Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate, expected to battle for South Atlantic Conference supremacy this season, both earned impressive non-conference victories on Saturday.
The Bears felled visiting Tiffin 38-17, while Wingate knocked off nationally ranked Delta State 21-7. Both teams, who don’t play each other until November, improved to 2-0 on the young season.
Lenoir-Rhyne started the week ranked No. 13 nationally in D2. Wingate likely will join the Bears in the Top 25 rankings this week.
Here’s a recap of action in the South Atlantic Conference for Saturday, Sept. 14.
Lenoir-Rhyne 38, Tiffin 17
Chris Brown returned a tipped-ball interception 68 yards for a touchdown, and the Bears rolled in their first-ever football meeting against the Dragons.
Jalen Ferguson threw touchdown passes to Dominique Marshall, Adonis McDaniel and Aiden Heilmann. JT Black returned a fumble 75 yards and had five tackles. Jaelin Willis also picked off a Tiffin pass and provided five more tackles.
Zayvion Turner-Knox led LR in rushing with 65 yards. Alex Boyd added 20 yards and a score. Ferguson finished with 174 passing yards on a 16-for-28 day.
Lenoir-Rhyne will jump into conference play next week against Mars Hill.
Wingate 21, #12 Delta State 7
The Statesmen from Mississippi made their second trip to the Old North State, and this time left town on the losing end. Wingate held the No. 12 team in the latest D2Football.com rankings to one first-half touchdown on a 65-yard run by Cole Kirk.
Wingate outgained Delta State 341-253 and dominated time-of-possession (36:14 to 23:46). Delta State had to punt eight times.
The Bulldogs took a 14-7 lead into halftime, getting a 1-yard TD run from Barnett O’Brien and a 14-yard TD pass from Brooks Bentley to Xavier Jackson. Noah Bell added an insurance touchdown in the third quarter with a 2-yard plunge. That play capped a 10-play, 86-yard drive.
Coach Rashaan Jordan’s defense sent Delta State backwards on several plays. All-American defensive end Marquise Fleming recorded three tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks (for 15 negative yards). Dontorian Best added 13 tackles and 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Daniel Morrison made eight stops, with 2.5 tackles for losses (11 negative yards).
Barton 24, Chowan 20
Tay Long became the first 100-yard running back in the post-Jordan Terrell era, and the Barton Bulldogs won for the first time Saturday.
Long rushed for 138 yards and found the end zone on an 11-yard play in the third quarter. He averaged 6.2 yards per carry. Dakauri Davis and Trevor Nored also rushed for Barton touchdowns.
Chowan had its own 100-yard back in quarterback Maurice Smith, who finished with 141 yards on 16 attempts. He scored once and averaged 8.5 yards per rush. Smith also threw a TD pass to Gabrial Jackson.
Matt Smith led the Barton defense with 10 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
Catawba 37, Shaw 28
Preston Brown threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns, and the Indians outdueled the up-and-coming Bears in Durham for their first win. Jaylin Linder hauled in two of those scoring strikes. Jordan Mitchell and Marquece Williams added the other two.
Christian Peters led Shaw with three TD passes. Ah’shaan Belcher caught two of those scoring strikes to become the school’s new leader in that category.
South Atlantic Conference Football This Week
Mars Hill idle (next: Sept. 21 vs. Lenoir-Rhyne)
Carson-Newman 56, West Virginia State 25 (Fri)
Emory & Henry 40, Bluefield State 13
UVA Wise 28, Concord 0
Anderson 44, LaGrange 14
West Alabama | 6 p.m.
Keiser at Newberry | 7 p.m.
