Lenoir-Rhyne Football
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Lenoir-Rhyne Football Overview Conference supremecy is on the line as the Lenoir-Rhyne two remaining undefeated SAC programs 2018 Schedule square off in Newberry. Lenoir-Rhyne owns (4-1, 3-0 SAC) a 3-0 record in league play, while the Wolves are 1-0 after a big win against Carson-New- Aug. 30 at #12 West Alabama L, 32-36 Sept. 8 at North Greenville W, 51-24 man on September 22. Sept. 13 MARS HILL# W, 59-27 The Bears enter play ranked No. 11 in the Sept. 22 at Wingate# W, 31-24 nation in scoring, averaging 41.6 points per Sept. 29 TUSCULUM# W, 35-10 game. The Bears have topped 30 points in Oct. 6 at Newberry# 4 p.m. each contest this season and their rushing Oct. 13 ^LIMESTONE# 2 p.m. attack ranks No. 16 in all of Division II. Oct. 20 at Fort Valley State 2 p.m. Game No. 6 Jaquay Mitchell leads the SAC with four Oct. 27 UNC PEMBROKE 2 p.m. rushing touchdowns on the year. Against Nov. 3 at Carson-Newman# 1 p.m. Lenoir-Rhyne Nov. 10 CATAWBA# 2 p.m. Tusculum, Mitchell took the opening LR play (4-1, 3-0 SAC) to the house on a 65-yard touchdown run. # = South Atlantic Conference Game vs The junior has added a pair of touchdowns ^ = Homecoming Newberry through the air as well. Newberry On the other side of the ball, the Newberry 2018 Schedule (3-2, 1-0 SAC) defense ranks No. 17 in the land in rushing (3-2, 1-0 SAC) defense, permitting a stingy 93.4 rushing Date yards per game. The Wolves are ranked inside Sept. 1 at Western Carolina L, 26-33 Saturday, October 6, 2018 the top-10 in Division II in scoring defense at Sept. 8 at Florida Tech L, 10-17 13.4 per game. Sept. 13 VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG W, 27-14 Time Sept. 22 CARSON-NEWMAN# W, 23-3 The winner will sit alone on top of the 4:00 p.m. Sept. 29 at UNC Pembroke W, 20-0 league standings when this one ends. Location Oct. 6 LENOIR-RHYNE# 4 p.m. Newberry, S.C. Oct. 13 at Tusculum# 3 p.m. Oct. 20 at Limestone# 1 p.m. Stadium Oct. 27 ^WINGATE# 3 p.m. Setzler Field Bear Facts Nov. 3 CATAWBA# 1 p.m. Nov. 10 at Mars Hill# 1 p.m. Series • The Bears have won four straight games Lenoir-Rhyne leads, 43-33-7 for the first time since late in the 2014 ^ = Homecoming season. # = South Atlantic Conference Game Last Meeting • Lenoir-Rhyne has already topped the Newberry 34, Lenoir-Rhyne 7 previous season’s point total in just five (Oct. 7, 2017 - Hickory, N.C.) games. The 2018 Bears have scored 208 National Rankings points through just five games, while the The Coaches n/a 2017 squad totaled 194 points in 10 con- tests. Lenoir-Rhyne Live Streaming • The Bears have lost four straight head- Head Coach: Drew Cronic newberrywolves.com to-head matchups against Newberry with Alma Mater: Georgia, 1998 the last win coming in 2014 by a score of Record at Lenoir-Rhyne: 4-1 (first year) Radio 23-10. Overall Record: 26-4 (third year) The 2018 Lenoir-Rhyne Football Broadcast • The Bears are explosive in the second Team includes JuJu Phillips (“Voice Of The quarter so far this season. LR has totaled Bears”) and Bears Sports Hall Of Famer 82 points and have outscored opponents Newberry Jack Huss (color analyst). 82-35 in the second quarter of games. Head Coach: Todd Knight Alma Mater: Gardner-Webb, 1989 Record at Wingate: ) Overall Record: lrbears.com • @BearsSports #GOBEARS Game Sponsor Lenoir-Rhyne Football Lenoir-Rhyne’s Last Game Drew Cronic (Sept. 29, 2018) Head Football Coach HICKORY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Football Lenoir-Rhyne University Team defeated Tusculum by a final score of 35-10 on Saturday night at Moretz Stadium to run their winning streak to four in a row. Hired on December 7, 2017, Drew Year. In 2016, Reinhardt produced 14 The Bears dominated on both sides of the Cronic became the 22nd Head Football all-league picks and 24 academic all- ball and sit atop the league standings at 3-0. Coach in Lenoir-Rhyne University conference honoree (both Mid-South Goldsmith’s Year-By-Year history. Conference highs). INSIDE THE MATCHUP: Overall SAC Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 35, Tusculum 10 Year Record Record Cronic’s squads also excelled in the Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (4-1, 3-0 SAC), Tuscu- Cronic2007 was the Offensive0-0 Coordinator0-0 classroom as his team posted a 3.11 lum (2-2, 1-1 SAC) at Furman University this past fall, Totals 0-0 0-0 grade point average while 18 student- Location: Moretz Stadium | Hickory, N.C. leading the Paladins to an 8-5 record – athletes carried perfect 4.0 grade point Get Social: Twitter - @BearsSports | Insta- 6-2 in the Southern Conference – and averages. gram - @BearsSports | Facebook - /LRbears a second-place finish in the league standings. The Paladins were ranked Cronic’s first stint at Furman lasted STATS OF THE GAME: as high as No. 22 in the nation and nine years (2002-10) where he worked • Offensively, the Bears didn’t lack for stand- advanced to the second round of the under Bobby Lamb and served in outs in this one. Senior WR T.J. Smith finished playoffs. Cronic spearheaded an of- several coaching roles including wide the contest with 5 catches for 142 yards and fense which averaged 34 points a game three touchdowns. Smith had two TD’s dur- receivers, running backs, tight ends and ing the 2017 season but now sits with seven and coached the All-SoCon Second recruiting coordinator. Team Quarterback in P.J. Blazeowski. this year. Ameen Stevens carried 15 times for 163 yards and a touchdown, including a 73- His first tenure with the Paladins Before his second stint with Furman, yard burst. Jaquay Mitchell ran seven times included a 10-3 campaign and a SoCon for 106 yards and found the end zone for the Cronic coached at Reinhardt (Ga.) Title in 2004 and an 11-3 season in University for five years (2012-16) and fifth straight game. 2005 which ended with a trip to the • The defensive unit held one of the best was instrumental in the startup of the national semifinals. rushing teams in the league to just 27 yards program in November of 2011. For rushing on 27 carries. Jordon Shippy, who the first three seasons, Cronic served In 1999, Cronic began his coaching ran for rushed for 258 yards in his most as Assistant Head Coach, Offensive career after graduate school with James recent contest, was held to five carries for -5 Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach and Madison where he served three seasons yards. Also, QB Tommy Pistone completed Recruiting Coordinator for the Eagles as receivers coach and assistant recruit- just 11 of his 36 passes on the evening. before being named the head coaching ing coordinator. The Dukes won the • Clayton Horn led the Bears in tackles for prior to the 2015 campaign. Atlantic 10 Championship in his first the second straight game, racking up 11 year with the Dukes (1999) and earned to go with 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced In his first season, Cronic directed a bid to the NCAA Division I-AA fumble. Sherrod Williams added seven Reinhardt to a 9-2 season before a tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and a pass Playoffs. breakup in the contest. record-breaking in 2016. The Eagles went 13-1, won the Mid-South Confer- • As a team, LR rushed 55 times for 349 Cronic, a native of Sharpsburg, Ga., yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 518 ence Championship and advanced to played quarterback for his father – the NAIA National Quarterfinals. Re- yards of total offense marks the first time Danny Cronic – at East Coweta High the Bears topped 500 yards in a game since inhardt averaged 51.1 points per contest School before playing collegiately and totaled 550.6 yards of offense per gaining 503 against Mars Hill in 2015. at the University of Georgia. As a game, ranking first in the nation in Bulldog, Cronic played wide receiver BEYOND THE BOXSCORE: both categories. and was a member of the special teams. • The Bears have scored over 30 points in Cronic lettered twice and participated all five contests this year. For the season, LR Reinhardt also led the nation in rush- in the 1995 Peach Bowl and 1997 Out- has scored 208 points, already surpassing ing offense (360.0 ypg) and rushing back Bowl. last year’s total of 194 which happened in touchdowns (71) while having the na- 10 games. tion’s second-highest passing efficiency Cronic received his bachelor’s degree in • Additionally, the four wins topped the (178.0) to go along with 25 touchdown mathematics education from Georgia win totals of 2017 and 2016 that saw LR win passes. In addition, the Eagles’ defense in 1998 before serving as a graduate as- three each season. finished second in the nation in points sistant (wide receivers) at West Georgia • The Bears and Newberry remain as the allowed (13.8 ppg) and sacks (46) and where he earned his master’s degree in only undefeated teams in South Atlantic fifth in total defense at 283.5 yards per Conference play. However, Newberry has educational leadership in 1999. only played one league contest.