Greensboro College’s Alec Williams-Carr threw six touchdown passes on Saturday, helping the Pride pick up their first win of the season, 47-7. The Greensboro signal caller headlines our top offensive statistical performers from Week 9. Here’s a recap, plus lists of the most prolific passers, rushers, receivers and team offenses in spreadsheet form.
Top Passers
Williams-Carr was the only quarterback of the week to fire six touchdown throws. The junior from Miami, Fla., finished the day 24-of-32 for 285 yards. He did not throw an interception. The Pride had been 0-8 before unleashing their best offensive performance of the season.
Two quarterbacks from the Old North State threw five TD passes in Week 9, one in a winning effort and one in losing cause.
North Carolina Central’s Davius Richard threw for 352 yards and recorded five scoring strikes (and rushed for two more TDs) in the Eagles’ dismantling of conference foe South Carolina State. Western Carolina’s Cole Gonzales had a five-touchdown, 388-yard day against Mercer but also was picked off three times as the Catamounts fell behind early and lost a shootout by a touchdown.
Appalachian State’s Joey Aguilar had the most passing yardage of the week, completing 23 throws for 391 yards against Southern Miss.
In all, eight QBs from North Carolina crossed the 300-yard passing plateau. Five won, while three fell short.
Brooks Bentley from Wingate earned South Atlantic Conference offensive player of the week honors after leading the Bulldogs to a 34-30 upset of Lenoir-Rhyne. Bentley completed 24 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns, none bigger than his 75-yard strike to Evan McCray late in the game to provide the winning points.
Brevard’s Ethan Beamish became his school’s single-season passing leader over the weekend. Beamish had a 315-yard, two touchdown showing in a win over LaGrange, giving him 2,176 yards – and counting – during the 2023 campaign.
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TOP PASSING YARDAGE DIVISION COMP ATT YARDS TDS INTS LONG Joey Aguilar (Appalachian State) FBS 23 33 391 4 1 57 Cole Gonzales (Western Carolina) FCS 32 51 388 5 3 44 Davius Richard (NC Central) FCS 18 27 352 5 1 60 Rashad McKee (Chowan) D2 23 41 342 0 0 69 Colin Johnson (UNC Pembroke) D2 15 24 336 4 0 59 Brooks Bentley (Wingate) D2 24 37 335 3 0 75 Ethan Beamish (Brevard) D3 20 31 315 2 1 43 Drake Maye (North Carolina) FBS 17 25 310 2 0 46 Alec Williams-Carr (Greensboro) D3 24 32 285 6 0 29 Joe Owens Jr. (Fayetteville State) D2 23 32 280 1 2 60 Jalen Ferguson (Lenoir-Rhyne) D2 24 33 262 3 1 48 Brandon Bullins (Methodist) D3 35 52 252 0 0 20 JR Martin (Mars Hill) D2 10 14 252 2 0 60 Tyler Flippen (Barton) D2 14 24 244 2 1 Alex Flinn (East Carolina) FBS 23 43 225 2 1 39 Daylin Lee (Winston-Salem State) D2 20 35 224 3 0 33 Jaylen King (Gardner-Webb) FCS 16 33 216 2 0 71 Jamere Cherry (Johnson C. Smith) D2 10 19 87 2 0 19 Coulter Cleland (Davidson) FCS 7 8 69 3 0 27
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TOUCHDOWN PASSES DIVISION TDS Alec Williams-Carr (Greensboro) D3 6 Cole Gonzales (Western Carolina) FCS 5 Davius Richard (NC Central) FCS 5 Colin Johnson (UNC Pembroke) D2 4 Joey Aguilar (Appalachian State) FBS 4 Brooks Bentley (Wingate) D2 3 Coulter Cleland (Davidson) FCS 3 Daylin Lee (Winston-Salem State) D2 3 Jalen Ferguson (Lenoir-Rhyne) D2 3 Alex Flinn (East Carolina) FBS 2 Drake Maye (North Carolina) FBS 2 Ethan Beamish (Brevard) D3 2 Jamere Cherry (Johnson C. Smith) D2 2 Jaylen King (Gardner-Webb) FCS 2 JR Martin (Mars Hill) D2 2 Tyler Flippen (Barton) D2 2
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Top Rushers
Louisburg College’s Christian Franklin had a monster day for the JUCO Hurricanes on Saturday. He was the only collegiate back from the state to cross the 200-yard plateau in rushing. He finished with 205 yards on 10 totes, scoring one touchdown.
