Heading into week 10 of the D2 Football season, Lenoir-Rhyne has a chance to win the SAC championship outright, with a game to spare. Think about that. This is a team that was projected to finish near the bottom of the SAC (most likely with a losing record) for the third year in a row. They were on no one's radar for championship or playoff consideration. Yet here they are on the brink of championship. Its been an amazing ride to this point and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this team come of age so quickly and continue to find ways to impress everyone that enjoys SAC football. I think what impresses me the most is that they have been able to compartmentalize extremely well. Every coach preaches taking it game at a time and never looking further ahead than the next game. But it really is hard sometimes to get a team to embrace that mentality. LR seems to get it. Maybe its because of where they are coming from. They didn't win much over the last three years so this team doesn't take success for granted. They really do take it one week at a time and I am sure this week will be no different with a championship within their grasp. More on the Bears' trip to Carson-Newman a little later.

Regional Rankings
The second release of regional rankingsweighted OWP will still be good, but we'll see what else happens around the region.

There are still a lot of things that can happen. I do think its possible for Wingate to end up in the playoffs, but it all depends on winning these last two games. We will have more clarity after this weekend when we know who will play in the CIAA and SIAC championship games next Saturday. The participants and outcomes of those games will have a big impact on rankings.

SAC Rankings with Two Weeks left

1. Lenoir-Rhyne (8-1, 5-0)
After a close shave at Fort Valley State, Lenoir-Rhyne was determined to put in a more complete performance in front of the home crowd in their final out of conference game. They did exactly that in a thoroughly dominate 51-3 win over UNC Pembroke. The Bears wasted no time in racing out to a 28-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. One again, the Bears showcased the depth of talent they have on offense. The leading rusher for the day had just 66 yards, but as a team, LR rushed for 335 on the day. Ten different players carried the ball. The defense was superb once again and contributed to the scoring with a safety and two INTs returned for touchdowns. This is a perfect set up the for stretch run. LR can win the SAC Championship with a game to spare if they can win at Carson-Newman on Saturday afternoon.

2. Wingate (6-3, 3-2)3. Tusculum (5-3, 4-2)4. Carson-Newman (6-3, 4-2)5. Newberry (4-5, 2-3)
When Newberry goes through an entire game with one quarterback taking all the snaps, they generally play well and have a good shot at winning. But Saturday against Wingate, three different QBs took snaps. Dre Harris started but was knocked out with an injury. He appeared to be staying loose on the sidelines but never returned. Greg Ruff played the second and third quarters but the Wolves then went to Nick Jones in the 4th. Jones struggled coming off the bench and threw a pair a costly interceptions, the first of which allowed Wingate to extend their lead to two scores. The Wolves did have two TD passes on the day but neither was thrown by a quarterback. Receivers Markell Castle and Darius Clark each had one TD pass. Its pretty clear that the Wolves need stability at quarterback to be a contender again.

6. Catawba (3-5, 2-3)7. Mars Hill (2-6, 2-4)8. UNCP (2-5)
9. Limestone (0-9, 0-6)Week 10 Schedule

Catawba at Newberry 1:00Mars Hill at UNCP 1:00
Tusculum at VMI 1:30Wingate at Limestone 1:00
SAC Game of the week

Lenoir-Rhyne at Carson-Newman 1:00[/B][email protected]
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