Lee named Defensive Freshman of the Year, 13 Eagles honored by SAC
November 17, 2022

Lee named Defensive Freshman of the Year, 13 Eagles honored by SAC

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman freshman FOX end Frank Lee (Orangeburg, S.C.) was named the South Atlantic Conference’s Mountain Division Defensive Freshman of the Year and 13 Eagles brought home All-Mountain Division honors, the SAC released Thursday morning. 

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ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman freshman FOX end Frank Lee (Orangeburg, S.C.) was named the South Atlantic Conference's Mountain Division Defensive Freshman of the Year and 13 Eagles brought home All-Mountain Division honors, the SAC released Thursday morning. 

Lee becomes Carson-Newman's first Defensive Freshman of the Year honoree since Jarvis Neal was recognized in 2012.  He is the sixth Eagle to win the defensive honoree and the 12th to be presented with either the defensive or offensive freshman of the year accolade.  He also earned first-team All-Mountain Division honors. 

Carson-Newman placed wide receiver Braxton Westfield (Simpsonville, S.C.), offensive lineman Christian Jones (Valdosta, Ga.), kicker Christian Erwin (Clover, S.C.) and longsnapper Andrew Bradshaw (China Grove, N.C.) represented C-N on the first-team offense.

Lee, linebacker Alonzo Houston (Wimauma, Fla.) and safety Major Williams (Fort Meyers, Fla.) picked up first-team defense honors. 

Checking in on the second team offense were running backs TJ King (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Tyree Nelson (Atlanta, Ga.), as well as offensive lineman Mike Peppin (Palm Coast, Fla.). 

FOX end Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche (Douglasville, Ga.), SAM linebacker Caleb Goins (Bristol, Tenn.) and punter Michael Harrah (Elizabethton, Tenn.) were credited with second-team defense honors. 

Braxton Westfield

Westfield goes back-to-back as a first-team selection.  The senior NFL prospect is the only Carson-Newman football player in program history who has three consecutive 100-yard receiving days. 

Westfield closed out his career with a bang, earning TSWA State Offensive Player of the Week honors.  He snared five passes for 162 yards in the Eagles' 61-23 win at Catawba in the regular season finale.

The senior tied the single-game C-N record with three receiving touchdowns in the contest. All three of his touchdown grabs came in a 27-point third quarter and 40-point second half for C-N.

They covered 33, 61 and 37 yards.

His three-score day gives him 21 for his career to match him for fourth all-time with Tank Black.

All told, Westfield snagged five passes for 162 yards and the three scores. The 162 yards are the 11th-highest single-game total in Carson-Newman history. He closes his C-N career with three straight 100-yard games.

His 886 yards receiving this season are sixth all-time and the most in the option-era.  Westfeld finishes his Carson-Newman career with 1,752 yards – the seventh-most in school history and the third-most in the option era.

The senior led the league in receptions per game, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns – a sure fire sign that the underworld has cooled given an Eagle hasn't led the league in any of those categories in the last 12 years. 

Westfield's 5.0 catches per game also registers as a school record.  His 55 catches are the most in the option era and the sixth-most all-time. 

Christian Jones

A force to be reckoned with on Carson-Newman's offensive line, Jones tallied 49 knockdowns across Carson-Newman's 11 games, the most in a single season for an Eagle offensive line man to All-American Phil McDowell's 44-knockdown season in 2019. 

Jones graded out with a 85.91 percent average for the season. 

Jones high water mark for grade came against Limestone with a 90.  He had a pair of eight-knockdown games against the Saints, as well as an eight-KD game against Lenoir-Rhyne. 

The Valdosta, Ga.-native helped clear the way for four Eagles to rush for more than 400 yards and two to earn All-SAC honors. 

Additionally, Carson-Newman ranked second in the SAC in fewest tackles for loss allowed and only gave up 1.5 sacks per game on the season. 

Christian Erwin

Erwin started the year exclusively on kickoffs before taking over field goal and PAT duties in the back half of the year. 

A field position weapon, Erwin blasted 32 kickoffs for touchbacks out of his 56 tries – a rate of 57 percent.