Catawba, known for its passing attack much of the season, stuck to the ground game in a win over Barton on Saturday. The Indians had two backs over 100 yards — Malcolm Wilson (173 yards, 1 TD) and Marquece Williams (104 yards, 3 TDs). JR Martin of Mars Hill also score three TDs on the ground.
Davidson did Davidson things in running over Presbyterian for its sixth straight win. Mason Sheron paced a diverse Wildcats ground game with 139 yards and a score. Mari Adams didn’t pile up the yardage (41 yards on 12 carries) but found the end zone twice.
Anthony Byrd of suddenly streaking NC Wesleyan (four wins in a row after an 0-4 start) had the longest run of the day among our top ground-gainers, going 80 yards.
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TOP RUSHERS DIVISION ATT YARDS TDS YDS/CARRY LONG Christian Franklin (Louisburg) JUCO 10 205 1 20.5 Malcolm Wilson (Catawba) D2 20 173 1 8.7 48 Dwayne McGee (Lenoir-Rhyne) D2 17 171 1 10.1 63 Omarion Hampton (North Carolina) FBS 29 153 2 5.3 17 Jordan Terrell (Barton) D2 24 151 2 6.3 22 Anthony Byrd (NC Wesleyan) D3 19 142 2 7.5 80 JaQuan Kelly (UNC Pembroke) D2 14 141 2 10.1 78 Mason Sheron (Davidson) FCS 23 139 1 6.0 43 Kanye Roberts (Appalachian State) FBS 13 109 1 8.4 61 Marquece Williams (Catawba) D2 22 104 3 4.7 15 Sincere Baines (UNC Pembroke) D2 13 96 0 7.4 20
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RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS DIVISION TDS JR Martin (Mars Hill) D2 3 Marquece Williams (Catawba) D2 3 Anthony Byrd (NC Wesleyan) D3 2 Davius Richard (NC Central) FCS 2 JaQuan Kelly (UNC Pembroke) D2 2 Jordan Terrell (Barton) D2 2 Joseph Brown Jr. (Guilford) D3 2 Mari Adams (Davidson) FCS 2 Omarion Hampton (North Carolina) FBS 2
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Top Receivers
Joey Aguilar was slinging it for App State. Christian Horn was one of his favorite targets. Horn hauled in eight catches for 165 yards, the top receiving numbers this week in the state. Horn turned two receptions into touchdowns and averaged 20.6 yards per catch.
Malik Tobias (UNC Pembroke) was the only player from the state to make three TD receptions. His longest covered 52 yards.
Jon Gullette continues to get it done for Mars Hill. He caught three passes, covered 106 yards and scored twice.
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TOP RECEIVERS DIVISION CATCHES YARDS TDS LONG YPC Christian Horn (Appalachian State) FBS 8 165 2 49 20.6 Malik Tobias (UNC Pembroke) D2 6 146 3 52 24.3 Demetrius Moore (Chowan) D2 6 137 0 69 22.8 Isaiah Jacobs (Barton) D2 5 129 1 61 25.8 David White (Western Carolina) FCS 5 113 1 44 22.6 Jon Gullette (Mars Hill) D2 3 106 2 60 35.3 Keegan Williams (Louisburg) JUCO 3 106 1 35.3 Jaylen Johnson (East Carolina) FBS 8 105 1 29 13.1 Devin Smith (NC Central) FCS 4 103 1 60 25.8 Tyquan Watson (St. Andrews) NAIA 7 101 0 41 14.4 J’Mari Taylor (NC Central) FCS 4 100 2 60 25.0 Evan McCray (Wingate) D2 4 97 1 75 24.3 Deondre Lester (Lenoir-Rhyne) D2 5 95 0 48 19.0 Davontay Deloatch (Livingstone) D2 6 94 1 29 15.7 Jordan Moore (Duke) FBS 6 92 0 47 15.3 Zackary Orr (Brevard) D3 8 92 0 23 11.5 Nigel Fitzgerald (Fayetteville State) D2 4 91 1 60 22.8 Kevin “KC” Concepcion (NC State) FBS 5 83 2 72 16.6
