- BEST IN STATE -

Saturday Superlatives: Longest scoring plays this week covered 95, 94, 84 yards

Lenoir-Rhyne escapes at Limestone thanks in part to T.J. Blanding’s blocked kick scoop-and-score

T.J. Blanding of Lenoir-Rhyne came up big at the end of the Bears' win at Limestone on Saturday. Photo courtesy Lenoir-Rhyne athletics | LRBears.com.

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.

Quinzel Lockhart (Elizabeth City State) caught a 95-yard TD pass on Saturday. Graphic/courtesy Elizabeth City State athletics. The Vikings lost, however, 42-20.

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 PLAYSDIVISIONPLAY DESCRIPTIONOPPONENT
Quinzel Lockhart (Elizabeth City State)D2Virginia Union95-yard TD pass from Donoven Davenport
Taymon Cooke (NC A&T)FCSVillanova94-yard kickoff return for TD
TJ Blanding (Lenoir-Rhyne)D2Limestone84-yard blocked field goal return for TD
Kobe Paysour (North Carolina)FBSSyracuse77-yard TD pass from Drake Maye
JuJu Rice (Guilford)D3Washington & Lee75-yard TD pass from Bailey Baker
Reggie Taylor II (Brevard)D3Southern Virginia75-yard TD pass from Ethan Beamish
Desmond Reid (Western Carolina)FCSChattanooga70-yard rushing TD
Jayden Brown (Gardner-Webb)FCSRobert Morris67-Yard TD pass from Matthew Caldwell
Kameron Johnson (Barton)D2Newberry65-yard TD pass from Jaquan Lynch
Latrell Collier (NC Central)FCSElon63-yard rushing TD
Trent Pennix (NC State)FBSMarshall62-yard TD pass from MJ Morris
Desmond Reid (Western Carolina)FCSChattanooga58-yard rushing TD
Censere Lee (Western Carolina)FBSChattanooga55-yard TD pass from Cole Gonzales
Gabriel Linen (Winston-Salem State)D2Livingstone52-yard rushing TD
Navarreo Rorie (Shaw)D2Johnson C. Smith51-yard TD pass from Patrick Blake
Ed Jones IV (Western Carolina)FCSChattanooga48-yard interception return for TD
DJ Taylor (Brevard)D3Southern Virginia41-yard rushing TD
Quinzel Lockhart (Elizabeth City State)D2Virginia Union41-yard TD pass from Donoven Davenport
Dwayne McGee (Lenoir-Rhyne)D2Limestone39-yard rushing TD
Trent Pennix (NC State)FBSMarshall39-yard TD pass from MJ Morris
Branson Adams (Western Carolina)FCSChattanooga37-yard rushing TD
Conner McCarthy (Catawba)D2Wingate37-yard TD pass from Preston Brown
David White (Western Carolina)FCSChattanooga37-yard TD pass from Cole Gonzales
Michael Allen (NC State)FBSMarshall37-yard rushing TD

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Game-Winning Kicks

GAME WINNING FGDIVISIONYARDSOPPONENTSITUATION
Jason Zapata (Livingstone)D244Winston-Salem StateGave Blue Bears 23-21 lead with 27 seconds left
Richard McCollum (Western Carolina)FCS32ChattanoogaGame-winner as time expired
Jake Brown (Lenoir-Rhyne)D220LimestoneGame-winner in overtime

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Longest Field Goals

LONGEST FIELD GOALSDIVISIONYARDSOPPONENT
Jason Zapata (Livingstone)D250Winston-Salem State
Jason Zapata (Livingstone)D244Winston-Salem State
Burke Nettles (Guilford)D343Washington & Lee
Jack Berkowitz (Elon)FCS43NC Central
Brayden Narveson (NC State)FBS40Marshall
Jason Zapata (Livingstone)D239Winston-Salem State
Ty Woods (UNC Pembroke)D237Frostburg State
Matthew Dennis (Wake Forest)FBS35Clemson

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Highest Scoring Teams

MOST POINTS SCOREDDIVISIONPOINTSOPPONENTRESULT
Western CarolinaFCS52ChattanoogaW, 52-50
BrevardD249Southern VirginiaW, 49-28
NC StateFBS48MarshallW, 48-41
North CarolinaFBS40SyracuseW, 40-7
Mars HillD238ErskineW, 38-3
NC WesleyanD335LaGrangeW, 35-14
BartonD234NewberryW, 34-17
NC CentralFCS34ElonW, 34-23
Gardner-WebbFCS31Robert MorrisW, 31-16
Lenoir-RhyneD231LimestoneW, 31-28 OT
WingateD231CatawbaW, 31-13
CampbellFCS30HamptonW, 30-27

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Fewest Points Allowed

FEWEST POINTS ALLOWEDDIVISIONPOINTSOPPONENTRESULT
Fayetteville StateD20St. Augustine’sW, 7-0
Mars HillD23ErskineW, 38-3
North CarolinaFBS7SyracuseW, 40-7
ShawD210Johnson C. SmithW, 21-10
WingateD213CatawbaW, 31-13
NC WesleyanD314LaGrangeW, 35-14
Gardner-WebbFCS16Robert MorrisW, 31-16
BartonD217NewberryW, 34-17
Wake ForestFBS17ClemsonL, 12-17

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Narrowest Margin Of Victory

NARROWEST MARGIN OF VICTORYDIVISIONMARGINOPPONENTFINAL
LivingstoneD22WInston-Salem StateW, 23-21
Western CarolinaFCS2ChattanoogaW, 52-50
CampbellFCS3HamptonW, 30-27
Lenoir-RhyneD23LimestoneW, 31-28 OT

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Narrowest Margin Of Defeat

NARROWEST MARGIN OF DEFEATDIVISIONMARGINOPPONENTFINAL
Winston-Salem StateD22LivingstoneL, 21-23
Wake ForestFBS5ClemsonL, 12-17

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