Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs are in the second round of the NCAA Division II football play-offs for the first time since 2010 and second time in program history, traveling to No. 17 Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday at 2 p.m. for the Super Region 2 semifinals. Winners of seven straight, the Bulldogs are 9-3 overall after going 5-2 in the SAC to finish alone in second in the league standings. The Bears have won 11 straight, entering the semifinals at 11-1 overall after going 7-0 in league play.
 
ABOUT THE GAME

Saturday, Nov. 24 | 2 p.m. | Super Region 2 Semifinals
Wingate (9-3; 5-2 SAC) at #17 Lenoir-Rhyne (11-1; 7-0 SAC)
Hickory, N.C. (Moretz Stadium)
Winner advances to region finals against Valdosta State / Bowie State winner
VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TWITTER

WINGATE PLAY-OFF HISTORY

- Third play-off appearance in Wingate football history
- The 'Dogs are making back-to-back play-off appearances for first time ever
- Wingate's first play-off appearance was in 2010
- The Bulldogs defeated Morehouse 63-41 in their first ever play-off game in 2010
- Last week was the second play-off victory in program history
- Last week was the first road play-off win for the Bulldogs
- The West Georgia win was the first play-off win over a ranked team
- Saturday will mark the first time the 'Dogs have ever played a SAC team in the postseason
- Wingate is 1-1 against the Gulf South and 1-1 against the SIAC in the play-offs
- The Bulldogs were one of only two seven seeds to advance in this year's play-offs
 
SERIES HISTORY

- Lenoir-Rhyne leads the all-time series 20-13
- Wingate is 6-10 against the Bears in Hickory
- The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings at Lenoir-Rhyne
- The Bears won the first 11 meetings from 1986-1998 and 14 of the first 16 overall
- The Bulldogs won six straight from 2005-2010
- LR won the next four from 2011-2014, followed by Wingate's three-game win streak that was snapped this year
- Biggest win for LR was a 49-7 victory in Monroe in 1992
- Wingate's biggest margin of victory came in 2016, a 49-6 home win
- Wingate's 50-49 win in 2009 saw the 'Dogs overcome a 49-32 deficit the final 11 minutes
- The 'Dogs won 24-14 in 2015 to snap Lenoir-Rhyne's 22-game SAC winning streak 
- WU won 22-14 at Lenoir-Rhyne last season
- The Bears raced out to a 31-7 lead at Wingate this year, then held on for a 31-24 victory

WINGATE VS. LR 2018 MEETING (AT WINGATE)

- LR led 31-7 third quarter, then held on for a 31-24 win at Wingate
- WU outgained the Bears 378-353, with 288 passing yards and 90 rushing yards
- Wingate had three turnovers while Lenoir-Rhyne turned it over twice
- The Bulldogs had the ball for seven minutes more than the Bears
- Shaw Crocker threw for 288 yards and two scores
- JT Stokes had seven catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns
- Crocker ran for a team-high 31 yards despite being sacked seven times
- Domineke McNeill had 29 rushing yards on 25 carries; Nijere Peoples had seven yards on three carries
- Grayson Willingham threw for 239 yards and two scores for the Bears
- Four different Bears had double-digit rushing yards
- Cardell Rawlings had 14 tackles, 5.0 TFLs, 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles
- Rawlings was named the National Defensive Player of the Week
- Eric Jackson had two interceptions and nine tackles for the Bears
- Stokes had TD grabs of 39 and 87 yards in the fourth quarter to make it 31-24
- WU had fourth-and-goal inside the LR one but failed to score
- Wingate had one last chance to tie it, but the drive stalled at midfield in the final minute

COACHES

- WU head coach Joe Reich is in his 18th season at Wingate (119-78 overall)
- One of three SAC coaches to ever win 100 games
- 2017 SAC Coach of the Year (Third time in his career)
- Drew Cronic is in his first season at Lenoir-Rhyne (11-1 overall)
- Cronic was the offensive coordinator at Furman last year and a head coach at Reinhardt for two years, going 22-3 with the Eagles
 