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RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS DIVISION TDS Malik Tobias (UNC Pembroke) D2 3 Ajay Belanger (Western Carolina) FCS 2 Christian Horn (Appalachian State) FBS 2 J’Mari Taylor (NC Central) FCS 2 Jon Gullette (Mars Hill) D2 2 Kevin “KC” Concepcion (NC State) FBS 2 Keyshaun Powell (Louisburg) JUCO 2 Ryan Buchanan (Greensboro) D3 2 Tegan Griggs (Greensboro) D3 2
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RECEIVING YARDS PER CATCH DIVISION CATCHES YPC Jon Gullette (Mars Hill) D2 3 35.3 Keegan Williams (Louisburg) JUCO 3 35.3 Isaiah Jacobs (Barton) D2 5 25.8 Devin Smith (NC Central) FCS 4 25.8 J’Mari Taylor (NC Central) FCS 4 25.0 Malik Tobias (UNC Pembroke) D2 6 24.3 Evan McCray (Wingate) D2 4 24.3 Demetrius Moore (Chowan) D2 6 22.8 Nigel Fitzgerald (Fayetteville State) D2 4 22.8 David White (Western Carolina) FCS 5 22.6 Christian Horn (Appalachian State) FBS 8 20.6 Deondre Lester (Lenoir-Rhyne) D2 5 19.0 Keyshaun Powell (Louisburg) JUCO 2 18.0 Kevin “KC” Concepcion (NC State) FBS 5 16.6 Tegan Griggs (Greensboro) D3 4 16.5 Davontay Deloatch (Livingstone) D2 6 15.7 Jordan Moore (Duke) FBS 6 15.3
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Most Prolific Offensive Units
We tracked all of the North Carolina teams who hit 400 yards or better in total offense. This week, 12 schools reached that mark.
Surging UNC Pembroke, which has routed its past three foes (including 49-0 over Glenville State on Saturday), put up 619 total yards in its latest outing. The Braves remained pretty balanced: 336 through the air and 283 on the ground.
North Carolina had its offense rolling in Atlanta but just couldn’t stop the Yellow Jackets’ ground attack in the second half. UNC finished with 577 total yards, including a 310-yard passing effort from Drake Maye.
App State dropped 571 yards of offense on a bottom team in the Sun Belt. Louisburg College recorded 493.
Davidson missed 400 total yards (by 35). But the Wildcats continue to impress running the football, with a bevy of backs picking up 296 rushing yards.
Kudos to Fayetteville State. The Broncos had been relying heavily on their defense to win games in the CIAA (ranking 11th in total offense and scoring heading into Saturday’s game against Shaw). FSU broke out with a 410-yard offensive effort and slipped past the Bears 21-14. One drive covered more than 90 yards. The Broncos’ final play was a game-winning 60-yard pass from Joe Owens Jr. to Nigel Fitzgerald with 20 seconds left.
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MOST PROLIFIC OFFENSES DIVISION YARDS OPPONENT RESULT SPLITS UNC Pembroke D2 619 Glenville State W, 49-0 283 rush, 336 pass North Carolina FBS 577 Georgia Tech L, 42-46 267 rush, 310 pass Appalachian State FBS 571 Southern Miss W, 48-38 180 rush, 391 pass Louisburg College JUCO 493 Myrtle Beach Collegiate W, 41-6 321 rush, 172 pass Lenoir-Rhyne D2 483 Wingate L, 30-34 221 rush, 262 pass North Carolina Central FCS 482 South Carolina State W, 62-28 130 rush, 352 pass Western Carolina FCS 474 Mercer L, 38-45 86 rush, 388 pass Wingate D2 439 Lenoir-Rhyne W, 34-30 104 rush, 335 pass Fayetteville State D2 410 Shaw W, 21-14 130 rush, 280 pass Barton D2 406 Catawba L, 27-32 162 rush, 244 pass Mars Hill D2 403 UVA Wise W, 49-18 133 rush, 270 pass Brevard D3 400 LaGrange W, 30-20 85 rush, 315 pass Davidson FCS 365 Presbyterian W, 45-28 296 rush, 69 pass
