University of Virginia's College at Wise Athletics issued the following announcement on Sept. 8
A week after ETSU played the role of David in a 23-3 win over FBS member Vanderbilt, UVA Wise will try to slay Goliath when the NCAA Division II Cavaliers travel to face the FCS Buccaneers Saturday at 7:30 p.m inside William B. Greene Stadium.
For Dane Damron's UVA Wise squad to make history, replicating last week's performance would be a start. Redshirt sophomore Lendon Redwine earned South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of The Week after completing 24-of-34 passes for a career-high 326 yards and career-best six touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, freshman DaQuandre Taylor registered a career-high seven tackles while recording a pair of sacks en route to SAC Defensive Player of The Week accolades.
Redwine had plenty of options to throw the ball to as 12 different Cavaliers caught passes in the win.
Utah State transfer Devin Heckstall led the way, who hauled in five catches for 116 yards and two scores. Heckstall was one of three UVA Wise receivers to grab a pair of touchdown passes as JJ McNeil III caught four passes for 85 yards to go with two scores and Caleb Martin caught six balls for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
Taylor wasn't the only defensive player causing havoc in the backfield either. Overall, 13 Cavs had at least 1/2 sack, with Michael Rowser adding a pair of forced fumbles to his three-tackle day.
Daquan Battle and Jerry Kinney picked off a pass each in the secondary as first-year defensive coordinator Matthew White's unit recorded the program's first shutout since 2017.
ETSU moved to 15th in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and 19th in the Stats FCS Poll following its upset win at Vanderbilt. The Bucs stymied the Commodores' rushing attack holding the Southeastern Conference foe to just 85 rushing yards on 31 attempts in the victory.
SoCon Defensive Player of the Week Stephen Scott had 10 tackles and a 27-yard fumble recovery touchdown to lead the defense. Meanwhile, Karon Delince and Sheldon Arnold each picked off a pass as the school scored its first win over a Power-5 opponent since defeating North Carolina State in 1987.
ETSU Head Coach Randy Sanders is no stranger to big games and big wins. The coach has been part of two national championship-winning teams at the FBS level (Tennessee '98 and Florida State '13). The former Volunteer is now in his fourth season with the Bucs and holds a 16-15 record with the school.
Next week, ETSU will have its final non-conference tune-up before beginning SoCon action when Delaware State visits Johnson City while UVA Wise will begin SAC play on the road at Mars Hill.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up