SAC Week 2 Preview

September 11th, 2025 10:00am

Week two brings some massive early season matchups, including Emory & Henry and #17 Lenoir-Rhyne. Those two had an exciting ending last year in Emory, when the Wasps pulled the upset. It was an ending only outdone by the ending of the “Gladwin Bowl”, which included the Eagles erasing a 13-point deficit in the final 1:36 to win on a walk off extra point. The Catawba-UVA Wise game also has some potential, and don't sleep on Tusculum heading to Anderson.

As many of you who have read the column the past two seasons, the Mars Hill/Carson-Newman game is called the “Gladwin Bowl" in our family. It is the one game a year I will admit to openly cheering for a SAC school to lose! If you are new, my wife and I went to Carson-Newman. My baby sister went to Mars Hill. In the past, if the the loser of the game must wear the other university’s gear to work on Monday. My friends from Mars Hill seemed to thoroughly enjoy those photos when they hit social media the past couple years, but thankfully the guys had me last season! We will be there live at Meares Field this Saturday, so feel free to find me and say hello!

SAC Players of the Week

Offense: Khamoni Robinson (Lenoir-Rhyne): completed 13 of 22 passes for 280 yards and four touchdowns

Defense: Mikey Blandin (Newberry): racked up 21 total tackles (eight solo, 13 assisted), while adding 2.5 tackles for loss; two pass break ups

Special Teams: Burke Nettles (Newberry): averaged 48.2 yards on five punts; 1 of 1 on field goals and 4 for 4 on XP’s.

Standings after Week 1

Last Week: 5-1

Season: 12-2

Carson-Newman Eagles at Mars Hill Lions

Location & Time: Mars Hill, NC / 1 PM

Massey: Mars Hill -3.5

SP+: Carson-Newman 29.0, Mars Hill 19.2.

Series: Carson-Newman leads, 48-13. (Carson-Newman won the last meeting, 28-27, in 2024)

Carson-Newman’s “game” against SCCCU last Thursday night was exactly what you would expect. The Eagles didn’t even dress all their starters, and those that did played maybe a series and change. Coach Ingram’s team played 106 guys, giving a lot of guys who may end up redshirting this year or being lower on the depth chart some valuable in game experience. The Eagles cruised to a 59-0 win, which could’ve been even worse but as Coach Ingram said on his postgame press conference, they didn’t want to embarrass anybody or risk anyone getting hurt. Seven different guys rushed for a touchdown, including the games leading rusher Nolan Bissell. Bissell carried the rock nine times for 39 yards and got his first collegiate score. Cade Meeks caught and made a great play on a 61 yard touchdown, and the Eagles defense pitched a shutout while holding the Gladiators to 74 yards.

Mars Hill led 25-21 with just over two minutes remaining last Saturday night, looking to deliver their new coach his first victory. However, the Rams of Winston-Salem had other plans, as JaQuan Kelly scored with just :31 left in the game and the Lions fell 28-25. Mars Hill racked up over 430 yards of total offense, 132 more than their opponent. Unfortunately, both Lions’ turnovers resulted in touchdowns for the Rams. JR Martin finished 20 of 42, 267 yards, two touchdowns and the two picks. Jon Gullette, David Hargro, and Charlie Guinade reached the endzone. The defense played well, led by Steven Reid’s 13 tackles, but too often started drives with their backs against the wall: five WSSU drives started at their own 40 or better.

Prediction: Eagles get the Lions again.

Last year, Mars Hill jumped out to a lead and played some excellent football for most of the game before the Eagles put on the craziest comeback I’ve seen in 18 years of SAC football. And while the Lions want revenge, I think the Eagles are rested and ready to not need any onside kicks and Jayden Sullins scores as time is out. Carson-Newman’s ability to run the ball will be challenged by a stiff Lion defense, but the Eagles passing game improvements may be the difference. The Gladwin Bowl will be a good one.

Tusculum Pioneers at Anderson Trojans

Location & Time: Anderson, SC / 2 PM

Massey: Anderson -3.5

SP+

Series: Tusculum leads series, 1-0. (Tusculum won only meeting, 30-28, in 2024).

Tusculum trailed nationally ranked Lenoir-Rhyne just 14-7 going into the half time break, a score that caught a lot of folks around the conference and D2 world by surprise. The Bears eventually wore them down and pulled away in the second half, winning 28-7. While not as explosive as it was the week prior, the run game still found success for the Pioneers, putting up 229 yards. Three turnovers (a fumble and two turnover on downs) boosted 21 points for the opposition. Lex Dinwiddie had another solid game, rushing for 85 yards on ten carries. The biggest takeaway from this game for me is that the Pioneers kept fighting and kept the game close for a lot longer than most would have thought. It’s a good sign for Billy Taylor’s ballclub going into year two.

