C-N dusts off No. 19/20 ‘Dogs behind staunch defensive effort
September 27, 2025

C-N dusts off No. 19/20 ‘Dogs behind staunch defensive effort

WINGATE, N.C. — Carson-Newman had not won at Irwin Belk Stadium in a decade, but Saturday night in a rematch of last season’s South Atlantic Conference Championship game, even the elements couldn’t stop the Eagles from getting the job done. C-N held No. 19/20-ranked Wingate to a season-low offensive output en route to a brutish 21-14 win.

VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Interview

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Jayden Sullins Interview

VIDEO: Bennett Smith Interview

VIDEO: Jesse Combs Interview

VIDEO: Mekhi Brown Interview

WINGATE, N.C. — Carson-Newman had not won at Irwin Belk Stadium in a decade, but Saturday night in a rematch of last season's South Atlantic Conference Championship game, even the elements couldn't stop the Eagles from getting the job done. C-N held No. 19/20-ranked Wingate to a season-low offensive output en route to a brutish 21-14 win.

Carson-Newman (3-1, 2-1 SAC) snapped a three-game losing streak to the Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1) at Irwin Belk while limiting the country's fifth-highest scoring offense to a season-low 14 points. 

"I just told the guys I really couldn't be more proud of them," C-N head coach Ashley Ingram said. "The fight, the determination, the 'want-to'. …We played without three starting offensive linemen, we're playing guys that really aren't ready to play. We left (starting quarterback) Teddy (Gleaton) at home with a hurt ankle, Zane (Whitson) gets hurt and has to come out, we play Justin Johnson and Mario Sanchez, our third and fourth QBs. I mean, what do you say?"

What he said was, "go for it."

Facing a fourth-and-one at C-N's own 37 and holding a six-point lead, Ingram decided to push all his chips into the center of the table. His defense had held Wingate to a single touchdown all night, but the Bulldogs had the most dangerous offense in the South Atlantic Conference averaging 43 points per game coming into Saturday's contest.

So, Ingram called All-American running back Jayden Sullins' number to gain that desperate yard and keep the Bulldogs' offense on the sidelines. Sullins not only got that yard on fourth down, but 59 more as he was denied just three yards short of what would be the game's clinching touchdown. Instead, Sanchez kept it himself for the final three yards into the paint to take a 21-7 lead with less than two minutes to go.

"I tell the guys all the time fortune favors the bold," Ingram said." A little Seal Team 8 motto there. I just thought the momentum of the game, that we're going to get good field position, our defense was playing great. But, you know, sometimes you've just got to roll the dice and go for it, and we gave it to our best player and he made a play."

Sullins finished with 17 carries for 102 yards on the ground. The 60-yard game-securing run was his long for 2025 so far. Sullins' 100-yard day the 385th in C-N history, the sixth of his career and the first this season for a running back.

"They stacked the box and had linebackers in every single gap, so instead of diving inside where everybody else was, we kind of went off the edge," Sullins said. "Don Bradley made a really good block on the edge, I got outside of him and just took it the rest of the way."

For the second straight week the Eagles had to sit out multiple lightning delays to get their game with Wingate in the books. C-N managed to get on the board before the first 44 minute pause thanks to Isaiah Cane picking off a pass from Bulldogs' QB Elijah Holmes. It was Holmes' first interception of the season and set Carson-Newman up with the short field at the Wingate 47-yard line.

Whitson would close out the 10-play drive with a two-yard touchdown plunge to take command, 7-0.

And the score sat there through the first lightning delay and into the second, as a combined 92 minutes were added to the first half as the teams played fruitless football in a torrential downpour. The weather contributed to a missed C-N field goal from 45 yards out and six fumbles on offense, none of which the Eagles lost.

"Well, you have conditions, you have a backup center and you have multiple quarterbacks playing, so that's part of it (the fumbles)," Ingram said. "But it really can't happen. That's how you lose football games, so we're not going to make excuses. We can't do that and be able to win."

The rain let up as the third quarter began and Wingate's offense came to life, mostly thanks to Holmes. The veteran Bulldogs signal caller had his worst game of the season Saturday, completing just 41 percent of his passes.  He entered Saturday's affair on a heater, completing 30 of his last 37 attempts – 83 percent over his last two contets.  But his legs still worked and he slipped free on a quarterback scramble that turned into a 52-yard touchdown run that tied the game, 7-7.  The 52-yard scamper accounted for a fifth of Wingate's total offensive output on the day. 

C-N's defense would clamp down and force Wingate to back-to-back three-and-outs to allow the offense to retake the lead, 10-7. with a 39-yard field goal from Bennett Smith.

Mekhi Brown led the Eagles defense with seven tackles. Cruz Temple, Jesse Combs, Martavis Mason and Terry Lemon all had five tackles apiece, with Mason and Lemon adding half a sack each. C-N's two sacks in the game kept its 27-game sack streak alive. Carson-Newman has at least one sack in 35 of its last 36 games.  Between its two meetings last season with Wingate, combined with the effort Saturday, C-N has 14 sacks in its last three contests with the Bulldogs. 

"They had a lot of good plays that we just took away," Brown said. "We took away the run, we made them throw the ball a little bit, they couldn't complete passes, we got a pick on the opening drive that really boosted the momentum, so that was a good thing. …Sometimes, when the offense starts flat we've got to give them life. And things like that—third downs, three-and-outs—we've got to get them to that."

The Bulldogs' defense was stout too in the second half. The Eagles opened the game 4-of-5 on converting third downs, but went 0-for-10 after, with Wingate battling to keep its home win streak alive. It was a Wingate substitution infraction on a fourth down that gave the Eagles a chance to go up 13-7 with a career long 52-yard field goal from Smith. It was the 10th 50-plus yard field goal in C-N history and, at 52 yards, is tied for the fourth longest in the Carson-Newman record books.

"Just (long snapper Brendan) Shoaf and (holder) Grayson (Campbell) having a great snap, great hold," Smith said of his 52-yarder. "And then knowing that football is going to be wet and heavy. You're going to have to get everything on it and I had to watch that one the whole way in to make sure it went in, but we got it done."

The Bulldogs managed a late score in the game's final seconds with Holmes finding Jaylen Himes in the left corner of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass but could not convert the ensuing onside kick attempt.

Carson-Newman ended the night in victory formation. Last season, in splitting two games with Wingate, the Eagles managed a total of 86 yards on the ground. Saturday, C-N rushed for 215 while holding the Bulldogs 93 rushing yards and under 150 yards passing.

"Well Coach (Tyler) Almond and Coach (Antonio) Goss, our defensive coaches, had a great plan, for one," Ingram said. "Our defensive front and Cruz Temple coming, I mean, he (Holmes) was under duress all day. Our guys were relentless under pressure. Luke Scott just showed up big, Mekhi Brown shows up big. And then obviously we did a good job on the back-end, but just pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure. And they couldn't run the ball, so it made them sit back in the pocket and throw the ball."

With their win over then No. 19/20 Lenoir-Rhyne last week, the Eagles have beaten ranked team in back-to-back weeks. This is the sixth time C-N has played ranked teams in consecutive weeks in the regular season, and third time they've gone 2-0 in those games. Carson-Newman has a 6-3 mark when playing a ranked Wingate squad. This was Carson-Newman's first win at night at Wingate. 

Carson-Newman continues its road marathon with a trip to Emory, Va. to face off against Emory & Henry (4-1, 3-1) in a key SAC contest next Saturday, Oct 4, inside Fred Selfe Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.  Coverage on the Eagles Sports Radio Network begins at noon with the AEC Countdown to kickoff on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. 

 

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