Quarterback Sean White broke multiple school records, and Lenoir-Rhyne broke Shepherd’s will by halftime of Saturday’s NCAA Division II playoff contest.
White threw for a new school best 398 yards, helping the Bears roll 63-17. The junior from Sarasota, Fla., completed his first 14 passes and finished with five passing touchdowns. He also rushed for two scores, and his 405 total yards breaks a program record for total offense.
Songa Yates and DeAree Rogers each caught two of White’s scoring strikes.
Lenoir-Rhyne (11-1) will visit undefeated Benedict in round two next weekend as the D2 field is trimmed to 16 teams. Shepherd’s season ends at 9-3. The Rams were national semifinalists a year ago.
White’s six-yard TD run early in the game opened the scoring. Shepherd answered with a 2-yard TD plunge from Malakei Brown to tie the game 7-7.
But less than a minute later, the Sean White show started in earnest. White hit Yates on a 53-yard scoring play to put the Bears up 14-7. Shepherd fumbled, and Zayvion Turner-Knox capitalized a few plays later for a 21-7 edge to close a busy opening quarter.
Parsons caught a 65-yard touchdown pass from White in the second quarter. Yates hauled in his second touchdown, this one from 31 yards, with 1:19 left before the break. Lenoir-Rhyne took a 35-17 lead into halftime and never looked back.
The second half began much like the first, with White finding the end zone on a short run. Rogers caught a 40-yard TD pass from White to push the lead to 49-17. Deondre Lester then closed the third period with a 16-yard touchdown catch.
Jalen Ferguson also got into the scoring act from under center, recording Lenoir-Rhyne’s sixth touchdown pass of the day with 9:25 left in the game — a 14-yard strike to Rogers. Lenoir-Rhyne had never enjoyed six touchdown passes in a game before this season, but the Bears have now done it in two consecutive contests.
Yates finished with 141 yards in receptions on six catches. He now has five touchdowns in his last two games. Rogers had 91 yards on four receptions. Lester added 89 receiving yards on eight grabs. Parsons earned 84 yards on five catches.
Lenoir-Rhyne’s 461 total passing yards breaks an all-time program record. The school has been playing football for 104 years. White completed 25-of-31 throws, for a completion percentage of 80.6 percent.
Shepherd quarterback Seth Morgan, who was tasked with replacing current Chicago Bears QB Tyson Bagent this season, finished 13-of-28 for 209 yards and one touchdown against the Bears’ stingy defense — one of the best in the South Atlantic Conference this season. Jon Ross Maye and Gabe Watson both intercepted Morgan passes.
Andre Jefferson recorded two sacks for 19 yards in losses. Willie Lane had an 11-yard sack, while Devin Hibbitt had an eight-yard sack.
Jake Brown completed the Lenoir-Rhyne scoring, providing nine PATs in nine attempts.
The Lenoir-Rhyne at Benedict game has tentatively been scheduled for 1 p.m. next Saturday in Columbia, S.C.
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