November 7, 2015

School-record tying five picks help C-N curb Crusaders 48-45

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (8-2) tied a school record with five interceptions and withstood a late North Greenville (6-3) rally to take a 48-45 decision over a regionally-ranked foe Saturday afternoon under grey skies at Burke-Tarr Stadium.

North Greenville

6-3

Carson-Newman

8-2

Final	1	2	3	4	T
North Greenville (6-3)	0	21	3	21	45
Carson-Newman (8-2)	10	17	14	7	48

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Ken Sparks Interview

VIDEO: Jason Williams Interview

VIDEO: Derek Evans Interview

VIDEO: Xavier McFadden Interview

VIDEO: Damian Baker Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (8-2) tied a school record with five interceptions and withstood a late North Greenville (6-3) rally to take a 48-45 decision over a regionally-ranked foe Saturday afternoon under grey skies at Burke-Tarr Stadium.

The win gives C-N head coach Ken Sparks his 333^rd career triumph with the Orange and Blue, moving him past Mount Union's Larry Kehres and into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time, all-divisions wins list.

The Eagles picked off five passes and forced six turnovers on the day. The five interceptions matches two other five INT days. The Eagles picked off five passes at Western Oregon early in the 2000 season and snagged six picks in the regular season finale against Wingate in 2003.

However, even with all the chaos caused by the Eagles defensively, Carson-Newman lost a season-high three fumbles and had a late punt blocked for a Crusader touchdown, making the score a bit tighter than Sparks would have preferred.

"We talked about it in the locker room," Sparks said. "I did not see anyone lose faith, I didn't see anyone who wasn't totally immersed in what we were trying to do as a team. This was a satisfying win considering how much we did to make this game exciting. Everything we got a chance to close the door, we'd throw it wide open. We put enough teachable moments into this game to last a lifetime. This game was one of the strangest I've ever been involved with."

Five different Eagles snagged picks. Jerry Miclisse (Homestead, Fla.) and Eien Jacob (Jeanerette, La.) became the first Eagles with multiple picks this season. Jason Williams (Fayetteville, Ga.) took an early second-half interception 56 yards for a score, while Lane Bloom (Maryville, Tenn.) and Xavier McFadden (Rock Hill, S.C.) both grabbed their first interceptions in Carson-Newman uniforms.

"We've got some good people back there," Sparks said. "We were able to get some pressure on him, and get pressure on him with a four-man rush. That was our most experienced group coming into this season. That was certainly true with their performance."

North Greenville outgained Carson-Newman 413 yards to 408. However, that figure was aided by the fact that Carson-Newman played on short fields for most of the day. The Eagles' average starting field position was their own 41 yard line.

For the fifth time this season, Damian Baker (Columbus, Miss.) crested 100 yards rushing. Baker had 136 yards on 25 carries and a touchdown. Antonio Wimbush (Kingsland, Ga.) set a new career high with three rushing touchdowns. He had a career high 110 yards rushing on 14 carries.

De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.) was effective on the ground and in the air. Thomas completed 12-of-15 passes for 116 yards. On the ground, he had 52 yards and a score on the ground.

The rushing touchdown, a one-yard QB sneak, was the 40^th rushing touchdown of Thomas' career. Thomas is the first C-N quarterback with 40 career rushing touchdowns and the fifth Eagle to crack that mark in his career. Thomas is tied with Tyron Douglas for fourth on the all-time rushing touchdowns list.

"Dre was right on the spot," Sparks said. "And then we had some receivers making great plays. We got done what we needed to get done through the air today."

Steven Isom (Alcoa, Tenn.) snagged five passes for 67 yards to lead Carson-Newman's receivers.

North Greenville QB Nelson Hughes was 20-for-36 through the air for 233 yards and four touchdowns, although he did throw a career high five picks and also lost a fumble.

Mason Sanders was his favorite target with six catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

Ashton Heard carried the ball 26 times for 127 yards to lead the Crusaders on the ground.

North Greenville's defense was led by linebacker Sam Houston and his 15 tackles.

Linebackers Malik Miles (Norton, Va.) and Sha'Heem Stupart (Taylors, S.C.) led C-N with nine tackles apiece. Phalen Booker (Waveland, Miss.) once again made a living in the opposition's backfield with a sack and three tackles for loss. Brian Bembry (Parrish, Fla.) also had two stops behind the line of scrimmage.

Carson-Newman jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter behind a Carson Wise (Blacksburg, Va.) 25-yard field goal and a Wimbush two-yard TD run. Wimbush's first quarter score was enabled in part because the Eagles had a short field following a Jamar Johnson (Waycross, Ga.) blocked punt.

