COMEBACK BID FALLS SHORT, EAGLES DROP CAVS
Saturday's first half was 30 minutes of horror for UVA Wise as Dane Damron's team dropped a 38-22 South Atlantic Conference football decision to Carson-Newman at Burke-Tarr Stadium Saturday.
UVA Wise (2-8, 1-7 SAC) was intercepted on its opening possession, saw Carson-Newman (5-5, 4-4 SAC) return man Major Williams return a punt inside the Cavaliers' 10-yard line leading to a score on its next possession before a pick-six finalized a quarter that saw the Eagles lead 14-0 at the end of the first 15 minutes.
Things continued to snowball for UVA Wise in the second period as Carson-Newman blocked a pair of punts en route to 17 more points to go in front 31-0 at intermission.
Despite the large deficit, the Cavs did not go down without a fight. On the Eagles' opening possession of the second half, Job Whalen sacked quarterback Ivan Corbin on a fourth down play to stop a would-be scoring drive.
The defensive stop would energize the offense as UVA Wise would march 55 yards on five plays before Juwan Dent hooked up with Joey Vandyke on a 23-yard touchdown. Kellan Dalton's conversion kick made it a 24-point game at 31-7.
Defensive back Robert Carter's big-play season continued on the following drive when he scooped a fumble and raced 67 yards for a touchdown. Dent's pass to Daniel Davis on the two-point conversion try was good cutting the lead to 31-15.
It would be as close as the Cavs could get. Corbin appeared stopped behind the line of scrimmage on a third-and-two play from near midfield only to squeeze free for a first down to extend the drive. The signal caller would cap the drive with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Travaunta Abner to push the Eagles' lead to 38-15.
In the fourth quarter, Vandyke would haul in his second touchdown catch of the day to cut the lead to 38-22 to provide the final score of the afternoon.
Carson-Newman averaged 5.6 yards per play and outgained UVA Wise 377-to-233 in the contest.
Corbin finished 13-for-23 through the air for 251 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Eagles' offense. On defense, Carson-Newman was led by Williams who picked off two passes.
UVA Wise was led on offense by Jakoby Johnson's 61 rushing yards. Markel Dailey registered a career-high 12 stops in defeat.
Next week, the regular season ends with a trip to Wingate.
Original source can be found here
Alerts Sign-up