A 95-yard touchdown pass. A 94-yard kickoff return to the house. An 84-yard blocked field goal scoop-and-score.
Those highlights, plus three game-winning field goals in road games, headline the longest and most dramatic scoring plays of Week 6 in the North Carolina college football season.
—> READ MORE: Statewide Scoreboard For Week 6: All Games Final
Quinzel Lockhart of Elizabeth City State gets credit for the longest scoring play involving a North Carolina player this week. Lockhart took a pass from Donoven Davenport and turned it into a 95-yard touchdown. That long-distance effort also broke a record for longest reception in school history.
Lockhart finished with the most receiving yards of anyone in the state. He made nine catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns, one of his other scores covering 41 yards.
Taymon Cooke brought a kickoff back 94 yards in NC A&T’s conference match-up with Villanova. This was Cooke’s second kick return for a score of the season. He also had an 80-yarder against NC Central earlier in the year.
TJ Blanding’s 84-yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown turned the tide in Lenoir-Rhyne’s thrilling overtime victory at Limestone. The Bears faced a 28-21 deficit with under five minutes to play and the Saints lining up for a field goal to push their lead to 10. But C’Darius Kelley blocked the short attempt — the fifth time the Bears have stuffed a kick this season — and Blanding found the loose ball, raced the other way and Lenoir-Rhyne secured the tying points.
That set the stage Jake Brown to win the game for the Bears in OT with a 20-yard field goal. Limestone came up empty on its overtime possession.
Western Carolina’s Richard McCollum and Livingstone’s Jason Zapata also enjoyed the thrill of kicking a game-winner on Saturday. McCollum’s triumphant boot came as time expired from 32 yards away to lead the Catamounts over Chattanooga 52-50. The Mocs had just scored the go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute to play.
Zapata hit a 44-yarder with 27 seconds left to boost the Blue Bears to their second win in a row, beating Winston-Salem State 23-21.
Four other scoring plays covered 70-plus yards on Saturday. Zapata also had the longest field goal of the week, zapping the Rams with a 50-yarder.
Western Carolina (52 points), Brevard (49) and NC State (48) led the state in team points this week. Fayetteville State recorded the only shutout, holding St. Augustine’s off the board in a 7-0 victory. Mars Hill held Erskine to three points. North Carolina allowed just seven to Syracuse.
Four games involving North Carolina teams were decided by three points or less. Wake Forest suffered a five-point loss at Clemson.
The Tar Heels had the most prolific offense of the day, mounting 644 total yards. Western Carolina needed all 551 yards of total offense it earned to beat Chattanooga. NC Wesleyan also reached the 500-yard mark (finishing with 516) in earning its first win of the season, while Brevard got to 503 in a runaway victory against Southern Virginia – the Tornados third in a row.
Mars Hill (133 yards allowed) and Shaw (184 yards allowed) had the stingiest defenses of the week.
In all, 15 teams from North Carolina enjoyed the thrill of victory in Week 6. Fourteen walked away with an ‘L’ for the day.
Longest Scoring Plays From Week 6
| LONGEST SCORING PLAYS | DIVISION | PLAY DESCRIPTION | OPPONENT |
| Quinzel Lockhart (Elizabeth City State) | D2 | Virginia Union | 95-yard TD pass from Donoven Davenport |
| Taymon Cooke (NC A&T) | FCS | Villanova | 94-yard kickoff return for TD |
| TJ Blanding (Lenoir-Rhyne) | D2 | Limestone | 84-yard blocked field goal return for TD |
| Kobe Paysour (North Carolina) | FBS | Syracuse | 77-yard TD pass from Drake Maye |
| JuJu Rice (Guilford) | D3 | Washington & Lee | 75-yard TD pass from Bailey Baker |
| Reggie Taylor II (Brevard) | D3 | Southern Virginia | 75-yard TD pass from Ethan Beamish |
| Desmond Reid (Western Carolina) | FCS | Chattanooga | 70-yard rushing TD |
| Jayden Brown (Gardner-Webb) | FCS | Robert Morris | 67-Yard TD pass from Matthew Caldwell |
| Kameron Johnson (Barton) | D2 | Newberry | 65-yard TD pass from Jaquan Lynch |
