Changes at LimestoneRegional Rankings

The first round of regional rankings 1. Lenoir-Rhyne (7-1, 5-0)2. Carson-Newman (6-2, 4-1) 3. Wingate (5-3, 2-2)4. Tusculum (4-3, 3-2)5. Newberry (4-4, 2-2)6. Catawba (2-5, 1-3)7. Mars Hill (2-6, 2-4) 8. UNC Pembroke (2-4) 9. Limestone (0-8, 0-5) Limestone at Catawba 1:30Carson-Newman at Tusculum 1:30
Tusculum's loss last week was really hard to take. The good news is that they have an opportunity to bounce back with a home game against their closest rival. The bad news is that Carson-Newman seems to have hit their stride. The Eagles have rushed for more than 1,000 yards combined in the last two weeks and they are going to be very hard to slow down. Tusculum has a good defense but they are most adept at defending passing offenses. LR rushed for 349 against them and I think Carson-Newman will probably hit that number too, if not exceed it. My other big concern for Tusculum is that the offense just isn't consistent enough. Even last week, when they had a very respectable day with 37 points, it was ultimately poor execution offensively that cost them the game. Carson-Newman is good at creating turnovers and really good at making teams pay for mistakes. Tusculum makes too many mistakes.

Carson-Newman 35 Tusculum 17

UNC Pembroke at Lenoir-Rhyne 2:00
Lenoir-Rhyne got out of Georgia with a win last week but the offense was off its game and the Bears could definitely use a better performance to take them into the last two weeks of the SAC schedule. Grayson Willingham is back in the lineup after two weeks out with illness but last week's performance was a little shaky. The Bears need for him to get back into a rhythm for the stretch run. UNCP has not been good on the defensive side of the ball in recent weeks and LR's diverse attack should a mismatch for them. The Bears should have a good day running the ball and I expect them to maintain their streak of consecutive games scoring 30 or more points. The Bears will need to have a good day on defense too because Pembroke's offense has been hot in the last two games. But when I look back to the Brave's two most recent SAC games, they scored only 7 against Wingate and were shutout by Newberry. I think they'll do a little better this week because Josh Jones is playing very well at QB, but they won't have the kind of success they had against Central State and Concord.

Lenoir-Rhyne 45 UNC-Pembroke 21

Wingate at Newberry 3:00
When these two last met in Newberry, it was the final week of the 2016 season and it also happened to be a defacto championship game for the South Atlantic Conference. The Wolves trailed 22-14 at the end of the third quarter but scored a pair of fourth quarter TDs to win the game and complete an undefeated conference schedule. This week's game won't have as much at stake, but it should be just as entertaining. Newberry has been up and down all season but they have it in them to play really well, especially at home. Wingate is on a roll with three straight wins and an offense that just keeps getting stronger. I think this will be a really good game but I'm just not confident enough in Newberry's offense. Wingate is very strong in the middle stages of games and has been very consistent in scoring points in all four quarters. Newberry tends to start well but not finish as strong. The Wolves have scored only 30 fourth quarter points all season. This will be a very competitive game, but I like Wingate's chances for a fourth straight win.

Wingate 28 Newberry 24

Mars Hill - idle

That's a lot for this week! I'll try to check in on Sunday with a stab at the next round of SR2 rankings may look like.

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