A freshman kicker broke a school record that had stood since 1909. A running back ripped off two touchdown runs of more than 60 yards. And a South Atlantic Conference contender beat one of our teams without throwing a single pass.
Just another weekend of college football in North Carolina.
Our latest trip through the box scores uncovered record-setting performances, unusual plays and impressive team & individual efforts from North Carolina’s FBS ranks to Division II and Division III.
Here are some of the best numbers and moments from our Week 9 top performers:
The Headliners
A record 117 years in the making for Guilford’s Colby Tucker
Guilford placekicker Colby Tucker broke a school and Old Dominion Athletic Conference record on Saturday, hitting a 55-yard field goal against Washington & Lee.
Tucker, a freshman from Winterville, NC (South Central HS), beat the ODAC’s previous best of 52 yards, set by Bridgewater’s Michael Padgett in 1998. He eclipsed Guilford’s previous longest field goal of 51 yards, set more than a century ago by Don Cupit in 1909.
Per Guilford sports information, the longest field goal in D3 football this season is 56 yards.
Tucker hit a 50-yarder on Oct. 24 against Randolph-Macon. He’s 4-for-4 in field goals on the season. Washington & Lee won Saturday’s game 47-3 as Guilford recognized its seniors in the last home game at Appenzeller Field.
Gimme 5 – Duke’s Nate Sheppard continues rushing dominance
Nate Sheppard for the Heisman? Doak Walker? It’s not too far-fetched to include the Duke running back in the conversation for both national awards.
Sheppard enjoyed another stellar afternoon in the Blue Devils’ 47-2 romp over Boston College, rushing for 97 yards and five touchdowns. He found the end zone on runs of 1, 2, 54, 4 and 1 yards – breaking the school record for most rushing scores in a single game.
His five trips to the end zone broke a school record for most rushing scores in a single game.
Shermon Davis delivers yards, TDs for Lenoir-Rhyne
Lenoir-Rhyne running back Shermon Davis needed just 18 carries to rack up a state-best 208 rushing yards in Saturday’s 21-20 victory over Emory & Henry.
Davis scored on runs of 61 and 72 yards, averaging a whopping 11.6 yards per attempt.
This was not Davis’ first time joining the 200-yard rushing club this season. The sophomore from Jacksonville, FL (Riverside HS) went for 243 yards and a touchdown a few weeks ago against UVA Wise.
The Bears also got a 26-yard fumble return touchdown from Xavier Gunn in the SAC win. Keaton Stigall had an interception return of 44 yards for Lenoir-Rhyne, now 4-5, 3-4 SAC.
‘Kicker-Treat’ from Bryan McCollum gives WCU win over Furman
Western Carolina kicker Bryan McCollum hit a 36-yard field goal with four seconds left, and the Catamounts clipped Furman 27-26 in a Halloween afternoon thriller.
The Paladins had just taken a 26-24 lead minutes earlier when Nate Chapman booted his fourth field goal of the day. WCU responded by moving 58 yards in nine plays to set up McCollum’s game-winner.
WCU got back in the win column to improve to 4-5, 2-3. Furman lost its sixth game in a row – all of which have been by a touchdown or less.
Defensive difference makers
Jamarion Farrior of Mars Hill lives in the backfield
Mars Hill junior linebacker Jamarion Farrior has been one of the fiercest defenders in the D2 ranks this season. Farrior logged 5.0 tackles-for-loss in the Lions’ 21-16 loss at UVA Wise on Saturday, resulting in 48 negative yards.
Farrior has 14.0 tackles-for-loss on the season. He also has 3.0 sacks and 79.0 total tackles. He’s averaging 9.9 stops per game, 10.1 against conference foes.
Scoop-and-score, pick-six moments for Chowan, Western Carolina
North Carolina college teams logged six defensive touchdowns over the weekend. Chowan’s Altiziano Edwards had the longest defensive scoring play of Week 9, returning a fumble 55 yards for six points at Ferrum. The play proved pivotal in a 28-21 victory that keeps the Hawks in the Conference Carolinas championship conversation.
Jermiyah Douglas and Ken Moore Jr. gave Western Carolina a two-for-one in defensive scores early in Saturday’s win over Furman. Douglas returned an interception 37 yards for a score, while Moore scooped up a fumble for a 15-yard touchdown.