 MOST RECENT GAME 

- Wingate shocked second-seeded and 10th-ranked West Georgia 41-31
- The 'Dogs outscored the Wolves 14-0 in the fourth quarter
- The Bulldogs forced three turnovers and blocked a punt for a touchdown
- The Wolves entered the game 10-1 overall and allowed over 40 points for the second time all year
- Wingate accumulated 245 rushing yards, getting 95 from Domineke McNeill and 65 from Nijere Peoples
- Jalen Brooks had five catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns
- Shaw Crocker threw for 103 yards and a pair of scores
- Floyd Louallen had the blocked punt and touchdown
- Davion Washington and Joe Kelly had interceptions; Cal Hanford recovered the fumble
- SAC Defensive Player of the Year Cardell Rawlings had two sacks & two QB hurries
- Elijah Gilmore had 10 tackles and a sack
- Hanford added 1.5 sacks to go along with his fumble recovery
- Lenoir-Rhyne downed Florida Tech 43-21 in Hickory
- The Bears outgained the Panthers 475-299 on the day
- LR had 247 passing yards and 228 rushing yards
- Lenoir-Rhyne had four interceptions on the day while also recovering two fumbles
- The Bears had the ball for nearly 40 minutes on the day, holding FIT to 1-10 on third down

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS

- Wingate has a seven-game winning streak for the second straight season
- The Bulldogs are 18-5 over the last two seasons and 26-8 over the last three years
- First time in program history the 'Dogs have won at least eight games three straight years
- First time in program history making back-to-back play-off appearances
- First time making the play-offs without winning the SAC title
- Last week was the first win over a top-10 team since 2004 (35-21 at #10 Catawba)
- Last week was the first win over a ranked team since winning 24-14 at #16 LR in 2015
- The Bulldogs have won 19 straight games when scoring over 30 points
- Wingate had a league-best 11 players earn All-SAC honors in 2018
- Rawlings was named SAC Defensive Player of the Year; Peoples named Offensive Freshman of the Year
- The Bulldogs have outscored opponents 281-143 during winning streak
- The 'Dogs are looking for their first-ever trip to the region finals
- Wingate is looking for its first-ever 10-win season
- 2018 is the third nine-win season in school history
- The Bulldogs have the second most points and touchdowns in program history this year
 
WINGATE OFFENSE

- Wingate is second in the SAC with 33.8 points per game; fourth with 372.9 yards per game
- WU ranks fourth in the league in passing yards and rushing yards per game
- Peoples is second in the SAC with 105.9 rush yards per game and first with 14 touchdowns
- Peoples went over 1,000 yards on the year in last week's victory
- The freshman has gone over 130 yards in five of his 10 games this season
- Peoples ranks in the top 25 nationally in rushing yards, yards per game and rushing TDs
- Crocker has thrown for 2,202 yards and 24 touchdowns on the season
- Leads the SAC in passing TDs; fourth in passing yards
- Crocker is 12th in the nation in yards per completion and 20th in passing efficiency
- Stokes has a team-best 39 catches, 811 yards and nine receiving TDs
- BJ Muckelvene has 428 receiving yards and five touchdowns
- Bryan Mitchell is second on the team with 29 catches, going for 308 yards and three scores
- The Bulldogs are 54-157 on third down (34 percent) and eight-for-14 on fourth down (57 percent)
- WU is 44-for-51 in red zone opportunities, scoring 36 touchdowns
- Wingate's 53 touchdowns this year are the second most in program history
- WU has 405 points, only the second time in school history scoring over 400 points (418 in 2010)
 
WINGATE DEFENSE

- Wingate is fifth nationally with 45 sacks on the season and 10th with 106 TFLs
- The Bulldogs are second in the SAC in scoring defense (20.0 points per game allowed)
- WU is second in total defense, allowing 307.1 yards per game
- The 'Dogs are second in the league in rushing defense and fifth in pass defense
- Wingate's 15 interceptions are second-most in the SAC; nine fumble recoveries also rank second
- The Bulldogs rank 10th nationally in third-down defense (28 percent)
- Rawlings is second in the nation in sacks and seventh in TFLs
- 15 different Bulldogs have recorded a sack this year
- Rawlings is the team leader with 80 tackles, 22 TFLs, 17 sacks and 19 QB hurries, adding three forced fumbles
- Joe Kelly has 68 tackles, 5.0 TFLs, three interceptions and seven pass breakups
- Robbie Wallace has 66 tackles, 6.5 TFLs and two picks
- Elijah Gilmore has registered 64 tackles, 7.0 TFLs and four sacks
- Auntrell Mack has 52 tackles and is third on the team with 8.5 TFLs, adding four QB hurries
- Kam Johnson has 48 tackles, two picks and seven breakups
- Cameron Mattison leads the 'Dogs with four interceptions, adding 11 breakups and 47 tackles
- Cornerbacks Washington and Matthew Ellis-White combine for 27 break-ups, two picks and 94 tackles
- Hanford is second on the team with 9.0 TFLs and 6.5 sacks

