SAC Recaps: Lenoir-Rhyne, Wingate, Mars Hill fend off challengers; Barton shows improvement

Lenoir-Rhyne, Wingate and Mars Hill each claimed pivotal victories in South Atlantic Conference football action Saturday, while a youthful Barton squad took a positive step forward on the road.

Lenoir-Rhyne kept conference championship repeat hopes alive with a 21-19 comeback win over Limestone. Wingate topped Catawba behind a pair of long TD runs from Xavier Pugh. The Mars Hill defense shined in a 31-17 triumph against UVA Wise.

Barton snapped a two-game scoreless streak but a 25-point effort wasn’t enough to beat Newberry. Here are more details:

Lenoir-Rhyne 21, Limestone 19

The Bears rallied from a 10-0 first-half deficit. Jalen Ferguson completed three touchdown passes to three different receivers — Tye Roberson, Songa Yates and Adonis McDaniel. Ferguson finished 18-of-31 for 217 yards and one interception.

Limestone played without all-star quarterback Dustin Noller, who was out with an injury. Lenoir-Rhyne picked off his backup, Jayden Stinson, twice though Stinson did have three TD completions. Nic Cheeley and Chris Brown had the picks for the Bears.

Lenoir-Rhyne (7-1, 5-1 SAC) has now beaten Limestone in eight of nine all-time meetings. The Bears held the Saints to 92 rushing yards on 29 carries. Christian Santana sent Limestone ball-carriers backwards on multiple plays, finishing with 2.5 tackles-for-loss for 14 negative yards.

Mars Hill 31, UVA Wise 17

Quarterback JR Martin threw for 311 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score, lifting the Lions to their second win in a row and the third in four tries.

Courtney Slocum clinched it for Mars Hill with a 34-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:57 left. The Lions defense terrorized UVA Wise signal caller Cooper Wick all day, picking him off four times. Tristan Rankin, Cherron Holt and Lovelle Williams had the other INTs.

Mars Hill led 24-10 at the break. Izaiah Jean-Baptiste caught Martin’s TD pass covering 7 yards for the first points in the opening period. Jon Gullette added a 4-yard TD run, then Martin plowed in from the 1. Lon Teachey booted a 33-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half.

Beau DeBerry didn’t find the end zone but caught seven Mars Hill passes for 116 yards. Gullette was the leading rusher, finishing with 76 yards. Steven Reid (10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) and Dexter Fitzpatrick (9 tackles, 1 sack, 2.5 tackles for loss) were the top defenders statistically.

Mars Hill (3-3, 3-2 SAC) will host Emory & Henry next Saturday. The Wasps pinned the first loss of the season on Carson-Newman this week and currently lead the Mountain Division. Both Carson-Newman and Emory & Henry are 5-1 in league play.

Wingate 24, Catawba 15

Catawba put a few dents in Wingate’s vaunted defense but not enough to pull the upset Saturday afternoon. LJ Turner, one of the top rushers in our state, piled up 156 yards on the Bulldogs, scoring on a 23-yard run late in the first quarter to give the Indians a 9-7 edge.

Wingate answered with a 25-yard Caleb Bonesteel field goal to take a 10-9 halftime lead. Matt Flanders caught a 45-yard pass from Brooks Bentley midway through the third quarter to put the Bulldogs up 17-9.

Catawba pulled within 17-15 with 2:17 remaining in the third on a 7-yard Hunter Shepherd-to-Jaylin Linder touchdown play.

The Indians went three-and-out on two possessions on the fourth quarter. A third series made it as far as the Wingate 43 before stalling out on downs. Diego Aviles and Dontorian Best stacked up Marquece Williams for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-one.

Xavier Pugh took a handoff 57 yards for his second TD of the day with 55 ticks left to put the game out of reach. Pugh ended the day with 140 yards on just four carries. His other TD run covered 75 yards in the opening period.

Wingate moved to 6-1 overall, 4-1 in the SAC. Catawba, which has played most conference foes to one-score games, dropped to 2-6, 1-5.

Newberry 41, Barton 25

After getting shut out the previous two weeks by Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne, the Bulldogs found the end zone three times and got a 43-yard field goal from Andrew Bontekoe.

Barton took a first-quarter lead when Nazir Garrett caught a 19-yard halfback pass from Jayden Flood-Brown. Newberry answered with 20 points, taking a 20-7 lead. Flood-Brown later caught a 19-yard TD pass from Trevor Nored to pull the ‘Dogs within 26-18 late in the third quarter.

Barton’s final touchdown came on a 15-yard run from Trakell Murray midway through the fourth period. Jackson Parrish didn’t score Saturday but finished with 102 rushing yards.

Saturday’s result left Barton 2-5 overall and 1-5 in conference play.The Bulldogs will host Catawba next Saturday at 2 p.m.

Looking Ahead: Wingate at Lenoir-Rhyne

While Emory & Henry duke it out for supremacy in the SAC Mountain Division, Lenoir-Rhyne (5-1) and Wingate (4-1) are the only teams with one loss in the SAC Piedmont. Limestone and Newberry each have two league losses in the Piedmont.

Lenior-Rhyne will host Wingate next Saturday afternoon, with a possible spot in the conference championship game on the line.