Impressive stat line for NC Wesleyan’s Aarmon Randolph
North Carolina Wesleyan rolled to a 45-27 win at Southern Virginia, getting a strong defensive performance from lineman Aarmon Randolph. The sophomore from Jacksonville, NC (Jacksonville HS) made seven tackles, recorded two sacks, forced two fumbles and returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown.
For the season Randolph has earned 29 tackles, 8.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks.
Getting their kicks
The longest punt of the week in North Carolina covered 63 yards from D.J. Page of North Carolina A&T. While Page was helping flip the field, teammate Asher Holland booted a 34-yard field goal with 2:18 remaining to give the Aggies a 13-10 homecoming win over Elon. This was A&T’s first win over the Phoenix since joining them in the CAA.
Lenoir-Rhyne punter Daniel Deneen Jr. punted four times Saturday against Emory & Henry for an average of 54.0 yards. He had three kicks of 50+ yards and two inside the 20.
Barton’s Sam Grubb averaged 50.0 yards on three punts, including a 60-yarder.
Team Highlights
Week 9 High Scores
Louisburg College beat Nassau Community College 52-21, the highest point total of the week
Wake Forest dominated Virginia 51-7. Duke nearly shut out Boston College 47-2
Shutout specialists
North Carolina college football teams have earned 14 shutouts this season. Two of those came Saturday, with North Carolina Central blanking Howard 34-0 in MEAC play and Elizabeth City State putting up a baseball score in a 5-0 win over Winston-Salem State.
No fly zone, no problem for Carson-Newman
No. 14 Carson-Newman beat Catawba 41-7 on Saturday afternoon without attempting a single pass. This isn’t out of the ordinary for the Eagles, who have employed their version of the triple option to the top of the South Atlantic Conference standings (8-1, 6-1)
Carson-Newman ran just 49 plays against Catawba rushing for an astounding 368 yards.
Catawba was stout on third down, not allowing a single conversion in eight tries. But Carson-Newman often didn’t need a third-down play, churning out big chunks of yardage on early downs.
Ten different players gained at least seven yards, and five different players found the end zone, led by Trey Gunnings (138 yards on 11 attempts).
The Numbers Game
Longest offensive scoring plays
North Carolina Central’s Mehki Wall took a pass from Joshua Jones and sprinted 88 yards for a score in the Eagles’ 34-0 win over Howard. That provided our longest scoring play of Week 9.
Lenoir-Rhyne’s Shermon Davis had a 72-yard TD run in the Bears’ victory over Emory & Henry. Wingate’s Xavier Jackson and Catawba’s Tracy Harrington both had 70-yard touchdown receptions.
More numbers to know
- 471 – Rushing yards for Washington & Lee in a win over Guilford. The Generals offense earned 30 first downs for the game, averaged 6.9 yards per rush and went 9-of-12 on third down.
- 452 – Passing yards for Chowan quarterback Tyler Adkins in a key 28-21 win over conference foe Ferrum. Adkins threw three touchdown passes though was intercepted twice.
- 309 – Rushing yards for Wake Forest football in its 51-7 mauling of Virginia. Ty Clark III scored three rushing TDs on short runs.
- 191 – Receiving yards for Chowan’s Amir Alexander, who caught eight of Tyler Adkins’ passes on Saturday at Ferrum. Alexander scored once.
- 170 – Receiving yards for Wingate’s Xavier Jackson in a win over Anderson. The Bulldogs had a 100-yard receiver and 100-yard rusher this week (see below).
- 35 – Consecutive points scored by Wingate in a 35-14 comeback win over Anderson University. The Bulldogs outgained the Trojans 488-151.
- 16 – Total tackles for NC State’s Popo Aguirre and Greensboro College’s Jay Law, the top number in our state this week. Law had nine solo stops, while Aguirre made eight.
- 15 – Kicker points from Wake Forest’s Connor Calvert, who hit three field goals and made all six PATs against Virginia.
- 9 – North Carolina college running backs to eclipse the 100-yard mark this week, led by Lenoir-Rhyne’s Shermon Davis (208), Methodist’s Kyan McCollum (167), Wingate’s Ethan Wallace (146) and Brevard’s King Faison (140).
- 5 – Rushing touchdowns for Duke’s Nate Sheppard, a new single-game record for the Blue Devils. Campbell’s JJ Cowan and Wake Forest’s Ty Clark each found the end zone three times.
