Box Score

Hickory, N.C.----The Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears piled up 297 rushing yards en route to a 52-28 victory over visiting Wingate University in South Atlantic Conference football action Saturday afternoon at Moretz Stadium. The Bears improve to 5-3 overall and 4-1 in the SAC, while Wingate falls to 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the SAC.

The Bears would jump out to a quick start, taking a 14-0 lead in the first eight minutes. Redshirt freshman running back Isaiah Whitaker (Salisbury, N.C.) scored the opening touchdown from four yards out. The Bears would block a Wingate punt and recover inside the Wingate five. Senior quarterback Major Herron (Kingsland, Ga.) found paydirt to push the lead to 14.

Wingate answered with 10 straight points. Senior placekicker Paul Grammaticopoulos (Paris, France) capped a 59-yard drive with a 19-yard field goal to get Wingate on the board. The Bulldogs cut the lead to four with a defensive touchdown. A big hit from redshirt senior defensive end Jack Taylor (Keystone Heights, Fla.) forced a fumble, which redshirt junior linebacker Richie Kazazian (Apex, N.C) scooped up and returned 66 yards for a touchdown to make the score 14-10.

Lenoir-Rhyne sacked redshirt senior quarterback Cody Haffly (Locust Grove, Ga.) in the end zone for a safety to make the tally 16-10. A 21-yard pass from Herron to senior Nick Stutts (Statesville, N.C.) gave the Bears a 23-10 advantage three minutes into the second quarter.

Wingate answered with a 15-play, 68-yard drive, capped by a four-yard TD catch from redshirt senior Marquise Allen (Monroe, N.C.) to make cut the deficit to seven. An LRU field goal pushed the lead back to 10 with two minutes left in the first half. Haffly orchestrated a beautiful eight-play, 63-yard drive to trim the deficit to four with seconds remaining before halftime. The drive culminated with a four-yard strike to redshirt freshman Bryan Caffrey (Bayside, N.Y.), making the score 26-22 at intermission.

The Bulldogs got the ball to start the second half, but Haffly was sacked and lost the ball, giving LRU the ball in Wingate territory. Whitaker scored from 10 yards out to push the lead to 33-22.

A 69-yard kickoff return from freshman Josh Covington (Charlotte, N.C.) set up the Bulldogs in excellent field position. Covington scored from one yard out to pull the visitors within five at 33-28. The ‘Dogs would go for the two-point conversion, but the high snap was recovered by Lenoir-Rhyne and taken for two Bear points to make the score 35-28.

The Bears answered Wingate’s touchdown drive with a five-play, 62-yard drive. Whitaker ran for 36 yards on the final two plays of the drive, scoring from 14 yards out to make the margin 42-28. The teams would trade punts the remainder of the quarter, as the Bears would take a 14-point lead into the final frame.

An LRU field goal pushed the lead to 17 with 10:24 remaining in the game. The Bears forced a three-and-out from Wingate, stopping the Bulldogs on third down with another sack. Lenoir-Rhyne took over on its own 45, and needed only five plays to find the end zone for the sixth time. Herron capped the drive by scoring on a keeper from 15 yards out to make it 52-28.

Whitaker ran a career-high 32 times for a career-best 177 yards, scoring twice. Herron had 55 rushing yards and two scores, while completing seven-of-11 passes for 145 yards and a score. The Bears held the ball for 35:23, collecting 22 first downs on the day compared to Wingate’s 15. LRU was 11-for-16 on third-down conversions. The Bears had 442 yards of total offense, while holding the Bulldogs to 294 yards.

Haffly completed 32-of-45 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked four times on the afternoon. His favorite target was junior wide receiver Chris Bowden (Forsyth, Ga.), who had nine catches for 88 yards. Caffrey had seven receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown. Wingate was held to 26 rushing yards on the afternoon.

Redshirt junior linebacker Jared Seate (Charlotte, N.C.) led the defense with nine tackles. Taylor had seven, while forcing a fumble and adding two tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry. Kazazian had six stops, including a tackle for loss, while recovering a fumble and scoring a touchdown.

The Bulldogs return to action next Saturday, hosting North Greenville University at 1:30 p.m. Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Newberry the same day at 2 p.m.

(Wingate University assistant sports information director Hugh Patton wrote this article. Patton is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)
 
 

NCAA Division II Box Score (Final)
Wingate vs Lenoir-Rhyne (Oct 29, 2011 at Hickory, N.C.)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Wingate............. 10 12  6  0  - 28       Record: (5-4,4-2)
Lenoir-Rhyne........ 14 12 16 10  - 52       Record: (5-3,4-1)

Scoring Summary:
1st 10:02 L-R - Isaiah Whitaker 4 run (Colin Corpe kick)
    06:50 L-R - Major Herron 1 run (Corpe kick)
    03:20 WU – Paul Grammaticopoulos 19 FG
    01:55 WU - Richie Kazazian 66 fumble recovery (Matt Sierk kick)
2nd 13:02 L-R - TEAM safety
    11:44 L-R - Nick Stutts 21 pass from Herron (Corpe kick)
    06:28 WU - Marquise Allen 4 pass from Cody Haffly (kick failed)
    02:00 L-R - Corpe 31 FG
    00:22 WU - Bryan Caffrey 4 pass from C. Haffly (kick failed)
3rd 11:01 L-R - Whitaker 10 run (Corpe kick)
    07:19 WU - Covington 1 run (rush failed)
    07:19 L-R - Brandon Martin PAT return
    05:32 L-R - Whitaker 14 run (Corpe kick)
4th 10:24 L-R - Corpe 32 FG
    06:25 L-R - Herron 15 run (Corpe kick)

                                     WU      L-R
FIRST DOWNS...................       15       22
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    21-26   59-297
PASSING YDS (NET).............      268      145
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  45-32-0   11-7-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   66-294   70-442
Fumble Returns-Yards..........     1-66      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............      0-0     5-80
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    9-201    5-113
Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0      0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............   5-29.2   2-48.0
Fumbles-Lost..................      2-1      3-1
Penalties-Yards...............     5-55     3-20
Possession Time...............    24:37    35:23
Third-Down Conversions........  7 of 15 11 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 3   0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      4-4      7-8
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0     4-29

RUSHING: Wingate-Andrew Nallenweg 6-15; Josh Covington 7-9; Cody Haffly 7-1; Nestor Lantigua 1-1. Lenoir-Rhyne-Isaiah Whitaker 32-177; Major Herron 14-53; Corron Boston 3-37; Chris Robinson 5-28; Byron Darby 2-4; TEAM 3-minus 2.

PASSING: Wingate-Cody Haffly 32-45-0-268. Lenoir-Rhyne-Major Herron 7-11-0-145.

RECEIVING: Wingate-Chris Bowden 9-88; Bryan Caffrey 7-78; Josh Clawson 6-40; Andrew Nallenweg 5-32; Marquise Allen 4-26; Brandon Ellington 1-4. Lenoir-Rhyne-Nick Stutts 6-125; Artis Gilmore 1-20.