WINGATE SPECIAL TEAMS

- First Team All-SAC kicker McLean Robertson has hit 11-13 field goals and 49-52 extra points
- Robertson has is eight-for-eight on kicks under 40 yards, adding makes of 42, 43 and 46
- Robertson hit a 46-yarder at West Georgia; also has 23 touchbacks on 56 kick-offs
- All-SAC punter Chris Birozes averages 43.0 yards per punt on 64 attempts with 15 of over 50 yards
- Birozes 18 punts inside the 20 while ranking eighth nationally in net punting
- Ra'Quan Simmons has 531 kick return yards, averaging 24.1 yards per return
- Muckelvene has 112 punt return yards on 11 returns; Simmons averages 9.1 yards per punt return
 
ABOUT LENOIR-RHYNE

- 2018 SAC champs have won 11 straight games, earning three seed in Super Region 2
- Lenoir-Rhyne is making its fourth NCAA play-off appearance
- The Bears are in the region semifinals for the third time in four trips to the play-offs
- LR played in the 2013 national championship game
- Saturday's win over Florida Tech was the 500th victory in program history
- The Bears enter the contest ranked 17th in the most recent AFCA top 25 poll
- LR is coming off a 3-7 season, going 1-6 in league play
 
LENOIR-RHYNE OFFENSE

- The Bears lead the SAC in scoring offense (44.3 ppg) and total offense (470.0 ypg)
- LR ranks fourth nationally in rushing offense, seventh in scoring offense and ninth in turnover margin
- Lenoir-Rhyne has scored 30 points or more in every game this season
- The 31 points LR scored at WU was the second-lowest output of the season
- The Bears have gone over 50 points on five occasions and over 60 twice this year
- LR has had over 200 rushing yards in all but two games; season low 114 at Wingate
- The Bears have had over 420 total yards in all but two games; had 353 at Wingate
- Lenoir-Rhyne has nine different players with over 100 rushing yards on the year
- Ameen Stevens has 659 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns
- Darnell Jackson has 494 yards and four scores
- Willingham has thrown for 1,956 yards and 23 touchdowns
- Second in the SAC in passing TDs; third in passing yards per game
- T.J. Smith has 898 receiving yards on 44 catches, scoring 10 TDs
- Smith is second in the SAC in receiving yards and touchdowns
 
LENOIR-RHYNE DEFENSE

- Lenoir-Rhyne is third in the SAC in scoring defense (20.6 ppg) and fifth in total defense (347 ypg)
- The Bears have a league-high 21 interceptions and 17 fumble recoveries, ranking second with 41 sacks
- The 38 turnovers forced by LR rank second nationally
- Lenoir-Rhyne leads the nation in fumbles recovered; second in interceptions
- Sherrod Williams leads the team with 90 tackles, adding 8.0 TFLs, 5.5 sacks and six forced fumbles
- Williams leads the nation in forced fumbles
- Jaquan Artis has 15.5 TFLs and 11 sacks, adding 11 QB hurries and four fumble recoveries
- Jackson leads the Bears with six interceptions, adding 64 tackles and seven pass breakups
- Dan Louba has 10.5 TFLs, 7.0 sacks and five hurries
- Amari Houston has added 9.5 TFLs and four sacks
 
LENOIR-RHYNE SPECIAL TEAMS

- Chase Allbaugh has hit 15-19 field goals and 63-68 extra points
- Allbaugh has a long of 40, connecting on 14-16 field goals from under 40 yards
- Michael Owen has 57 punts, averaging 38.8 yards per punt with a long of 68 and nine of over 50 yards
- Kyle Dugger has 507 punt return yards and two TDs, averaging 16.9 yards per return
- Xzavion Huff averages 30.1 yards per kick return with a 90-yard TD return
 
UP NEXT

- The winner will advance to the Super Region 2 championship game next Saturday
- The winner plays the winner of the Valdosta State vs. Bowie State game
- The highest remaining seed will host the region championship contest
- The national title game is Dec. 15 in McKinney, Texas