South Atlantic Recap: Lenoir-Rhyne clinches Piedmont title; Mars Hill falls in 2OT

The South Atlantic Conference championship game won’t be an all-North Carolina affair after all.

Lenoir-Rhyne did its part to reach the title tilt, beating Catawba 28-7 to capture the Piedmont Division crown on Saturday afternoon. But Mars Hill suffered a heartbreaking 29-27 double overtime loss at Tusculum in the battle for the Mountain Division. Tusculum moves on to face the Bears in the SAC finale next Saturday, Nov. 11.

Wingate’s playoff hopes still flicker after a 21-17 win at Newberry. Barton College fell just short in its senior night game against Limestone, 33-28.

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South Atlantic Football Finals: Week 10

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News, Notes & Takeaways

* The South Atlantic Conference has only had a championship game since the 2020-21 COVID year. Lenoir-Rhyne and Tusculum faced off in the inaugural game, with Tusculum prevailing 28-23. The 2023 matchup has been set for 1 p.m. at Tusculum in Greeneville, Tenn.

* Mars Hill (7-2, 6-2 SAC), ranked No. 25 in Division II, could have wrapped up the SAC Mountain Division with its fifth win in a row. But the Lions couldn’t convert on a two-point conversion in the second overtime, while Tusculum converted its try.

That Mars Hill even forced a second overtime is remarkable. After giving up a touchdown to Tusculum, the Lions were flagged for multiple penalties. Instead of starting its OT possession at the Tusculum 25, Mars Hill had to set up shop at its own 45. Undeterred, JR Martin guided the Lions back to the TU 41, then completed a scoring strike to Ja’Hari Mitchell to tie the game at 21-21.

Mars Hill got the ball first in the second extra period. Martin eventually scored from the two, but a PAT pass failed. Tusculum quarterback Matthew Palazzo did all the work from there, eventually tying the game 27-27 with a two-yard TD keeper of his own. A Kemani Brown pass to Zaron Collins in the left end zone decided it for the home team.

* The Lions took a 7-0 lead into halftime on a nine-yard TD run from Jon Gullette. A Martin one-yard plunge pushed the lead to 14-0 early in the third. But it wouldn’t hold.

Tusculum earned the tying points with 12:48 left in the fourth period on a 23-yard fumble scoop-and-score. Mars Hill pushed the ball to the Pioneers 28 in the closing minutes but turned it over on downs. Tusculum went three-and-out, and the Lions moved from their 43 after a punt to the Pioneers 26. But a 43-yard field goal that would have won the game missed left.

* Mars Hill came into the weekend ranked sixth in the D2 regional rankings, which help determine playoff berths. It will be interesting to see what Saturday’s loss does to the Lions’ post-season chances. Since Mars Hill won’t be in the SAC title game, it has a cross-conference game against Newberry set for next Saturday.

* Could Mars Hill’s loss help Wingate reach the playoffs? Wingate lost to the Lions back in an early September nail-biter but improved to 7-3 with Saturday’s triumph over Newberry. Three losses likely will be too much to overcome, most pundits say, but the Bulldogs still have some hope.

Brooks Bentley threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another score to lead the Bulldogs. Bentley was last week’s D2Football offensive player of the week after leading Wingate past then-No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne.

Marquise Fleming paced the Wingate defense with eight tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss (25 minus yards) and 2.5 sacks. Damian Sutton caught what would be the game-winning TD for the ‘Dogs. The seven-yard play came with 8:54 left and Newberry holding a 17-14 edge.

* Per Lenoir-Rhyne sports information, the Bears have now won 24 conference championships in their program history. More than 7,000 fans attended the most recent Piedmont Division clinching game at Moretz Stadium.

Lenoir-Rhyne built a 21-0 lead against Catawba by halftime. Sean White threw a pair of TD passes during that stretch, hitting DeAree Rogers on a 35-yard play early in the game, then finding Deondre Lester on a 48-yard scoring strike.

White accounted for all three scores before the break, plunging in from the 1 right before the break. He also threw another touchdown pass after halftime, this time connecting with Malakei Sumner with 9:25 left in the third.

From there, the Lenoir-Rhyne defense did the rest, keeping Catawba out of the end zone to preserve the Bears’ ninth win in 10 games. Jon Ross Maye finished with 14 total tackles. DJ Taylor and Andre Jefferson each had three sacks. Jefferson forced a fumble, broke up a pass and recorded a QB hurry.

* Dwayne McGee didn’t find the end zone for Lenoir-Rhyne, but his 96 rushing yards put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He’s the third back from the state to achieve the milestone, joining Barton’s Jordan Terrell and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton.

* Catawba’s lone touchdown against Lenoir-Rhyne came on a three-yard rush from Bo Pryor. Preston Brown threw for 188 yards but was chased by the Bears most of the night. Lenoir-Rhyne recorded seven total sacks.

* Barton scored a touchdown in each quarter against Limestone and pulled within five points on a 44-yard Jaquan Lynch to Kameron Johnson TD pass with 5:53 left. But the Bulldogs never got the ball back.

Limestone took the kickoff and converted three first downs. A Barton pass interference penalty bailed out Limestone on a third-and-nine with 1:45 to go and enabled the Saints to take a knee the rest of the way.

* Barton junior Jordan Terrell, who leads North Carolina in rushing yardage across all divisions, earned 136 yards on Saturday. He had 132 in the opening half but couldn’t get untracked after the break. Terrell now has 1,329 yards on the season. This week’s solid effort gives Terrell 5,084 career rushing yards.

* Shane Perry earned 12 tackles to lead the Barton defense, He’s now three shy of 100 stops for the season.

The junior from Holly Springs earned his 300th career tackle with his first hit against Limestone. Perry now has 311 total stops in four seasons in Bulldog blue and white. He’s had 10 or more tackles in each of the last five games.