As a result of his kicks, Carson-Newman's opponents' average starting field position was the 25.6 yard line. 

Erwin was third on the team in scoring. He nailed four of his seven field goals and 19-of-20 PATs. 

Three of Erwin's four makes were from greater than 35 yards, including two, season-long 42-yard tries against Erskine. 

He made three field goals against the Flying Fleet.

Andrew Bradshaw

Bradshaw continues a long line of all-conference longsnappers. With Bradshaw's selection, Carson-Newman's last three long snappers – a stretch that dates back to 2012 – have all garnered all-league laurels. Dusty Nance and Dawson Campbell both were three-time honorees.

This is Bradshaw's first accolade. 

In 22 career games, Bradshaw has only seen two punts or kicks blocked and those attempts were both 50-plus, line-drive field goals that ricocheted off the line seeking extra distance.

In 2022, Bradshaw was one of four South Atlantic Conference snappers who didn't see a punt blocked on the season. 

Frank Lee

A terror on Carson-Newman's defensive line, Lee finished the year ranked eighth in the SAC in sacks and seventh in tackles for loss. 

He had 39 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks.  Lee also registered a team-high four quarterback hurries and had eight pass breakups leaping at the line. 

Lee maxed out with a career-high eight tackles at Emory & Henry.  He also had a season-best five solo stops against the Wasps.  He had at least five tackles in five of C-N's games.

The freshman tallied multiple tackles for loss in three games, topping out at 4.5 against Erskine – the seventh-most in a game in school history.  He garnered TSWA State Defensive Player of the Week honors following that game.  He also notched a sack and a pass break up against the Fleet. 

The individual effort was a part of a team effort that saw Carson-Newman collect its first shutout since 2016 and its first home shutout since 2006.

The Eagles limited Erskine to 214 yards of total offense and seven three-and-outs.  Of Erskine's 14 possessions, 12 were for five plays or fewer.

Lee's 13.5 tackles for loss are tied for the 15th-highest single-season total in Carson-Newman history. 

Alonzo Houston

Carson-Newman's leading tackler in 2022, Houston wrapped up the year with 83 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss to go along with a pick and two pass breakups.  Houston wraps up his Carson-Newman career with 256 stops – the 18th most for an Eagle in a career. 

Houston was his usual ball-hawking self, tallying his seventh and eighth double-digit tackle efforts for his career.  He had a season-high 12 stops at Emory & Henry (10/29) and 10 stops against Newberry (10/1). 

The senior had at least six tackles in every game of the year with the exception of the opener at West Georgia where he had five. 

He picked off his second career pass against Newberry and returned it nine yards.  He also had a pass breakup against the Wolves. 

Major Williams

Williams finished third on the team in tackles and second in the SAC in tackles amongst defensive backs. 

The UVA transfer finished the year with 49 tackles and five stops for loss.  The five tackles for loss are the second-most in C-N history among defensive backs behind All-American safety Darius Williams' 7.5 in 2019. 

Williams had a career-high seven tackles on four occasions against Limestone (9/17), Lenoir-Rhyne (9/24), Newberry (10/1) and Catawba (11/12).  Those were among five games where he had at least five tackles.

Williams had two picks on the year, both of which were against Erskine (10/15). He brought back one of those interceptions 28 yards for a defensive touchdown. 

The sophomore had 15 pass break ups on the year, ranking third in the SAC and fifth in the nation.  His 17 passes defensed are the 11th most in a single season in school history.  His four pass break ups against UVA Wise (11/5) are tied for the fourth most in a single-game in school history. 

He was named SAC Special Team Player of the Week on Nov. 14.

Williams became the first player in Carson-Newman history with more than 100 yards of punt returns in a single game. He brought two punts back for 111 yards. 

The UVA transfer is the second Eagle to earn special teams player of the week honors this season, joining Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche.

Williams returned one punt 86 yards for a score, the first punt return for a touchdown for Carson-Newman since Desmond Fairell brought one back against Virginia-Lynchburg in 2018.

The 86-yarder is the fourth-longest punt return in SAC and Carson-Newman history. 

Williams has three of the seven-highest single-game punt return totals in the last three weeks for the C-N football program.

