The defending South Atlantic Conference football champions have unveiled their 2025 schedule. The Wingate Bulldogs will play a familiar set of opponents in 2025, renewing the I-74 rivalry with UNC Pembroke and then running a 10-game conference gauntlet.
Wingate is coming off a 9-2 campaign in Rashaan Jordan’s head coaching debut – the best winning percentage of any college football team in North Carolina in 2024. The Bulldogs beat Carson-Newman in the SAC championship game before falling to Virginia Union in the opening round of the Division II playoffs.
Wingate’s 2025 campaign will kick off on Saturday, Aug. 30 when UNC Pembroke comes to town. The Bulldogs and Braves met last season in a defensive slugfest before Jordan’s team emerged with a 17-12 victory.
UNC Pembroke will play in a new conference this season – Conference Carolinas – but will be a familiar foe for Wingate fans. The two schools, separated by about 80 miles of Interstate 74, have played 10 times since 2009. Wingate holds a 7-3 edge in the series, including collecting victories in the past five meetings.
After week one, it is all conference action for the Bulldogs. The South Atlantic, which dropped from 12 to 11 teams this season with the move of Barton to Conference Carolinas, will play without divisions. It effectively creates a round-robin scenario for the league’s schools.
Wingate will begin its SAC title defense at Anderson on Sept. 6. The Bulldogs will alternate home and away throughout the season, taking a bye the week of Saturday, Oct. 25.
🏈Attention Wingate Football Alumni!🏈
We are excited to reconnect at our Alumni Cookout on Saturday, April 5th!
Don't miss this opportunity to Meet, Mingle, and Network with the 2024 SAC Champions!
RSVP now via the link below:https://t.co/ZgxnOTs47H…#OneDog pic.twitter.com/Lth9luQjsP— Wingate Bulldogs Football (@WingateFb) March 3, 2025
Limestone, Carson-Newman, Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill will travel to Wingate. In addition to Anderson, the Bulldogs will face UVA Wise, Newberry, Emory & Henry and Tusculum in hostile territory.
Carson-Newman was the only SAC team to defeat Wingate a year ago. The Eagles prevailed 31-28 on Sept. 21. But the Bulldogs went on a tear from that point, shutting out three opponents and winning six straight to win the Piedmont Division. Jordan’s group then felled Carson-Newman 28-13 in the championship contest.
Senior defensive end Marquise Fleming finished the season by collecting numerous conference, region and national awards. He was voted the Gene Upshaw Division II lineman of the year, Don Hansen’s national defensive player of the year and College Football Network’s national defensive player of the year.
Wingate’s defense ranked first in D2 in third-down conversions and red zone stops last season, finished third in total defense and first-down defense, and sixth in scoring defense.
Bulldog fans can get their first peek at the 2025 Wingate team this Saturday afternoon. Wingate will host Johnson C. Smith in a spring scrimmage. The action starts at 1 p.m. at Irwin Belk Stadium.
The Wingate spring game will be the following Friday, April 11, at 7 p.m.
Wingate 2025 Football Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Time/Result | TV/Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug. 30 | vs | UNC Pembroke | ||
| Sept. 6 | at | Anderson* | ||
| Sept. 13 | vs | Limestone* | ||
| Sept. 20 | at | UVA Wise* | ||
| Sept. 27 | vs | Carson-Newman* | ||
| Oct. 4 | at | Newberry* | ||
| Oct. 11 | vs | Catawba* | ||
| Oct. 18 | at | Emory & Henry* | ||
| Nov. 1 | vs | Lenoir-Rhyne* | ||
| Nov. 8 | at | Tusculum* | ||
| Nov. 15 | vs | Mars Hill* | ||
| * denotes conference game |
Wingate 2024 Football Results
| Date | Opponent | Result | Score | Overall | Conference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug. 31 | at | UNC Pembroke | W | 17-12 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Sep. 7 | BYE | |||||
| Sep. 14 | vs | Delta State | W | 21-7 | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| Sep. 21 | at | Carson-Newman* | L | 28-31 | 2-1 | 0-1 |
| Sep. 28 | vs | Mars Hill* | ||||
| Oct. 5 | at | UVA Wise* | W | 33-0 | 3-1 | 1-1 |
| Oct. 12 | vs | Barton* | W | 50-0 | 4-1 | 2-1 |
| Oct. 19 | at | Limestone* | W | 38-12 | 5-1 | 3-1 |
| Oct. 26 | vs | Catawba* | W | 24-15 | 6-1 | 4-1 |
| Nov. 2 | at | Lenoir-Rhyne* | W | 14-10 | 7-1 | 5-1 |
| Nov. 9 | vs | Newberry* | W | 38-0 | 8-1 | 6-1 |
| Nov. 16 | vs | Carson-Newman^ | W | 28-13 | 9-1 | 7-1 |
| Nov. 23 | vs | Virginia Union** | L | 31-34 | 9-2 | 7-1 |
More Wingate Football Headlines
The Bulldogs are among SAC teams reloading at the QB position. Read more about the new-look Wingate quarterback room here.
Wingate captured the NC Football News Fabulous 15 championship in 2024. Check out why the Bulldogs had the most special season of any college team in North Carolina here.
Cigars and Dominance: Recap Wingate’s special win over Carson-Newman in the 2024 South Atlantic championship game here.
