Lenoir-Rhyne’s football roster went through an overhaul in the off-season.
New coach. New players. Transfers in. Transfers out.
But a key running back stayed in Hickory, and he enjoyed quite the breakthrough game in Lenoir-Rhyne’s season opener against Bowie State on Saturday afternoon.
Zayvion Turner-Knox became our state’s first 200-yard rusher of the season, finishing with 204 yards on 30 carries. He scored touchdowns on runs of 25, 30 and 8 yards as the Bears cruised past their CIAA foe 32-19.
Turner-Knox (6-1, 215) is a junior from Charlotte, who played his high school ball at Hough High.
He’s a bullish runner who saw action in all 14 of Lenoir-Rhyne’s games a year ago. He finished with 698 yards and 10 touchdowns on 106 carries, and provided a nice counter-punch to lead back Dwayne McGee (1,533 yards and 12 scores).
Turner-Knox enjoyed what was then a career high in rushing yards in last year’s D2 playoffs, galloping for 145 yards and two scores against Valdosta State.
McGee followed his head coach, Mike Jacobs, to Mercer in the off-season. Now, it appears Turner-Knox is RB1 for the Bears, who are aiming to defend their South Atlantic Conference championship and make another run under first-year coach Doug Socha.
(As for McGee, he has 131 rushing yards and two touchdowns in two games for Mercer).
More Top Rushers From Week 2
* North Carolina Wesleyan’s Anthony Byrd nearly joined Turner-Knox in the 200-yard rushing club. Byrd finished with 192 yards on the ground the Battling Bishops’ 41-29 loss at Averett. Byrd scored two rushing touchdowns and had a receiving TD as well.
* Davidson’s two-headed rushing monster reared its head again in Saturday’s home opener against Catawba. Mari Adams picked up 128 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns. Mason Sheron added 108 yards and found the end zone three times.
Both Adams and Sheron broke away for long runs, 75 and 79 yards respectively.
* Davidson posted the top team rushing effort of the season so far, notching 399 yards on the ground against Catawba. The Wildcats averaged 7.1 yards per attempt and found the end zone six times in the 49-14 triumph.
* North Carolina and North Carolina A&T had 100-yard backs for the second week in a row. But the players reaching that plateau were different than week one.
This week it was Davion Gause (105 yards, 1 TD) for the Tar Heels and Wesley Graves (106 yards, 1 TD) for the Aggies. Graves’ touchdown in overtime gave North Carolina A&T a key win over rival Winston-Salem State.
* TJ Thomas helped Elon pull away from North Carolina Central in the opening half, scoring on a 74-yard dash. He finished with 163 rushing yards on the evening as Elon won 41-19.
* East Carolina improved to 2-0 with help from Rahjai Harris, who rushed for 131 yards on 26 attempts, with two touchdowns. His long run of the day covered 63 yards.
Top Five Rushing Performances of 2024
| Player (school) | DIV | ATT | YDS | TD | LONG | AVG | DATE | OPPONENT |
| Zayvion Turner-Knox (Lenoir-Rhyne) | D2 | 30 | 204 | 3 | 30 | 6.8 | Week 2 | Bowie State |
| Anthony Byrd (NC Wesleyan) | D3 | 21 | 192 | 2 | 37 | 9.1 | Week 2 | at Averett |
| TJ Thomas Jr. (Elon) | FCS | 11 | 163 | 1 | 74 | 14.8 | Week 2 | at North Carolina Central |
| Quavaris Crouch (Johnson C. Smith) | D2 | 21 | 161 | 1 | 75 | 7.7 | Week 1 | vs. Tuskegee |
| Demond Claiborne (Wake Forest) | FBS | 17 | 135 | 1 | 48 | 7.9 | Week 1 | North Carolina A&T |
Team Rushing: 300+ Yards/Game
| Davidson | FCS | 56 | 399 | 7.1 | 6 | Week 2 | Catawba |
| North Carolina | FBS | 45 | 269 | 6.0 | 3 | Week 2 | Charlotte |
