VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Mike Clowney Interview
VIDEO: Major Williams Interview
VIDEO: Ethan Marshall Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-2, 0-1 South Atlantic Conference) outgained Limestone (2-1, 1-0 SAC) 473-424, but the Saints took advantage of miscues in C-N's kicking game to collect a 40-37, two-overtime win Saturday at Burke-Tarr Stadium.
The Saints got a 41-yard field goal from Austin Kemp on the first possession of the second overtime period to make the difference. Nate Craft's (Salem, Va.) 39-yard try on the Eagles' possession sailed wide right.
The win is the first in six tries for the Saints over the Eagles and denied Carson-Newman its first chance at program win 650. The Eagles are looking to become the fourth NCAA Division II program with 650 wins all-time.
Carson-Newman missed three field goals on the day, muffed a kickoff return and saw the Saints return a punt 58 yards and a kick off 59 yards to set up two short fields and two touchdowns.
"That was the thing that was most frustrating from the very beginning," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "When we scouted this game throughout the week, we felt that as teams we were pretty evenly matched, but we thought we had an advantage in the kicking game. To see them win that phase was disappointing. We have a kicker who is definitely frustrated, but he's a good kid and a good kicker, he'll recover from it. However, it wasn't just that. We drop a ball on a kickoff, we give up long kickoff and punt returns. I thought we would be head and heels above them, but credit Limestone, it didn't pan out that way today."
Carson-Newman piled up 304 yards rushing, however the Saints countered with a 272-yard day on the ground.
Ivan Corbin (Warner Robbins, Ga.) became the first Carson-Newman quarterback with a 100-yard day on the ground since Derrick Evans rushed for 154 yards on eight carries against Catawba on Oct. 12, 2019.
Vonte Brackett (Hoover, Ala.) rushed for a career-high 61 yards on 10 carries, while Tyler Curtis (Lilburn, Ga.) bruised his way to 52 yards on seven touches. Brackett and Corbin both found the end zone on the ground, as did TJ King (Knoxville, Tenn.) for a third time this season.
"We took good care of the football," Clowney said. "The backs did a good job of griding some things out. Our offensive line did a nice job of creating gaps. They had persistence grounding the ball out."
Reigning SAC Offensive player of the week Tre Stewart countered the Eagles' ground game with a big rushing performance of his own. Stewart carried 27 times for 180 yards and two scores. He averaged 6.7 yards a carry and touted fives rushes of 10 yards or longer.
Anthony McAfee added in 69 yards on eight touches. The yards after contact for both players was plentiful.
"That became an issue for us Wednesday," Clowney said. "What happens in practice showed up in the game. We had some moments this week where we were falling off guys. We had things hemmed up a few times and just didn't keep our feat moving while getting help. We had some guys also get sealed out of gaps to provide help."
The Saints win snaps a streak of 21-consecutive wins for Carson-Newman when scoring more than 30 points. It marks the Eagles' first loss since when scoring 30 or more since losing in overtime to Tusculum, 31-30, in the final game of Ken Sparks' career.
The Saints opened the scoring thanks to a short field, a long Caden Peeler punt return set up the Saints at the 13 of C-N. Five plays later, Stewart bulled his way into the end zone from three yards out to give the Saints an initial edge with 11:37 to play in the first quarter.
Carson-Newman responded immediately with a seven-play, 71-yard drive. King capped the run-exclusive possession with an eight-yard dash up the middle of the field to level the score.
The team's swapped three and outs before the Saints found the end zone again. A 27-yard run from Stewart, coupled with a 15-yard personal foul penalty gave the Saints the ball in the Eagles' red zone. Two plays later, John Seter hit Jelani Baker on an out route for a 19-yard score.
Carson-Newman recorded its first safety in a decade two drives later. After Craft pinned the Saints at the one with a 39-yard punt, Stewart couldn't get out of the end zone as Major Williams knifed his way into the backfield for C-N's first two-pointer in 102 games – the last a blocked punt out of the end zone at Newberry in 2012. That brought C-N within five, 14-9 at the end of the first quarter.
C-N missed a field goal on its ensuing possession before Limestone made it a two-score game with a drag route to Jararius Hector from eight yards out and 7:51 left in the second.
Carson-Newman's two-minute offense got the Eagles within five at the break. After a Saint three-and-out, the Eagles got the ball with 3:13 to play in the first half. On third-and-13 from the C-N 12, Corbin drilled a 45-yard jump ball to Korey Waters to flip field. Seven plays later, Corbin hit Luke Simpson (Knoxville, Tenn.) on a 12-yard crossing pattern with 23 seconds left in the half. Craft's PAT banged off the upright to keep the margin at five.
Limestone scored on its opening possession of the second half to get the lead to eight on Kemp 23-yard field goal. The Eagles answered the bell after Callum Clements' (Miami, Fla.) second career pick. A five-play, 55-yard drive ended in Brackett's first career score, a two-yard plunge.
A two-point conversion pass tied the game at 23 to Luke Simpson.
Limestone retook the lead in the fourth quarter on a 12-yard Mikey Jones TD catch before the Eagles' leveled things up once more on the ensuing drive. Corbin sailed a 40-yard bomb to Braxton Westfield (Simponville, S.C.) for the NFL prospects 15th career score.
Limestone had a chance to win it in regulation, but Kemp's 41-yard attempt at the horn was wide right.
The team's traded touchdowns on their OT possessions. Corbin called his own number on a zone read play to score from 19 before the Saints answered with a Stewart one-yard plunge to set the stage for Kemp's winner.
"Our plan doesn't change," Clowney said. "We want to get better each week. It turns into focus and persistence making sure that we demand that we clean up our defensive mistakes."
Major Williams led C-N with six tackles, including two for loss.
Frank Lee had six stops, two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss to go with two breakups.
Carson-Newman heads on the road for its second matchup of the year with a top-25 team Saturday. The Eagles take on Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday at 6 p.m. from Moretz Stadium. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 5 p.m. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
