No. 18 Eagles Return Home for Tilt with Mars Hill
After three straight weeks of football away from the banks of Mossy Creek, No. 18 Carson-Newman (3-1, 2-0 SAC) is back at Burke-Tarr Stadium for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday against Mars Hill (1-2, 1-0 SAC).
The matchup features two of the last three unbeaten teams in South Atlantic Conference play.
“Of course it’s good to play at home,” Carson-Newman head coach Ken Sparks said. “Especially being on the road for three weeks. It’s been an interesting three weeks, it’s been a tough three weeks. We hope that it makes us better because we’ve had some fire; and, of course it takes fire to purify you and improve you.”
The Eagles gave up no fewer than 33 points on their roadtrip, but still managed to return home with a 2-1 record and 2-0 mark in conference play.
The last time the Eagles started 3-0 in conference play was 2009. The Eagles went on to win the South Atlantic Conference that season with a 7-0 mark. Carson-Newman has had 3-0 conference starts three times since the turn of the century (2002 and 2003 are the other occasions), each time, C-N went on to a conference championship.
However, Sparks said it’s not a gimmie to 3-0 with Mars Hill standing in the way.
“Mars Hill’s always a tough team for us,” Sparks said. “They have some unique tools, and then Coach Tim Clifton and his staff will always come up with some unique wrinkles – like double reverse passes – that can catch you in a bad position and put up points on you. They have as much hope as anybody to win the conference.”
The Lions feature one of the most dynamic players in Division II with wide receiver Dimitri Holmes. The preseason All-American and first team All-SAC wideout is ninth in the nation in all-purpose yards per game with 213 per game. He’s Division II’s active career leader for the stat with 4,819 in his career.
“He can run it, he can catch it, he can return kick and he can even throw it,” Sparks said. “They’ll get the ball in his hands anyway they can because he is such a threat.”
Holmes has scored touchdowns three different ways this season. He’s caught four scores, passed for one and is one of two players in Division II to return two kickoffs for touchdowns.
The Lions have had to deal without having star tailback Shaikel Davis. The All-SAC performer has been sidelined with an ankle injury so far this season. In his stead, Jamel Harbison rushed 36 times for 153 yards in Mars Hill’s 38-29 win versus Newberry.
“They’ve changed their game plan quite a bit from their first two ballgames to their last in their win over Newberry,” Sparks said. “They went from a pass first to a run first. They had a bunch of turnovers against West Georgia and Shorter, but keeping the ball on the ground limited that against Newberry. They won that game so we really don’t know exactly what to expect out of their offense at this point.”
Mars Hill coughed it up four times in its season-opening loss to West Georgia. The Lions then threw five picks and lost two fumbles against Shorter.
The Eagles’ defense has a pick two its name this season against Brevard and has recovered three fumbles.
Offensively, the Eagles turn to quarterback De’Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.) and running back Andy Hibbett (Corryton, Tenn.).
Thomas ranks 13th in the country in rushing TDs with seven while Hibbett is 13th in the nation in rushing yards with an even 500 for the season. Thomas needs one more touchdown on the ground to join the 30-rushing touchdown club for his career. Hibbett needs two more scores to move into a tie for 11th on the all-time list with Vernon Turner and his 28 career touchdowns.
The game is a pink out in recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month and has been designated Take a Kid to the Game Day (TAKG) – an NCAA initiative to expose children to athletic events.
Carson-Newman’s football team will all don pink shoelaces for the contest in recognition of those who have had their life or a loved one affected by breast cancer.
Fans are encouraged to eschew orange and blue and instead wear pink for the contest.
In association with TAKG, all children under the age of 13 get in free to the game who are accompanied by an adult with a full-price ticket.
Prior to and during the game, children will have opportunities to enjoy sports-themed face painting. Carson-Newman’s women’s basketball program will play host to a kidzone filled with inflatables. The C-N ROTC will oversee a football toss and a clown will be on hand to create magical balloon animals.
“A crowd would be great,” Sparks said with a grin. “We can say all we want to that we don’t play for a crowd, but the crowd makes a difference. We know we’re going head-to-head with Tennessee playing Florida on TV. They can only get 102,000 in the stands over there, so we just need 6,000 to show up over here to help cheer us on.”
Kickoff between the Eagles and Lions is set for 1 p.m. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at noon with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Taigate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
