WINGATE, N.C. — Senior running back Buck Wakefield (Drummonds, Tenn.) rushed for a school-record 303 yards and two touchdowns to lead the 18th-ranked Carson-Newman football team (8-2, 6-0) to a 45-7 victory over Wingate (6-3, 4-2 SAC) on Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference action at Irwin Belk Stadium.

With the win, the Eagles clinch their 21st SAC title and extend their winning streak to eight games. C-N won't have to share the league crown with anybody as Tusculum upset Mars Hill by a 38-28 score in Greeneville, Tenn.

“They aren’t satisfied (with just the SAC title),” C-N head coach Ken Sparks said. “They want to see how much better we can get before this thing is over with.”

Wakefield surpassed the single-game rushing mark of 299 yards set by Heath Hawkins in 1998 against Slippery Rock. Wakefield has now rushed for 685 and 10 touchdowns on 51 carries in four career games against the Bulldogs, averaging 13.4 yards per carry.

“I didn’t think that record would ever go down,” Sparks said. “He didn’t have a complete game, but we are glad to have Buck Wakefield. He's been amazing since he came back from injury.”

The Eagles amassed 657 yards of total offense on the day with 496 yards on the ground and 161 through the air.

C-N senior signal caller Alex Good (Greensboro, N.C.) completed 6-of-11 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Eagles’ passing attack. He also added 65 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Good’s first touchdown pass, a 53-yard scoring strike to Charles Dobson (Umatilla, Fla.) on the fourth play of the game, moved him past former Eagle great Leonard Guyton for first in school history in career touchdown passes with 42. The record was the second Good has broken in as many games, as he also became the Eagles’ all-time leader in total offense last week against Brevard.

C-N turned in another stellar performance on defense. The Eagles surrendered 373 yards on the day but held Wingate out of the end zone with two goal line stands. C-N had three fourth-down stops for the game.

The Eagles took the opening kickoff and needed less than two minutes to find the end zone. On C-N’s fourth play from scrimmage, Good connected with Dobson on a bubble screen, and Dobson evaded a defender and raced 53 yards to pay dirt. Carlos Lopez’s (Seymour, Tenn.) extra point gave C-N a 7-0 lead with 13:15 left in the first quarter.

Lopez added a 31-yard field goal at the 3:22 mark of the first stanza to push the Eagles’ lead to 10-0.

Eagles senior cornerback P.J. Woods (Ft. Meyers, Fla.) set up C-N’s next score by intercepting Wingate’s Cody Haffly (Locust Grove, Ga.) at the Eagles' 21. C-N then went on an 11-play, 79-yard scoring drive capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by Ricky Harris (Perry, Ga.) to give the Eagles a 17-0 advantage.

Wingate scored its lone touchdown of the game two possessions later, as Haffly found Phillip Thomas (St. Pauls, N.C.) for a 42-yard touchdown pass to cut C-N’s lead to 17-7.

But the Eagles answered on the very next play. Wakefield took a handoff from Good and busted loose up the middle and outran the Wingate defense for a 68-yard touchdown run. Lopez’s point after gave C-N a 24-7 cushion.

The Eagles added two more touchdowns to close out the half. Good hooked up with Dobson for a 56-yard scoring strike and added a 7-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left in the second quarter to give C-N a 38-7 advantage heading into the locker room. Dobson finished the day with a career-high 125 yards and two touchdowns on four receptions.

C-N put the game away late in the third quarter, as Wakefield broke free for a 64-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a 45-7 lead.

Haffly completed 19-of-37 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown to lead Wingate.

Thomas caught six passes for 102 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bulldogs in receiving.

C-N closes out the regular season next Saturday at home against SAC rival Tusculum. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Burke-Tarr Stadium.