Newman quarterback Mario Sanchez found the end zone twice on the ground in the opener against WV State. Those scores bring him to 20 career rushing touchdowns, eighth-most among active player in NCAA Division II and third-most among quarterbacks.

Kickoff between the Eagles and Lions is slated for 1 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at noon with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. An "In The Booth" feed can be found on Carson-Newman's YouTube channel at cneagles.com/youtube.