By Jim O'Hara
ROME, Ga. – The Shorter Hawks get a break from having to face a Gulf South Conference opponent on Saturday. What they don't get a break from, however, is playing nationally-ranked foe.
For the first time ever, Shorter will take on No. 18-ranked Carson-Newman in a non-conference kick-off at 1:30 p.m. at Barron Stadium, the third time in six games this season the Hawks, who are still searching for their first win after five setbacks, have squared off against a ranked team.
They look like a championship team and year after year they typically are a championship team," Shorter head coach Phil Jones said of Carson-Newman's Eagles, who come to Rome – this is not the first trip to Barron as they played in six Nick Hyder Football Classic games, the last a win over Gulf South Conference member West Georgia in 2005 – with a 4-1 overall record and an offense that is among the best in the NCAA Division II ranks.
"They're well-coached and well-disciplined," Jones added about the South Atlantic Conference-affiliated Eagles. "Carson-Newman has a program that could be one of the top teams in our conference if they were in the Gulf South. It will be a very, very tough contest."
The current and past success the Eagles have enjoyed have come under long-time head coach Ken Sparks, who has directed the team for the past 34 years, is the winningest coach in Division II history with 312 victories, led Carson-Newman to five NAIA national titles and since the program became a Division II member has seen his teams make 13 NCAA playoff appearances in 20 years, three of those trips resulting in championship game tilts.
Not surprisingly, the Eagles have been successful using the same formula – a split-back option offense that enters Saturday's game averaging a hefty 469 yards a game, with a rushing attack that is the fourth-best run game among Div. II teams with a 348 yards per game average.
What the Hawks will be on guard against are a stable full of runners who can carry the ball.
Running back Tyron Douglas heads up the ground charge for the Eagles, leading the team with a team-high 428 yards and six touchdowns in four games. He did not play in last week's SAC win over Mars Hill, a common foe for both Carson-Newman and Shorter, which dropped its matchup last month.
Even without Douglas – he is three TDs away from breaking the team's all-time mark for rushing touchdowns – the Eagles never blinked against Mars Hill as Andy Hibbett stepped in to run for 132 yards and now has 396 yards and five touchdowns for the season.
Of course, any sound option offense requires a versatile quarterback and the Eagles clearly have one in De'Andre Thomas, who has rushed for 339 yards and five touchdowns this season, while the southpaw thrower has also passed for 597 yards and three touchdowns through the air.
"The quarterback is good, they have strong runners," Jones said about the Eagles, who haven't been shut out in 20 years, "but what makes them tough to defend is that they take wide splits up front, wider than any team we'll face."
Last week, Carson-Newman bounced back from its lone loss – a 25-22 SAC setback to Catawba, who held the Eagles to less than 300 rushing yards for the first time this season – in a big way by rolling up 433 yards on the grounds and 471 total yards.
Having such a dominating offense, one that averages more than 36 points an outing, has overshadowed what has been a yielding defense as the Eagles are giving up an average of 23 points and 416 yards a game to opponents.
Odds are, however, the Carson-Newman defenders will be eager to lower those numbers as they will be going up against a Shorter offensive unit that because of a rash of injuries has struggled gaining the yards and the touchdowns.
The Hawks are averaging 299 yards a game, 117 of those via the pass and 182 yards on the ground, a part of the game that has been Shorter trademark in the wing-option scheme it bases from.
In their GSC 41-0 loss last week to North Alabama – the shutout was the second for Shorter, which hasn't scored in the past seven consecutive quarters – the Hawks finished the day rushing for a season-low 107 yards rush last week when Shorter was without three veteran slotbacks who were sidelined due to injuries that started hitting the entire team early in the season as evident from the fact that after starting the season off rushing for 562 yards in the first two games the Hawks have gained only 346 in the last three.
Carrying the run load for the Hawks has been senior fullback Bradley Moon (279 yards), junior quarterback Eric Dodson (240) and freshman fullback B.J. McCoy (183 yards), who have combined for more than half of the team's rushing yards.
Of the trio of veteran slots who have endured injuries, two are expected to be back for the game – seniors Roderick Jones and Kirk Wilson. Junior slot Devin Helvie was lost for the season two weeks ago after suffering a broken ankle.
While Shorter is eyeing getting its run game back into sync, the Hawks has shown they must be considered a threat to throw the ball as Dodson has thrown for 583 yards this season and enters the game just 16 yards away from breaking the all-time career passing yards record of 1,503 set by former standout Ben Williams.
Defensively, the Hawks – Shorter is giving up 417 yards a game – will be tasked to their fullest extent in trying to stop the Eagles' powerful attack. What has been one of the youngest defenses the program has had in years may be getting even younger as injuries have hit the unit as well.
Cornerback Austin Ingram and strong safety Kendall Lacey may be the lone senior starter for the Hawks on the defensive side of the ball as senior linebacker Josh White and senior defensive end Jamal Denson are not expected to play due to injuries, as well as sophomore nose tackle Greg Carswell.
The Hawks, by the way, are the first GSC foe Carson-Newman has faced this season and the first since their last clash against a Gulf South team – last year in the NCAA playoff quarterfinals when the Eagles lost to eventual Division II national champion Valdosta State.
"Our players are excited for this game and our coaching staff has them ready to go," Jones said. "Our guys are working hard and, what is even better, they're working together."
