October 22, 2009

Eagles Host Brevard on Saturday for Community Day, 1 p.m. Kickoff at Mossy Creek

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The landscape of the South Atlantic Conference has been much different in 2009 than in years past, and the 20th-ranked Carson-Newman football team continues to find out each week that new teams are on the rise. After grinding out a 17-13 victory over a much-improved Lenoir-Rhyne team last week, the Eagles are set to take on another squad on Saturday that has turned things around since starting its football program in 2006.

Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The landscape of the South Atlantic Conference has been much different in 2009 than in years past, and the 20th-ranked Carson-Newman football team continues to find out each week that new teams are on the rise.

After grinding out a 17-13 victory over a much-improved Lenoir-Rhyne team last week, the Eagles are set to take on another squad on Saturday that has turned things around since starting its football program in 2006.

C-N (6-2, 4-0) and Brevard (6-2, 2-2) are scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m. in Burke-Tarr Stadium, and Eagles head coach Ken Sparks said the Tornados have improved as much as any team in the SAC.

“I would think that Brevard would want to negotiate with Lenoir-Rhyne for that most improved title,” said Sparks, whose team defeated the Tornados 34-3 last season. “They are a very good football team. They are leading the conference in a whole bunch of statistical categories. It’s going to be an interesting week for us. We will have to be ready to play.”

Last Saturday’s win over the Bears marked the third time in four weeks that C-N has had to rally in the fourth quarter to pull out a win. The Eagles trailed 13-3 heading into the final stanza before scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns and stopping Lenoir-Rhyne on the C-N 22 to seal the win.

Sparks said his team needs to do a better job of avoiding slow starts.

“When you play Russian roulette, eventually that live chamber is going to get you,” he said. “Anytime you dodge bullets, you can’t dodge them forever. Hopefully, we will learn that you have to play every play. We were a team that was set up to get beat by our own doings last week.”

“I’m glad that there was a fourth quarter and that we found a way to get it done. We do have to respect the heart of our kids because they’ve got some heart, but we are also setting ourselves up when we don’t have to. I’m glad to have that one over with, but now we play a team that beat the team that almost beat us on Saturday.”

C-N struggled to run the ball against Lenoir-Rhyne as it finished with just 112 yards, but the Eagles’ passing attack came through in a big way. Senior quarterback Alex Good (Greensboro, N.C.) completed 12-of-19 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-winning 22-yard scoring strike to Reggie Hubbard (Chattanooga, Tenn.).

“We’ve always said we are a team that if we have to throw it to win we can, and if we’ve got to run it to win, we can,” Sparks said. “You have to be able to do both of those. I think Saturday is another example that we depended a whole lot on the pass to win and we did. We are very fortunate and glad that we have that weapon also.”

Good's 177 yards of total offense against the Bears moved him into second place in school history in total offense with 6,602 yards. He is now 25 yards shy of breaking Leonard Guyton's (6,626) record.

The rushing lanes won’t get any easier to open on Saturday against Brevard. The Tornados, who are coming off a 28-13 loss to Mars Hill, will showcase the No. 1 rushing defense in the SAC. The Tornados are giving up a league-best 93.5 yards per game on the ground.

Leading the way for Brevard’s defense has been senior linebacker Stanley Jones and sophomore safety Michael Gist. Jones leads the SAC in tackles with 84 and has also recorded four sacks, while Gist is tied for the league lead in interceptions with five, including three returned for touchdowns.

“There’s no question that they have three or four of the best defensive players that we’ve seen all year,” Sparks said. “We are going to have to go out and play a whole lot better than we did this past ballgame.”

The Tornados will present C-N’s defense with some of the same challenges Lenoir-Ryhne did a week ago as they also run a triple option offense. Brevard is averaging 272 yards per game on the ground to rank fifth in the nation, which is one spot behind C-N (278).

Junior fullback Neville Bryce has amassed 523 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Tornados’ rushing attack, while quarterback Michael Crumbaker has 475 yards and three touchdowns on the ground and 262 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Brevard has five other backs that have gained at least 150 yards or more on the season.

Sparks said playing an option team like Lenoir-Rhyne last week should help the Eagles against Brevard.

"It certainly helps that a whole lot of the principles are the same,” Sparks said. “Some of the plays are different, but the principles are same when you have to play assignment football. There are times we didn’t do it very well against Lenoir-Rhyne, so maybe we will do it better this Saturday.”

Child I.D. Kit Information:

Carson-Newman’s home football game against Brevard on Saturday has been designated as Community Day. The Eagles and Tornados are scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. at Burke-Tarr Stadium.

Not only will kids 12 and under be admitted free to the game, but also in conjunction with the American Football Coaches Association, FCA Football Coaches Ministry, the FBI and Carson-Newman College, parents of the first 2,000 kids, ages 12 and under, will be given a free Child’s I.D. Kit.

The free kits are a part of the AFCA/FBI National Child Identification Program, which is a community service initiative dedicated to helping protect the more than 800,000 children that either run away or are abducted each year by providing parents and guardians with a valuable tool they can use in an abduction or run away situation.

The I.D. Kit allows parents to collect specific information by easily recording the physical characteristics and fingerprints of their children on identification cards that are then kept at home by the parent or guardian. The kit will give authorities vital information to assist in their efforts to locate a missing child if the situation ever arises.

Parents can pick up the kits before and during the game in the designated booth in the north end (opposite the Ken Sparks Athletic Complex) of the Burke-Tarr Stadium concourse.

Should the need be greater than 2,000 kits, Carson-Newman will host another Child’s I.D. Kit giveaway during the Eagles’ Nov. 7 home game against Tusculum, which kicks off at 1 p.m.