Anderson made quick work of another Conference Carolinas foe last weekend, tossing Erskine to the side like a toddler that doesn’t want to eat it’s nasty looking green peas, 35-7. Tyler Wesley threw three more touchdown passes, and James Bryson and Zaidon Gunn adding rushing scores. Erskine added a touchdown with 5:48 to go in the game but the proverbial fat lady was already on the third line. I was slightly concerned to see Wesley’s completion rate in this one drop so much from the Shorter game but he’ll be okay. Anderson’s defense has been very impressive to me earlier on, despite who they have played. They are playing faster as a unit than they were last year.

Prediction: Anderson goes to 3-0.

I was tempted, and my gut was leaning, to go with the Pioneers in this one simply because how they’ve been able to run the ball through two weeks. If the Pioneers can run the rock like they have been and limit possessions, I think they win. But I’m rolling with Anderson because they are at home and I believe their defense makes a few more stops than the Pioneers.

UVA Wise Cavaliers at Catawba Indians

Location & Time: Salisbury, NC / 6 PM

Massey: Catawba -9.5

SP+: Catawba 33.6, UVA Wise 22.3.

Series: UVA Wise leads series, 3-0. (UVA Wise won last meeting, 31-28, in 2024).

UVA Wise has had a tough start to the season, losing both games by a score and in both games, having the ball with a chance to go down and tie things up. Talk about a gut punch. Coach Bass’ offense did almost everything needed to get the win. They piled up 459 yards of offense and didn’t turn the ball over against Newberry. Jake Corkren was 20-36 for 234 yards, Daniel Thomas seemingly came out of nowhere and carried the ball 43 (yes you read that right) times for 161 yards and two scores. He probably is still sitting in the recovery room with the trainers. The offense played well. And while the defense didn’t give up a ton of yards and played better than they did against Concord, they still struggled to keep their opponent out of the endzone.  

Catawba had the ball four different times in Emory & Henry territory last week and somehow came away with a goose egg. The Wasps defense did what they tended to do in 2024: turn it into points. What looked like a close game by comparing the team stats turned into a blowout, as Catawba fell 35-7. Preston Brown completed 50% of his passes for 144 yards, Bennett Galloway rushed for 85 on 14 carries (Kevin Lalin didn’t record a rush or catch), but the passing game being held in check was surprising. This week should be a bounce back, with both teams putting up some fireworks.

Prediction: Indians bounce back, get first win over Cavaliers.

I said this on X earlier in the week, but I was somewhat caught off guard by the fact that Catawba has never beaten UVA Wise. After looking into it a bit, Catawba has been down by their standards since the Cavaliers came into the league. Lowkey, this could be the game of the weekend though. Two fun offenses going head to head. Whoever gets out of their own way the most probably comes away with the victory. I trust the talent on Catawba a little bit more and think they’ll make more plays to get the job done.

Emory & Henry Wasps at Lenoir-Rhyne Bears

Location & Time: Hickory, NC / 6 PM

Massey: Lenoir-Rhyne -7.5

SP+: Lenoir-Rhyne 25.0, Emory & Henry 22.4.

Series: Lenoir-Rhyne leads series, 7-2. (Emory & Henry won last meeting, 31-20, in 2024).

Despite only having 36 yards more of total offense than their opponents last week, Emory & Henry found a way to bow up defensively and make some big plays at crucial times to beat Catawba, 35-7. Star running back Jordan Jackson was held to just 27 yards on 12 carries, but Charles Mutter III rushed for 99 yards and 3 scores and threw for another 163. Completions were still a minor problem (10 of 21), but Cam Peoples went off for 132 of the 163 yards. The Wasps went off in the 2^nd half, after doing 18 plays for 46 yards in the first half. It is kind of funny in a way, because you don’t think of Coach Hunter’s offense as the 2019 LSU Tigers, but they are averaging 40.0 PPG after two weeks and are putting them up in all sorts of ways.  They sit back and wait for you to make mistakes and then capitalize on them. Nothing flashy, just find ways to stay on top. That’ll be tested.

It certainly wasn’t DaVinci, but Lenoir-Rhyne Bears got the road win last weekend, 28-7 over Tusculum. A 14-7 game at the half turn stayed the same deep into the 3^rd quarter, when SAC Offensive Player of the Week Khamoni Robinson hit Destun Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown and that was all she wrote. Robinson would finish with four touchdown passes on the day, continuing to show why he was the guy coming into the season. The Bears’ run game was also livelier, as both LJ Turner and Zayvion Turner-Knox carried the ball 14 times for 71 and 62 yards apiece. Songa Yates also showed why he is such an elite playmaker, grabbing four passes for 113 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Bears’ defense looked better than it did in week zero, still room to work, but will need to continue to improve as they get deeper in SAC play. Even with the unique offense, I was surprised Tusculum ran for over 225 yards.

