NEWBERRY - Fifteenth-ranked Carson-Newman came out of halftime strong, scoring 20 straight points to claim a 41-28 victory on Newberry College's Setzler Field Saturday night. Backup Eagle quarterback Justin Long (Knoxville, Tenn.) rushed for a career-high 125 yards and sparked Carson-Newman to the win.
Newberry (1-3, 0-2 South Atlantic Conference) held leads as large as 12 points in the second quarter and held on for a one-point halftime advantage at 22-21. However, Carson-Newman (4-1, 1-1 SAC) controlled the ball for ten minutes in the third quarter while producing two touchdown drives, thereby placing the game out of reach.
Carson-Newman grabbed the lead for good with Long's 13-yard touchdown run with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter. The sophomore picked up 44 of his rushing yards in the period. The visitors put up two more touchdowns from the legs of back Ray Hightower (Belfast, Tenn.) in the fourth quarter, while Newberry was only able to answer one, that being a Josh Stepp (Pelion, S.C.)-to-Tymere Zimmerman (Bennettsville, S.C.) 19-yard connection with 1:09 left on the clock.
Zimmerman topped the school's all-time career receiving yards record with 116 today, giving him a grand total of 2,083 in his 2 � years at Newberry. He surpassed the career receptions and career receiving touchdown marks earlier this season.
Long entered the game in the second quarter, but was stripped on his first play by Newberry cornerback Damien Simmons (Charleston, S.C.) at Carson-Newman's 27. Ryan Lukshis (Irmo, S.C.) kicked a 32-yard field goal to put the Indians up 19-7. On the next drive, Long showed what he was capable of, running for 54 yards and throwing for 28. Kiel Angry (Smithville, Ga.) finished the drive with a two-yard scoring run to draw to 19-14.
Long threw a 29-yard pass to Willie McRae (Hilliard, Fla.) to go up temporarily at 21-19 with a minute to go in the half. Newberry responded with a 42-yard drive to put Lukshis in field goal range and the sophomore tied his career long field goal at 43 yards. Newberry entered intermission with a one-point lead.
Stepp's 372 passing yards tonight make the third-best passing performance in school history. Forty-two attempts are the tenth most in a game, and 26 completions ties for fifth-best.
The teams combined for exactly 1,000 yards of total offense, with Carson-Newman claiming 541 of those. C-N put up 340 on the ground, while Newberry used its trademark aerial attack for 372 yards and three passing touchdowns. Carson-Newman picked up 201 passing yards on only eight completions, including the game's opening score, a 79-yard bomb from Joey King (Cedartown, Ga.) to McRae.
Newberry's first points came from a 32-yard field goal from Lukshis, followed by a Deshon Rodell (Allendale, S.C.) 56-yard touchdown reception to put the Indians on top 10-7 after one period of play.
Receiver Charles Brandon (Union, S.C.) had one of the best days of his career, catching seven passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. Brandon just missed scoring Newberry's last touchdown, thwarted by a shoestring tackle with one defender to beat after picking up 57 yards to put Newberry in the red zone.
Long was joined in the rushing ranks by J.J. Chatmon (Cartersville, Ga.) who had 79 yards on 11 attempts, and Hightower with 73 yards and two scores off only five rushes.
Newberry travels to Greeneville, Tenn., for a showdown with Tusculum, the only other SAC school without a conference win, next Saturday at 1:30. Carson-Newman hosts Presbyterian at noon.