TJ King

King was Carson-Newman's second-leading rusher in 2022, tallying 496 yards on 108 carries.  He tallied four touchdowns and averaged 49.6 yards per game. 

The sophomore had one, 100-yard game on the season, when he rushed for 100 yards on 17 carries against Erskine.  He tallied one of his four touchdowns on the year against the Flying Fleet. He also found the end zone against West Georgia (9/1), Limestone (9/17) and at Tusculum (10/8).

King's long rush of 34 yards went for six against the Wolves. 

He had five games where he rushed for at least 50 yards and four carries that covered at least 20 yards. 

Tyree Nelson

Carson-Newman's fourth-leading rusher in 2022, Nelson was nicked up in the middle of the year, but still recovered to rush for 41.1 yards per game and 411 yards on 76 carries.  He had a team-best 5.4 yards per rush.  He also caught 12 passes for 75 yards. 

Nelson led Carson-Newman in all-purpose yardage for the year.  He finished the year with 893 yards when one factors in his 407 kick return yards. 

The freshman's top performance was an 89-yard day against Newberry (10/1).  He caught a career-high four passes for 41 yards against Emory & Henry (10/29). 

He hit triple-digits in all-purpose yards in five games, topping out at 140 yards against the Wolves.

He found the end zone three times on the season against Franklin Pierce (9/10), Newberry and Emory & Henry (10/29). 

Mike Peppin

Peppin recovered from an early knee injury to start the final six games of the season for Carson-Newman. 

The Florida native helped clear the way for four Eagles to rush for more than 400 yards and two to earn All-SAC honors. 

Additionally, Carson-Newman ranked second in the SAC in fewest tackles for loss allowed and only gave up 1.5 sacks per game on the season. 

Peppin wrapped up the year with an average grade of 86.66 and 30 knockdowns.  He graded out with a season-high 91 against Emory & Henry and had a season-best seven knockdowns against Tusculum. 

Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche

Mr. Carson-Newman – the All-American discus thrower wraps up his Carson-Newman career with second-team All-Mountain Division honors.  The pass rush specialist finished the year with 18 tackles, half of which were for loss.  He also had 7.5 tackles for loss. 

Jureidini-Wyche had two games with multiple tackles for loss. He had three against Emory & Henry (10/29) and two against UVA Wise (11/5). Those tackles for loss against the Wasps and Cavaliers were also sacks. 

He became the first non-kicker/punter/return specialist to win the league's special teams player of the week honor since 2015 and the path to the hardware was pretty much identical.

Justin Long won the award en route to national special teams player of the week honors on Oct. 19, 2015 for blocking two kicks.

Jureidini-Wyche blocked two Erskine punts en route to helping the Eagles throttle the Flying Fleet 37-0 Saturday night.

Jureidini-Wyche and Long are the only two players in school history to both block two kicks in a single game in school history.  Long did he feat in a homecoming win over Newberry.

The pass-rush specialist wraps up his Carson-Newman career tied for sixth all-time with 19 career sacks.  His 29 career tackles for loss are the 12th most all-time. 

Caleb Goins

Goins earned postseason accolades for the first time in his career after finishing fourth on the team in tackles.  He finished the year with 46 tackles and four tackles for loss. 

His top performance was against Emory & Henry (10/29) when he had eight stops playing just outside his hometown. That was one of five days on the year for Goins where he had at least five tackles.  He also had a seven-tackle day against Franklin Pierce in the Eagles home opener on Sept. 10. 

Goins concludes his Carson-Newman career with 112 career tackles and 13 tackles for loss. 

Michael Harrah

Harrah stepped into punting duties the back half of the year after an injury.  He booted the ball 23 times for 910 yards, an average of 39.6 yards per kick.  A very consistent punter, Harrah had six blasts that covered 50 yards, including a 54-yarder at Catawba (11/12). 

The senior had a 50-yard punt in every game in which he kicked, with the exception of Erskine (10/15), when he was only called into service once and kicked the ball 45 yards. 

Nearly, half of Harrah's kicks pinned opponents inside their 20 (11 of his 23 punts) and a quarter (six) were fair caught.  He didn't have a punt blocked on the year.