VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Cam Ferguson Interview
VIDEO: Zane Whitson Interview
VIDEO: Jeremiah Carroll Interview
VIDEO: Christian Hicks Interview
VIDEO: Jet Jones Interview
SALISBURY, N.C. — For three consecutive drives, Catawba University had stopped the Carson-Newman offense, holding the No. 25-ranked Eagles to just 14 offensive plays for 28 yards. But with 3:17 left in the game and down by three, C-N found the grit to punch their way down the field and keep its record perfect.
Jayden Sullins bullied his way into the paint over the left side of the line with 25 seconds left on the clock to secure a 35-34 victory over the Indians (1-3, 0-2 South Atlantic Conference) at Shuford Stadium Saturday night.
The Eagles (4-0, 2-0 SAC) got the victory behind their third different starting quarterback of the season, Zane Whitson, who orchestrated the 13-play touchdown drive with his legs, his reads and a quick pass to Jeremiah Carroll to keep the chains moving. It was the first time C-N scored a touchdown with under 30 seconds to go since a Nov. 9, 2019 victory over Limestone.
"The drive was awesome," C-N head coach Ashely Ingram said. "We made some adjustments there at the end. (Offensive coordinator) Chuck (Peterson) made some great calls. The guys on that play executed. It was probably the best we ran the ball all day long was the last drive. We started the drive with three time outs and ended the drive with three time outs. We were doing a good job of getting first downs. My message to Chuck was that we have plenty of time, we had three time outs and we needed to think first downs. Our guys got first downs or got out of bounds if we didn't. It was an epic drive."
The epic started with some adversity, a 10-yard holding penalty on the kickoff return after Catawba took a 34-28 lead with a 40-yard Bryson Sims field goal. The challenge was nothing new for the Eagles, who struggled to even make it to the game thanks to Hurricane Helene buffeting the Southeastern United States.
Carson-Newman arrived at their hotel the night before very late, a hotel suffering a power outage as many in the hurricane's path have experienced since Friday. For Ingram, it was just one more way to rally and challenge his team.
"We're down some quarterbacks," Ingram said. "We're down some other guys. We had to leave five or six hours late yesterday and we got in at midnight. We got to the hotel and there was no power. It never came back on. I said, we can find an excuse or we can find a way. And we found a way."
Whitson was the architect of the way on offense. Opening the year as the No. 4 quarterback, Whitson was called into service with quarterback Tedros Gleaton out for the season, and Tre Luttrell and Gavin Gosnell both missing time. Saturday night, the junior from Kingsport, Tenn. delivered from the start.
"Man it was awesome," Whitson said. "Whenever you have teammates surrounding you like that, it's pretty hard not to score the ball. We were set in a good position and I was fired up. I'm still fired up. My emotions are running."
With Whitson under center, Carson-Newman scored on three consecutive possessions in the first half, only punting with under three minutes left in the second quarter.
"Ultimately, he (Whitson) is a playmaker," Ingram said. "He's got a calm and a poise about him. And when we needed him, he made the plays. But he's got to play better and he can. He's capable of being a really good football player. … He just came through."
Getting the ball in the first quarter after the defense forced a Catawba punt, the Eagles struck fast, with Whitson tossing a short pass to Cam Ferguson, who turned it up field for a 53-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The Indians answered back with their own drive, led by quarterback Preston Brown. Brown used his elusiveness in the pocket to extend plays, finally tossing an 11-yard touchdown to Jordan Mitchell to tie the game.
It would be Ferguson again who'd find paydirt on C-N's next possession, giving them back the lead on a five-yard touchdown run.
"The (Catawba) defense came out hard, but we made adjustments," Ferguson said. "We reacted to how they played and did our job. The first touchdown was a great play call. I just used my speed and cut it back. The second one, I told the coach to give it to me and I'll make a play and that's what happened."
Once again, the Indians answered, evening up the game with a 19-yard strike from Brown to Kobe Christian.
