Lenoir-Rhyne football ran into an absolute buzz-saw Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Division II semifinals and saw its magical season come to an end in Searcy, Ark.
Harding University, the top rushing team in all of NCAA football, used its customary dominating ground attack, returned a kickoff for a touchdown and even got an over-the-top, long-distance TD pass for good measure, to overwhelm the Bears 55-14.
Lenoir-Rhyne’s season concludes with a 13-2 record, by far the best mark among college teams in North Carolina in 2023. Despite Saturday’s humbling defeat, the Bears can still take solace in capturing the South Atlantic Conference championship in dominating fashion and winning three playoff games before being ousted. The Bears have only been this far in the D2 playoffs one other time.
Harding (14-0) moves on to face the winner of Colorado School of Mines vs. Kutztown in next Saturday’s D2 championship in McKinney, Texas.
Here are nine things to know about Lenoir-Rhyne’s season finale:
1. The Bears were overwhelmed from the start. The Lenoir-Rhyne offense went three-and-out on its first possession, punted, committed a kick-catch interference penalty and set Harding up at the Bears’ 32. Nine running plays later, quarterback Cole Keylon plowed in from the 1 to put the Bisons ahead 7-0.
Harding fooled Lenoir-Rhyne with an onsides kick, recovered at the 46 and unleashed the Blake Delacruz show on its second series. The Bisons leading rushing on the season (1,149 yards, 19 TDs heading into Saturday), broke free for 27 yards on one carry and then found the end zone from 9 yards out a few plays later. The Bears found themselves behind quickly, 14-0.
2. Lenoir-Rhyne repeatedly hurt itself with penalties and miscues. The Bears put together a solid drive after giving up the first two touchdowns, aided by a pair of nice throws from Sean White to Songa Yates. But a 34-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
Harding marched to the Lenoir-Rhyne 8 from there. And while TJ Blanding recovered a fumble to thwart that drive, the Bears went three-and-out, had to punt and gave the ball back to the Bisons near midfield. Delacruz scored again eight plays later for a 21-0 advantage.
A roughing the kicker penalty kept another Harding drive alive, which led to the team’s fourth touchdown. While Lenoir-Rhyne answered right before half with a 5-yard TD run from Zyheir Dillard, the Bears allowed Harding to return the kickoff 89 yards for a score. That effectively put the game out of reach, with the Bears heading into halftime down 35-7.
Lenoir-Rhyne committed nine penalties for 90 yards, most in the opening two and half quarters. The Bears threw an interception and allowed Harding to convert all three fourth-down attempts.
3. Harding employs a unique “double-slot flexbone” offense, which is run-heavy. The Bisons averaged better than 400 yards rushing per game this season, leading all divisions of NCAA football — by far.
Harding finished with 431 rushing yards against the Bears, averaging 6.25 yards per attempt. Negative-yardage plays were rare.
Delacruz led the way with 147 yards on 21 totes. Keylon added 108 yards. Eleven different players carried at least once. Braden Jay, Andrew Miller and Chauney Martin also found the end zone, giving Harding six rushing TDs in all.
4. To add insult to injury, Harding took an NCAA Division II record away from Lenoir-Rhyne during the game. The Bisons eclipsed the Bears’ single-season rushing record of 5,563 yards, set during Lenoir-Rhyne’s national runner-up finish in 2013. Harding sits at 5,659 yards and counting with one more game to play.
5. Coming into Saturday, Lenoir-Rhyne had one of the top defenses in Division II against the run. Through its first 14 contests, the Bears allowed just 73.4 rushing yards per game. Harding exceeded that in the opening quarter.
Only four teams eclipsed the 100-yard mark against the Bears, with Limestone’s 253 the previous season high. Lenoir-Rhyne held Valdosta State to two rushing yards a week ago.
6. Harding’s flexbone offense is similar to what you’ve see Army run over the years, or Georgia Tech under Paul Johnson several years ago. One of the architect’s of the flexbone is Kenny Wheaton, who serves as an offensive consultant for Harding.
This 2018 story — CLICK HERE — from GoSanAngelo.com explains the offense in more detail from Wheaton’s perspective.
“The flexbone – with the quarterback under center, a fullback and two slotbacks who take the pitch on the third level of the triple option – is an offense designed to help teams that don’t have the size and athleticism of their opponents.”
“Some people think running the ball and time of possession are boring,” Wheaton said. “To that, we say winning is fun, and you can win with the flexbone.”
7. One of the deadliest aspects of the flexbone — defenses that get so focused on stopping the rushing attack they forget about the pass. It happened to Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday.
Keylon faked a handoff early in the third quarter and hit a wide open Roland Wallace over the middle for a 65-yard touchdown pass. Keylon went 2-for-3 passing on the day, for 69 yards.
8. Lenoir-Rhyne has enjoyed a fairly potent rushing attack itself this season. Dwayne McGee came into Saturday with 1,572 rushing yards, and the Bears ranked 13th nationally with 217.6 yards per game from the run game.
But Harding combines a stellar defense with its own potent ground game, and that has taken the Bisons to the next level. Harding sent Lenoir-Rhyne backwards on the day, holding the Bears to minus-three rushing yards on 12 carries. McGee finished with 2 yards on four attempts.
Some of that had to do with Lenoir-Rhyne being forced to pass after falling behind. On that note, the Bears did have success at times. Sean White completed 23 throws for 270 yards, while Jalen Ferguson found the mark on all three of his pass attempts for 69 yards.
The Bears’ second touchdown came on a Ferguson-to-Deondre Lester 48-yard connection with 6:45 left in the game. Lester finished with eight catches and 139 yards, tops on the team.
9. Jon Ross Maye had a busy day at linebacker for Lenoir-Rhyne. The junior made 12 solo stops and finished with 14 total tackles. Four Bears finished with six tackles each: Na’Shawn Biggs, Devin Hibbitt, Malik Taylor and Deshaun Whitmire.
10. This was the first-ever football meeting between Lenoir-Rhyne and Harding. If the schools continue on their positive trajectories, it may not be the last.
Harding will make its first-ever appearance in the title game next Saturday.
Lenoir-Rhyne is now 11-7 in NCAA playoff games, dating back to its first appearance in 2012. Harding improved to 9-7.
