Livingstone football’s Kenyon Garner enjoyed another monster defensive performance on Saturday, earning 4.0 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks in a win over Virginia-Lynchburg.
The 6-4, 230-pound sophomore defensive end from Okeechobee, FL, now holds the NCAA Division II lead in both statistical categories.
✴️ Read More North Carolina D2 Football Coverage: Eight teams from the Old North State won on Saturday, including Livingstone. Read our D2 Game Day thread.
Garner has racked up 23.0 tackles-for-loss through eight games, an average of 2.88 per contest. The next closest players on the D2 national list – Benedict’s Israel Nwokocha and McKendree’s Dameion Hatten – each have 16.5 TFLs.
Garner took the D2 lead in sacks with his latest performance. He now has 13.0 total sacks (12 solos and 2 assists) for a total of 86 negative yards. Ashland’s Michael Shimek is second in that category with 11.5.
Opposing teams simply have not been able to keep Garner out of their backfields. He had 5.5 tackles-for-loss – the most in the state at any level this season – against Fayetteville State a few weeks ago. Saturday’s win over VUL marked the fourth time this season Garner has logged at least 4 TFLs. He has 46 total stops of all varieties on the season.
🏈 Garner has recorded at least one sack in five of Livingstone’s eight games. His single-game high in TFLs was 5.5 against Fayetteville State
Allen University was the closest to holding Garner back. He only recorded 0.5 TFLs in that game but still managed three stops. Garner has earned at least one quarterback sack in five of Livingstone’s contests, including 4.0 against Bowie State.
Garner has already been named the CIAA’s Defensive Lineman of the Week twice this season. As we write this, the league has yet to release its players of the week for Oct. 25 games.
As a unit, Livingstone is tied for first place in all of D2 football in tackles-for-loss. The Blue Bears have recorded 78.0 in all, an amazing average of 9.8 stops behind the line of scrimmage per game (matched only by Western Colorado).
Kobe Pringle has 10.0 tackles-for-loss and two sacks. Jayden Reeder has earned 8.0 TFLs with 2.5 sacks. Twelve different Livingstone players have at least 2.0 TFLs. Velson Seide is second on the team in sacks with 3.5.
The “D” in D2 = Defense
- Fayetteville State and Wingate also rank in the top 10 nationally in tackles for loss. The Broncos are fifth (73.0), while the Bulldogs are 10th (64.5).
- Fayetteville State ranks fourth in D2 football in sacks with 30.0 in eight games. Livingstone’s 27.0 sacks as a team ranks them T-10th in the nation. Johnson C. Smith has tallied 26.0 sacks thus far, tied for 13th.
- North Carolina D2 football tackles-for-loss leaders (through Oct. 25 games):
- Kenyon Garner (Livingstone): 23.0
- Jamieson Alston (Winston-Salem State): 11.0
- Isi Etute (UNC Pembroke): 11.0
- Mandjou Berte (Wingate): 10.5
- Evan Simons (Catawba): 10.0
- Kobe Pringle (Livingstone): 10.0
- Maddox Aprile (Lenoir-Rhyne): 9.5
Kenyon Garner Game-By-Game 2025 Stats
| Date | Opponent | Tackles | Sacks | Fumble | Int | Pass | Blkd | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | AST | TOT | TFL | YDS | TOT | YDS | FF | FR | YDS | TOT | YDS | QBH | BRK | KICK | SAF | ||
| 08/28/2025 | at Charleston (WV) | 7 | 3 | 10 | 4.0 | 15 | 1.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 09/06/2025 | at Allen | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 09/20/2025 | Bowie St. | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4.0 | 18 | 4.0 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 09/27/2025 | Lincoln (PA) | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3.5 | 18 | 2.0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/04/2025 | at Elizabeth City St. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/11/2025 | at Fayetteville St. | 6 | 1 | 7 | 5.5 | 21 | 2.5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/18/2025 | at Winston-Salem St. | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/25/2025 | Virginia-Lynchburg | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4.0 | 36 | 3.5 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 32 | 14 | 46 | 23.5 | 115 | 13.0 | 86 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