However, the Crusaders would score the next 14 to grab their only lead of the day. Devon Turman caught just his second pass of the season for a nine-yard touchdown to get NGU within three. Then, on the ensuing possession, Carson-Newman would cough up a fumble. The Crusaders took advantage of a short field when Hughes slotted a pass along the left sideline to Sanders and the 6-6 wideout managed to sneak the ball over the left pylon for a score and the lead.

A second 25-yard Wise field goal would bring the Eagles within a point with 5:43 left in the second quarter. The Eagles got another short field when Jacob intercepted Hughes long the right sideline on the first play of the Crusaders' ensuing drive.

Seven plays and 38 yards later, Thomas plunged into the end zone off the hip of Jacobs Blocking Trophy candidate center Derek Evans (Alcoa, Tenn.) for his 40^th career rushing TD. Another Hughes pick, this time from Xavier McFadden leaping in front of a post pattern between the hash marks, set up a 13-yard field. The Eagles made short work of it with a Baker two-yard blast behind the right guard.

With the Eagles up 27-14, miscommunication between the coaching staff and kickoff unit resulted in, for all intents and purposes, an onside kick. North Greenville recovered on the home-half of the 50 and brought the game back within a touchdown, 27-21 on Sanders second touchdown catch of the day, this one a 20-yard fade to the right side of the end zone.

North Greenville got the ball to start the second half, but two plays in, Hughes rifled his fourth interception of the day. Williams jumped an out pattern and was in the end zone 56 yards later.

The Crusaders then marched the ball 72 yards down the field in 14 plays and 7:01 for Ben Kramm to connect on a 20-yard field goal.

The Eagles would push the lead back to 17 points on the next drive. Wimbush looked to be slammed by a Crusader blitz on a dive left, but Wimbush broke a tackle, kicked the play out to the right side of the field, spun through another would-be tackler and dragged a Crusader the final five yards into the end zone for a potential November top 10 play and a 26-yard score.

Yet, the Crusaders weren't about to go quietly into the night. NGU put together an 11-play, 85-yard drive that Trey Walker punctuated with a two-yard score five seconds into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles pushed the lead back to three scores with 12:31 to play on Wimbush's third rushing TD of the game, this one on a 15-yard trap right.

North Greenville would again counter. Tyrell Hillary capped a six-play, 67-yard possession with a 21-yard score over the right hash marks.

The Eagles worked three minutes off the clock on their next possession before being forced to punt for the second time on the day.

However, three plays into the Crusaders' possession, Hughes fired a pass to Tyrecous Garrett. The ball bounced off his hands, hung in the air, and Miclisse plucked it out of the atmosphere for the school-record tying fifth pick of the day.

With 4:46 left in the fourth, the Eagles could salt away the win with a sustained drive. However, Wimbush was stripped of the ball by Nigel Gay on a carry.

The Eagles defense rose to the occasion though. Booker and Jaysen Cook-Calhoun both sacked Hughes for a combined minus-25 yards to flip field position on NGU and wind the clock down to 3:05.

A NGU punt rolled down to the C-N 19 where it was down. The Crusaders defense did its job by forcing a three-and-out and forcing the third punt of the day for C-N. The Crusaders used an all-out rush to block the kick. Harlan recovered the ball in the end zone for a Crusader TD to bring the game within a field goal.

Kramm bounced an onside kick perfectly following the special teams score. However, Goose Manning (Ooltewah, Tenn.) snatched the ball in front of the Crusader's Sanders to preserve the win.

Three straight kneel-downs for the Eagles and Carson-Newman had its 48-45 win in hand as the final 1:53 bled off the clock.

"I'll brag about our coaching staff," Sparks said. "They did a phenomenal job putting together a game plan for this. I'll brag about a group of kids who just refused to back down after we made some potentially disastrous mistakes."

Carson-Newman improves to 4-1 all-time against North Greenville and extends a home non-conference winning streak to 10 games dating back to a 42-14 loss to UNC Pembroke in 2011.

"We're stretching ourselves," Sparks said. "That's what you're supposed to do if you're in the laboratory of learning and learning about life. We're making some good things happen. It's invaluable – I hope – what we're learning, and I believe it has eternal value, which is absolutely wonderful."

The Crusaders were ranked fourth in the latest iteration of the region rankings. Carson-Newman was seventh.

Carson-Newman closes out the regular season with a 1 p.m. contest Nov. 14 when the second oldest rivalry in the state of Tennessee resumes. Pregame for the Eagles' senior day contest with Tusculum starts at noon with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville) and online at cneagles.com/live.