Whitson opened up the ensuing with a pass to Carroll that drew a pass interference penalty. The Eagles grinded for yardage and were helped by another flag against the Indians for a personal foul. Three plays later Whitson found Jeron Newson in the left side of the end zone for the second of his three touchdown passes on the day.
"Whenever you go out there and bust their butt like they do in practice, it's hard not to give them the ball," Whitson said. "You want them to go out there and succeed. We have guys that can make plays everywhere. It's not just JC (Carroll) and Cam Ferguson, it's everybody."
Catawba would again knot up the game at 21-21 with Brown finding Deuce Linder for a 29-yard score. The two teams would take that score into halftime.
Whitson and the Eagles offense would open the third quarter like they ended the second, unleashing a nine-play, 65-yard touchdown drive with a nine-yard TD pass from Whitson to Carroll.
Whitson would finish the day 5-of-11 for 90 yards passing for three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Once again, Catawba had the answer, responding with a game-tying seven-play, 72-yard drive ended with a L.J. Turner 2-yard touchdown run.
After finding success on four of their first five possessions, C-N's offense stalled. It was up to the defense to keep the Eagles in the game. Carson-Newman's defensive unit held the hot Indians offense to two field goals on its final three possessions, setting up the Whitson and the offense with one final chance to win it.
"The coaches preach closeness, togetherness and that we always fight," C-N linebacker Christian Hicks said. "We worked so hard for it and we didn't give up. I like that about our team. We fought so hard and got the stops that we needed to win this game."
Hicks led the team with a career high 10 tackles and a sack. Mekhi Brown finished with eight stops. Jet Jones had seven tackles, a pass break-up and a forced fumble. Champ Baker recorded three tackles, a sack and four pass break-ups.
The final drive wasn't without its own hiccups, as Ingram won his second coach's challenge of the day after a 15-yard Carroll catch at the sidelines was originally ruled out of bounds. Ingram won both his challenges in the contest and both reversed calls led to Eagles touchdowns.
"I was standing right at both of them," Ingram said. "I know my vision might be a little tainted, maybe, but I was looking right at both of them. I wasn't concerned about the call, I was concerned about having the camera angle to get it. They were obvious calls to me. On the last one, I spiked both flags."
Ferguson, who scored the game-winning touchdown, finished the game with 15 carries for 85 yards and a score. He added two catches for 53 yards and a TD.
"We showed grit right there," Ferguson said of the game-winning drive. "We stuck to our gameplan of running the ball. We dug deep. Everybody was hurting. Everybody was tired. But like Coach (Ingram) said, we're going to be the toughest team and we showed that."
Don Bradley finished with nine carries for 66 yards. Sullins had 13 rushes for 30 yards and a TD. Carroll caught three passes for 26 yards and a touchdown and added two rushes for 24 yards.
The win secured Carson-Newman's first 4-0 start since 2007, a streak that Ken Sparks' unit would stretch to six games before it was ended by a Catawba in a 55-49 loss at Burke-Tarr Stadium that would ultimately cost that 10-1 team a trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
Ingram is the first C-N coach in the school's history to open his career 4-0. The victory was the Eagles' fifth consecutive on the road, good for the ninth longest streak in NCAA DII. It was Carson-Newman's first night game at Catawba since 2008, and it followed a remarkably similar script. C-N won that game with under 44 seconds with a touchdown pass from Alex Good to Otis Miller. C-N was in its first one-point game since Sparks' final contest on the sidelines, a 31-30 loss to Tusculum in overtime in 2016 and the 37th one-point affair in school history. The Eagles are now 21-16 in one-point contests - their fourth one-point SAC victory and seventh one-point win since 2000.
Carson-Newman returns to the friendly confines of Burke-Tarr Stadium next Saturday, Oct. 5, when they take on Barton College (2-2, 1-1) with kickoff set for 1 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network will begin at noon. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM Knoxville), MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
