VIDEO: De'Andre Thomas Interview
VIDEO: Sha'Heem Stupart Interview
JEFFERSON CITY - Over the last few years the game between Carson-Newman (5-2, 3-2 South Atlantic Conference) and Newberry (3-4, 1-3 SAC) has been a slugfest where the outcome was never in doubt. The complete opposite was true in Saturday's game between the two teams.
The Eagles got big defensive plays when they needed them which included two blocked field goal attempts as they prevailed over the Wolves 27-20, reversing the trend in the recent series where the average margin of victory had been just under 21 points.
The two teams put up impressive offensive numbers as the Eagles out-gained the Wolves 478-460. De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.) was a monster for the Eagles as he threw for 189 yards on 8-of-18 passing and ran 15 times for 165 yards for his eighth career 100-yard rushing performance. But the scoring punch came from Damian Baker (Columbus, Miss.) who scored four times for the Eagles.
Newberry quarterback Raleigh Yeldell (Edgefield, S.C.) was 26-of-39 for 262 yards to lead the Wolves' attack. Romelo Doctor (Summerville, S.C.) toted the ball 24 times for 108 yards and a touchdown and Yeldell had two rushing touchdowns on 11 carries.
Sha'heem Stupart (Taylors, S.C.) was once again the anchor of the Eagles' defense as he had 11 tackles. Justin Long (Kingsport, Tenn.) recorded two block field goals for Carson-Newman. Arnez Gray (Greenwood, S.C.) led Newberry with 10 tackles as did Jalen Hunter (Seneca, S.C.).
C-N head coach Ken Sparks, who saw his team score the 14,000th point of his career during the win over the Wolves, said his squad showed resiliency all day long.
"The will of our kids and the fact they had some 'want-to' carried us," Sparks said. "I think we did a great job of rallying when sometimes we made some mistakes. We would come up with a big play. We are growing up some because this was a good football team we played today."
The Eagles were on the board in no time to start the game, taking only 74 seconds to score. Thomas uncorked a 49-yard bomb to Grant Janeway (Johnson City, Tenn.) to move the ball to the Newberry three yard line and Baker scored the first of his four touchdowns on the next play. Carson Wise's (Blacksburg, Va.) point after made it 7-0.
Carson-Newman scored again on the next to last play of the third quarter. Baker had a 20-yard scamper to set the Eagles up in good field position at the Newberry six. Two plays later, Baker found pay dirt again. Wise's kick this time was blocked by Brice Green (Irmo, S.C.) but the Eagles still led 13-0.
The next C-N scoring play was set up when Thomas found TraShaun Ward (Miami, Fla.) for 73 yards to the Wolves' seven yard line. Baker had score number three with a one yard plunge to make it 20-0 as the Eagles were rolling.
But from that point, the Wolves caught fire and out-gained the Eagles 300-73 over a long stretch to get back into the game. The comeback started with Yeldell making huge passes to his receivers and scoring Newberry's first points of the game on a seven-yard quarterback keeper. After forcing the Eagles to punt on their next possession, the Wolves struck again on a drive which took only 1:44 off the clock. Yeldell had a 21-yard scoring play and Ryan Janssen's (Bennettsville, S.C.) kick made it 20-14.
It appeared Newberry would add more points right before the half but the Eagles came up with a key defensive play. Janssen lined up for a 37-yard field goal attempt but Long came through to block it as time expired at the end of the second quarter. Carson-Newman headed to the break up 20-14.
"I enjoyed us making big plays when it counted," Sparks said of his team's ability to get the right play at the right time. "Our kids just kept on and made plays and in the end, we won the ball game. We had kids today that had a lot of heart and that is all a coach can ask for."
Any adverse effects the Wolves may have had from the end of the second quarter was not evident as the third quarter started. Newberry scored on their first possession of the second half when Doctor ran in from three yards out to make it 20-20 and then the Eagles caught a break when Janssen's extra point clanged off the right upright.
The special teams problems were evident on Newberry's next possession which resulted in another blocked kick. The Wolves switched kickers and went with Kyle Clark (Beaufort, S.C.) who attempted a 25-yarder. The result was the same: Justin Long poked through the line and swatted it down to end the Newberry threat.
"Justin Long is a special youngin'," Sparks said of Long's two blocked kicks. "He is an unbelievable success story and has paid his dues. For three years he had waited on something good to happen for him and now he is taking advantage of it."
It appeared the Wolves had taken the lead late in the third when Cole Watson (Conway, S.C.) had a punt return for a touchdown but it was called back on a hold. That was a huge break for the Eagles as they dug in defensively and held when Lane Bloom (Maryville, Tenn.) blasted Yeldell on a sack on a fourth down play at the Carson-Newman 34 yard line.
That was the break the Eagles needed as they marched down the field and punched in the winning score on the ensuing drive. Baker had a 14-yard run to pick up a first down on the first play of the drive and later, Thomas rushed for 18 yards to the 14 yard line as C-N was knocking on the door.
"He had unbelievable leadership qualities for us today," Sparks said of his senior quarterback. "And it just wasn't on offense, he was leading all of us today. De'Andre was encouraging everyone and it was a lot of fun to watch."
After a penalty moved the ball back, Baker produced the winning score when he took off and didn't stop until he was standing in the end zone 29 yards later. Wise's kick made it 27-20.
Yeldell was injured on his last series and the Wolves had to go with back-up quarterback Zach Blair (Lyman, S.C.) on their final drive which started with 58 seconds to go in the game. Newberry was able to move the ball to the Carson-Newman 48 but faced a fourth and 10. Freshman Jaysen Cook-Calhoun (Hoover, Ala.) had the biggest defensive play of the day when he sacked Blair for a four yard loss, turn the ball over on downs and allow the Eagles to run out the clock for the 27-20 victory.
"We have to keep growing as a team and a group of people," Sparks said. "We have to keep growing as a group of people and have to love each other more so we don't let each other down."
Carson-Newman won its homecoming game for a fourth consecutive year and garnered Sparks his 199th career South Atlantic Conference victory.
The Eagles hit the road Saturday for a 1:30 kickoff at Wingate. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 12:30 p.m. with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
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