C-N Game Notes

Catawba Game Notes

SAC Weekly Report

VIDEO: Ken Sparks Press Conference

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (2-0) opens up conference play with Catawba (1-1) searching to put together all three phases of a game for the first time this year.

The Eagles and Indians kick off from Burke-Tarr Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m.

In week one, Carson-Newman's offense was on display, rolling up 59 points and more than 600 yards of offense while the Eagles' defense struggled. In week two, C-N limited Shorter to under 250 yards of total offense and kept the Hawks at bay in the battle for field position with exceptional kick coverage. However, Carson-Newman produced its lowest offensive output in more than two years. 

Carson-Newman head coach Ken Sparks said he knows it'll take victory in all three phases of the game to take home a W against the Indians.

"Catawba is a very talented team and very well coached," Sparks said. "I know, like some of our young guys don't understand, this is a conference game which means everybody is going to give us their best shot. So, we have got to be ready to play and ready to respond. Anytime in a conference game, and probably for us every game, if we aren't ready to play we are subject for a struggle, because we are going to get everybody's plays saved up that we haven't seen. The little wrinkles that they have been working on all year long and now it's time to use those wrinkles."

C-N has won its conference opener in each of the last three seasons, and if C-N is to make it four straight, Sparks said the Eagles will need to continue to grow defensively.

"We have to build on it," Sparks said. "What you constantly are preaching is to continue to get better. What I told you after the first game is that I went into the meeting room and said we were a veteran team now. And we played more like a veteran team this week. So we have to continue to improve and to work on the things we know we need to improve on—which is everything. That's what we need to improve on. Everything—including the head coach. 

Catawba will be the first non-triple option team the Eagles will face this season. Indians' quarterback Mike Sheehan tossed for 387 yards and completed 30 of his 45 passes last year in a 35-33 C-N victory.  However, this season, Sheehan has thrown four picks and is averaging fewer yards through the air than C-N's De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.). Thomas averages 157 yards passing while Sheehan checks in at 108. 

Even though Sheehan isn't producing the numbers he did a year ago, Sparks is still wary of the Indians' signal caller. 

"He is their leader and he is the head of the clan," Sparks said. "They will go probably like he goes as far as the offense is concerned. Last year, he just ate us up either pulling it down and running it or finding some receiver who were in places they probably weren't supposed to be but he found them. We know he is a good player. He is a good operator and he will probably come in here with a lot of confidence."

The Indians have relied on a resurgent ground game of late.  Reigning SAC Offensive Player of the Week Cary Littlejohn is coming off a career high 192 yards on 27 carries. 

The matchup features the two top rushers in the league. C-N's Damian Baker (Columbus, Miss.) leads the league with 126 yards per game and is first in the conference and the nation with his five rushing touchdowns. Catawba's Cary Littlejohn is second in the SAC with 124.5 rush yards per game.

Ball security will be a must for the Eagles this week. Catawba is eighth in the nation with seven takeaways through two weeks. 

Indians linebacker Kyle Kitchens is one of nine players in the country to have already recovered two fumbles, while linebacker Jamal Lackey is one of 16 players nationwide to have already forced two fumbles.

Catawba has just three wins all-time at Mossy Creek, but they're all big. The Indians knocked the Eagles out of the top 10 with a 25-22 triumph in 2013. A 55-49 shootout win for Catawba in 2007 kept the Eagles out of the playoffs. A 2-0, yes, 2-0, win for the Indians in 1987 represents one of just two shutouts handed to head coach Ken Sparks in his 36- year career at Mossy Creek. In that game, current Catawba defensive coordinator Keith Henry blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety that stood as the final margin.

Three South Atlantic Conference Hall of Famers will occupy the sidelines during Saturday's game. C-N head football coach Ken Sparks went into the SAC HOF in 2007. A year later, Catawba head coach Curtis Walker, a three-time All-American linebacker for Catawba from 1989-92, went in. Finally, Carson-Newman defensive coordinator Mike Clowney entered the SAC hall this past year. Clowney was a consensus All-American at linebacker for the Eagles in 1996.

Coverage of the game will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Tailgate Show starting at noon on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online with a free high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.