VIDEO: Ken Sparks Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (4-2, 2-2 South Atlantic Conference) will try to hold serve in the friendly confines of Burke-Tarr Stadium when it welcomes Newberry (3-3, 1-2 SAC) to town for a 3 p.m. kickoff Saturday for homecoming.
The Eagles have won three straight homecoming contests since a 42-14 loss to UNC Pembroke in 2011.
Both squads are looking for consistency. The Eagles were drubbed two weeks ago 52-17 by Lenoir-Rhyne, but rebounded last week with a 45-14 beatdown of Brevard. Meanwhile Newberry is seeking to snap a two-game skid after a pair of one-possession loss to Tusculum and Mars Hill, 17-13 and 17-14, respectively. On the flip of that, the Wolves own an impressive 31-6 win over North Greenville, the only team to hand Lenoir-Rhyne a loss this year.
"They wore North Greeneville out," Carson-Newman head football coach Ken Sparks said. "North Greeneville has worn everyone else out. Then they lose to Mars Hill on Saturday in a downpour. It was a monsoon. The two games they lost has been when it rained. We need to get the fire department up here to spray water when we play Saturday. They are a pretty good ball team and we will have to play well."
For a program that has produced a pair of NFL pass catchers in Brandon Bostick and Corey Washington, the Wolves have turned into a ground and pound team. Newberry averages 264 yards on the ground, good for 13th nationally in rushing yardage. The Wolves have had eight 100- yard individual performances in the season's first six games led by Romelo Doctor and his 617 yards.
Kevin Miller has provided an explosive spark behind him, rushing for 8.0 yards a carry and 65 yards a game.
"I think they feel like they have the tools and the talents to be a running football team," Sparks said. "That big offense line up there that averages about 6-4, 300 pounds is not a bad way to start. The interesting thing to me was that on offense and defense is that I think they have 15 seniors that are going to start. We are going to matchup with 15 sophomores and freshman. That makes it pretty interesting."
While the series between Carson-Newman and Newberry is dead even at 4-4 ever since Todd Knight became the Wolves head coach, the teams have pretty much taken turns beating the ever-loving tar out of each other.
Aside from Knight's first two years as coach (a 27-21 win for Newberry in OT in 2008 and a 23-20 win for C-N the next year at Mossy Creek), the average margin of victory has been 20.8 points.
The closest margin of victory for either team since 2010 has been a 37-27 win for the Eagles in the 2013 playoffs. Each of the last six contests, with the exception of that 2013 playoff matchup has been decided by at least three touchdowns.
That trend may come to an end this year, aside from the Wolves' 31-6 win over the North Greenville Crusaders this year, Newberry has played tight contests. Three of the Wolves' games have been decided by three points, one by four and one by a touchdown.
The Wolves will look to continue that solid trend of defense with the hopes of denying Sparks a milestone.
Carson-Newman needs 11 points Saturday to score the 14,000th point all-time in Sparks' illustrious 36-year coaching career.
However, career point totals are trivial to Sparks in the face of actually getting to see the alum who piled up those points by the thousands for homecoming.
"We just wish we had more time to spend quality time with them," Sparks said. "We haven't been able to do that yet because they are so many things that happen on a ball game weekend that's hard and it is usually our biggest recruiting weekend. It's hard to get it done with the people you need to get it done with because you love and care about them so much."
De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.) moved into a tie with his former teammate and current coach Andy Hibbett for sixth on the all-time rushing touchdown list with an option keep against Lenoir-Rhyne. With 37 rushing touchdowns, Thomas needs two more to match Alex Good for fifth all-time. Thomas has five career rushing touchdowns against Newberry.
Damian Baker (Columbus, Ga.) ranks fifth in the country in yards per carry with 7.9, sixth in rushing yards with 804 and sixth in rushing touchdowns in 10. Baker has four, 100-yard performances on the ground this season.
Carson-Newman and Newberry kick things off at 3 p.m. Saturday. The annual homecoming parade begins at 2, running concurrently with the start of the broadcast day on the Eagle Sports Network. Fans can listen to the game on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville), and they can watch the game online with a free high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.
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