VIDEO: Ken Sparks postgame interview
VIDEO: Robby Ignagni Interview
VIDEO: Jerry Miclisse Interview
VIDEO: Andy Hibbett Interview
VIDEO: De'Andre Thomas Interview
VIDEO: Highlight Reel
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 21 Carson-Newman (2-1. 1-0 South Atlantic Conference) rolled up 496 yards of total offense in a 55-42 road win over Brevard (0-3, 0-1 SAC) Saturday afternoon at Brevard Memorial Stadium.
With the win, Ken Sparks moves past Pop Warner and into sixth place by himself on the all-time wins list. Sparks has 320 career wins. He's three away from legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant and his 323 career victories.
The Eagles had five different players score touchdowns. C-N didn't score on a drive until it turned it over on downs on its sixth possession.
"We were able to answer everything that Brevard did," Sparks said. "Defensively I thought we did alright, but there were fluky plays that they capitalized on. We jump over the quarterback and he throws a touchdown pass. There were three or four plays where we do good stuff on defense, but then we'd find a way to give it back to them."
Brevard rolled up 419 yards on the ground and 480 yards of total offense. However, the Eagles turned up the heat in the second half defensively with six sacks of Brevard quarterback Tanner Wright.
The Eagles got a spark right out of the gate when Lonnie Williams (Philadelphia, Pa.) brought back the opening kickoff 100 yards along the right sideline for a touchdown 15 seconds into the game.
Williams' kickoff return for a touchdown is the first for Carson-Newman since Buck Wakefield housed from 94 yards out against Grand Valley State in the 2009 playoffs.
"The kicking game showed a lot of life," Sparks said. "We dominated I thought and that was critical. Coach Reveiz and our kickoff unit deserve medals for their improvement. Lonnie Williams was a weapon in himself with those 10 guys making blocks for him. It was a great way to open the game. Sometimes you can have a let down after that, but we continued to play good ball. This is one that we can build one."
Carson-Newman and Brevard traded punches for their first five drives. An Eric Cain (Dandridge, Tenn.) interception proved to be the difference early on. The pick led to Jamal Jones (Chattanooga, Tenn.) recovering a botched snap in the end zone to put C-N up 21-7 with 2:28 left in the first quarter.
Brevard countered with a Jordan Ollis' two-yard dive over the right guard 1:11 into the second quarter.
The Eagles snaked ahead by three scores on their next two possessions. TraShaun Ward (Miami, Fla.) was on the receiving end of a 68-yard out and up route from De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.). C-N then picked up a short field off a shanked Brevard and personal foul penalty. Thomas took the next play 17 yards around right tackle to push C-N's lead to 34-14.
"We have to continue to develop ourselves," Sparks said. "I thought today was a major step in that direction. At the end of the year we want to be a good football team. Our guys needed some encouragement because they've been beat down the last couple weeks cause we haven't played well at all. They got that encouragement from today's game."
The Eagles and Tornados traded touchdowns the rest of the way, with Brevard getting the last TD on a Wright 12-yard scoring scamper with 1:39 left in the game to set the final margin at 55-42 Eagles.
Andy Hibbett (Corryton, Tenn.) collected his first career back-to-back 100-yard rushing games after touting105 yards on 13 carries to go along with his two touchdowns. Hibbett has 26 career touchdowns, moving him into a tie for 11th on C-N's all-time career scoring list.
Randall Freeman (Ooltewah, Tenn.) had a career-high 92 yards on 12 carries. Thomas found the end zone twice on the ground after carrying eight times for 70 yards.
Thomas completed eight of 13 passes for 164 yards and a pair of scores through the air. Aaron Seward (Charlotte, N.C.) snared his first career touchdown pass on a 24-yard slant over the left hashes.
Brevard was led by Kelvin Jeter's 162 yards rushing. Jordan Ollis had 133 yards on the ground.
Jerry Miclisse (Homestead, Fla.) had a career best 15-tackle day. Sean Rawson (Cape Coral, Fla.) followed with 12 tackles. Deon Meadows (Smyrna, Tenn.) picked up two sacks.
"We just played a game where we concentrated on ourselves instead of what somebody else did," Sparks said. "That's a sign of maturity. The key is to build on that and to make that a way of playing and a way of life."
The Eagles play their third straight road game next Saturday at Catawba. Kickoff from Shuford Stadium is set for 1:30 p.m., pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network with the AEC Tailgate Show at 12:30 p.m. on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), 106.3 ESPN Radio The Zone (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
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