Prediction: Bears get revenge

I like the Bears to squeak out a win in this one, but it’s toss up game. They have a lot of talent, but they did last year too and the ending to that game was just absurd. The Wasps defense forces you to make mistakes and then, like a paper cut, stings for the rest of the day. Fitting of their nickname, they keep coming and coming. If Emory & Henry can muck things up like they did last year and force Khamoni Robinson into making mistakes, it could be a repeat of the previous film. If the Bears are going to win they will need to establish the run to open up the pass for Yates and Co. to get loose. It’ll be tight, but give me the Bears by a late field goal.

Bluefield State Big Blue at Wingate Bulldogs

Location & Time: Wingate, NC / 6 PM

Massey: Wingate -40.5

SP+: Wingate 42.9, Bluefield State 6.8.

Series: First Ever Meeting

The Big Blue of Bluefield State had their fans doing breathing exercises again. After taking a commanding 38-14 lead on Concord, the Mountain Lions scored 17 unanswered points to make it a ball game late in the 4^th quarter. After the Bluefield State defense made a massive stop on 4^th down, they closed it out, surviving 38-31 in the Battle of Blue Ridge. BSU put up over 300 yards of offense but gave up nearly 500 to Concord (a lot of which was during the attempted comeback). If they want any chance of pulling off what I would deem the upset of the weekend, they will need to find a defense on their way down the road.

Wingate was off last week, after defeating their in-state rivals from UNC Pembroke, 30-21, in week zero. Coach Jordan’s squad jumped out to a 24-7 lead after three, then held off a Braves rally. The Bulldogs offense looked good, led by new quarterback Elijah Holmes. Holmes would complete 17 of 27 passes for 231 yards and two scores (Carlos Estronza and Laron Warner). Xavier Pugh, now the feature back in the offense, carried the ball a whopping 30 times for 106 yards and Xavier Jackson had a big game, averaging 23.0 yards per reception. The defense looked solid for the most part, but you could tell it was the first game of getting used to new pieces in place and replacing some big-time studs. I think they’ll settle in as the season goes on. Kicker Caleb Bonesteel, who still has one of the baddest names in college football, won SAC special teamer of the week in week zero.

Prediction: Wingate in a blowout.

Wingate is just too deep and too talented for Bluefield State. Their ability to force turnovers and put pressure on the Big Blue offense is going to be a problem and I have not seen much from Bluefield State’s two games to make me think they are going to slow down Wingate’s offense.

Point Skyhawks at Newberry Wolves

Location & Time: Newberry, SC / 7 PM

Massey: Newberry -34.5

SP+: Newberry 45.0, Point 3.4.

Series: First Ever Meeting

The Point Skyhawks are off to an 0-2 start this season, losing by 20 and 22 points to Faulkner and LaGrange. The Skyhawks are members of the Appalachian Athletic Conference of NAIA and are looking to try to have the programs first winning season. Nigel Lawrence took over as head coach of the program and this is his first season leading the charge.

Newberry had an incredible game last week in their opener against SAC foe UVA Wise. After the Cavaliers took an early 7-0, Quez Spells immediately responded by taking the kickoff to the house to notch things at 7-7. The teams would trade scores to make it a 17-17 game at the half. Newberry would seize control early in the fourth quarter after two Reed Charpia touchdown passes, but UVA Wise wouldn’t go away, scoring and then going down to try and tie it. The Wolves would persevere and hold on for a 31-24 opening win. It was an odd win, especially when you look at the box score and see that Newberry was outgained by nearly 200 yards, was doubled up on first downs, allowed 52% on third down, and didn’t force a turnover. But the Wolves made plays when it mattered most and Reed Charpia had arguably his most efficient start of his career, going 18-22, 201 yards and two scores previously mentioned.

Prediction: Wolves roll to 2-0.

The last time the Coach Knight’s team played a NAIA program, they lost. Granted, that was national runner up Keiser and while not being disrespectful to the Skyhawks….they aren’t the Seahawks. These birds are a little less scary and I expect the Wolves to have their way and win rather easily. Newberry’s offense put up 31 in their last game but managed just 276 yards of offense, worst in the league. Expect a lot of guys to play and key players like Charpia, Dwayne Wright, and Keith Desaussure to play no more than the first half. Mikey Blandin may rack up 20+ tackles again. Great performance last week.