| Latrell Collier (NC Central) | FCS | Elon | 63-yard rushing TD |
| Trent Pennix (NC State) | FBS | Marshall | 62-yard TD pass from MJ Morris |
| Desmond Reid (Western Carolina) | FCS | Chattanooga | 58-yard rushing TD |
| Censere Lee (Western Carolina) | FBS | Chattanooga | 55-yard TD pass from Cole Gonzales |
| Gabriel Linen (Winston-Salem State) | D2 | Livingstone | 52-yard rushing TD |
| Navarreo Rorie (Shaw) | D2 | Johnson C. Smith | 51-yard TD pass from Patrick Blake |
| Ed Jones IV (Western Carolina) | FCS | Chattanooga | 48-yard interception return for TD |
| DJ Taylor (Brevard) | D3 | Southern Virginia | 41-yard rushing TD |
| Quinzel Lockhart (Elizabeth City State) | D2 | Virginia Union | 41-yard TD pass from Donoven Davenport |
| Dwayne McGee (Lenoir-Rhyne) | D2 | Limestone | 39-yard rushing TD |
| Trent Pennix (NC State) | FBS | Marshall | 39-yard TD pass from MJ Morris |
| Branson Adams (Western Carolina) | FCS | Chattanooga | 37-yard rushing TD |
| Conner McCarthy (Catawba) | D2 | Wingate | 37-yard TD pass from Preston Brown |
| David White (Western Carolina) | FCS | Chattanooga | 37-yard TD pass from Cole Gonzales |
| Michael Allen (NC State) | FBS | Marshall | 37-yard rushing TD |
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Game-Winning Kicks
| GAME WINNING FG | DIVISION | YARDS | OPPONENT | SITUATION |
| Jason Zapata (Livingstone) | D2 | 44 | Winston-Salem State | Gave Blue Bears 23-21 lead with 27 seconds left |
| Richard McCollum (Western Carolina) | FCS | 32 | Chattanooga | Game-winner as time expired |
| Jake Brown (Lenoir-Rhyne) | D2 | 20 | Limestone | Game-winner in overtime |
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Longest Field Goals
| LONGEST FIELD GOALS | DIVISION | YARDS | OPPONENT |
| Jason Zapata (Livingstone) | D2 | 50 | Winston-Salem State |
| Jason Zapata (Livingstone) | D2 | 44 | Winston-Salem State |
| Burke Nettles (Guilford) | D3 | 43 | Washington & Lee |
| Jack Berkowitz (Elon) | FCS | 43 | NC Central |
| Brayden Narveson (NC State) | FBS | 40 | Marshall |
| Jason Zapata (Livingstone) | D2 | 39 | Winston-Salem State |
| Ty Woods (UNC Pembroke) | D2 | 37 | Frostburg State |
| Matthew Dennis (Wake Forest) | FBS | 35 | Clemson |
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Highest Scoring Teams
| MOST POINTS SCORED | DIVISION | POINTS | OPPONENT | RESULT |
| Western Carolina | FCS | 52 | Chattanooga | W, 52-50 |
| Brevard | D2 | 49 | Southern Virginia | W, 49-28 |
| NC State | FBS | 48 | Marshall | W, 48-41 |
| North Carolina | FBS | 40 | Syracuse | W, 40-7 |
| Mars Hill | D2 | 38 | Erskine | W, 38-3 |
| NC Wesleyan | D3 | 35 | LaGrange | W, 35-14 |
| Barton | D2 | 34 | Newberry | W, 34-17 |
| NC Central | FCS | 34 | Elon | W, 34-23 |
| Gardner-Webb | FCS | 31 | Robert Morris | W, 31-16 |
| Lenoir-Rhyne | D2 | 31 | Limestone | W, 31-28 OT |
| Wingate | D2 | 31 | Catawba | W, 31-13 |
| Campbell | FCS | 30 | Hampton | W, 30-27 |
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Fewest Points Allowed
| FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED | DIVISION | POINTS | OPPONENT | RESULT |
| Fayetteville State | D2 | 0 | St. Augustine’s | W, 7-0 |
| Mars Hill | D2 | 3 | Erskine | W, 38-3 |
| North Carolina | FBS | 7 | Syracuse | W, 40-7 |
| Shaw | D2 | 10 | Johnson C. Smith | W, 21-10 |
| Wingate | D2 | 13 | Catawba | W, 31-13 |
| NC Wesleyan | D3 | 14 | LaGrange | W, 35-14 |
| Gardner-Webb | FCS | 16 | Robert Morris | W, 31-16 |
| Barton | D2 | 17 | Newberry | W, 34-17 |
| Wake Forest | FBS | 17 | Clemson | L, 12-17 |
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Narrowest Margin Of Victory
| NARROWEST MARGIN OF VICTORY | DIVISION | MARGIN | OPPONENT | FINAL |
| Livingstone | D2 | 2 | WInston-Salem State | W, 23-21 |
| Western Carolina | FCS | 2 | Chattanooga | W, 52-50 |
| Campbell | FCS | 3 | Hampton | W, 30-27 |
| Lenoir-Rhyne | D2 | 3 | Limestone | W, 31-28 OT |
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Narrowest Margin Of Defeat
| NARROWEST MARGIN OF DEFEAT | DIVISION | MARGIN | OPPONENT | FINAL |
| Winston-Salem State | D2 | 2 | Livingstone | L, 21-23 |
| Wake Forest | FBS | 5 | Clemson | L, 12-17 |
