Cornelius ties Tusculum record
Place-kicker Logan Cornelius from East Hamilton High School was part of the Tusculum College football team’s record-sharing performance in a season- opening 63- 0 win Thursday night in Greeneville, Tenn., against the College of Faith. Cornelius tied a school record by going 9-for-9 on extra-point kicks. Johnathan Diliberto tied a Pioneers record set by Rhea County graduate Matt Riggs in 2002 by catching three first-half touchdown catches from Bo Cordell, who threw four in the half while completing 11 of 12 passes for 182 yards.
Carson-Newman University opened its football season with a 55-28 home win over Wayne State on Thursday night in Jefferson City, Tenn. The Eagles, ranked 17th in NCAA Division II, scored touchdowns on their first six possessions for a 42-14 halftime lead and made its 48-14 early in the third quarter on De’Andre Thomas’ third TD pass to go with three Tyron Douglas scoring runs. Two of the TD passes covered 34 and 63 yards to Anthony Eubanks; the last one was a 40-yarder to Steven Isom. Thomas was 8-of-10 for 213 yards; Douglas gained 82 yards on 14 carries.
Depth remains a concern for the Sewanee football team going into today’s season opener against DePauw at 2 p.m. EDT on McGee Field, according to third-year coach Tommy Laurendine, but front-line experience and promising freshmen are pluses. “We’ve got some experience coming back, including the entire offensive line,” Laurendine said Friday, “but depth is our main issue for the third straight year. We’ve got to count on a lot of freshmen. We’ve got a good crop of freshmen this year, but they’re still 17- and 18-year-old kids.” Firstyear Tigers Powers Spencer and Christian Biedenharn are helping fortify the slotback and receiver spots on offense, and Laurendine expects 315- pound freshman Derek Green from Baylor School to rotate in at defensive tackle starting next week — an injury is keeping him out today. “We’ve added depth at linebacker and the defensive line,” Laurendine said. He noted that both senior starter Curtis Johnson and sophomore Cody Daniel will play at quarterback, with Johnson providing smoother execution and more experience in recognizing defenses and Daniel more capable of big plays. “If we can stay healthy, we have a chance of our first winning season since 2000,” the coach assessed.
The Chattanooga Gator Club will host viewing parties for Florida football games every week at Splits Bar and Grill in the Pin Strikes Entertainment Center at 6241 Perimeter Drive, next to Sportsman’s Warehouse at the intersection of Lee Highway and Highway 153. Splits will offer food discounts for club members, and membership is not limited to Florida alumni. Anyone interested can check out the club on Facebook or call 499-0950.
SOCCER The Lee University women’s soccer team fell 2-1 in its season opener Thursday night at Azusa Pacific in California. Lee’s Chloe Rader scored first on a penalty kick, 14:22 in, but Mayra Almazan scored unassisted for the Cougars at 27:59 and assisted Katelyn Rogers for a go-ahead header at 28:50. Lee led in shots at 16-12 and in corner kicks at 6-3 against Azusa, which like Lee has moved from the NAIA to NCAA Division II.
Austin Waddell’s score from an assist by fellow freshman David Perez 20 minutes into the second half stood up for a 1-0 victory for the Lee men’s soccer team in its season opener Friday against King College in the Lee Olive Garden Invitational. The Flames outshot King 22-10. Lynn, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II, beat Shorter 4-1.
Despite being outshot 15-9, Transylvania beat visiting Covenant 2-0 in men’s soccer Friday with goals in the last 12 minutes by Kyle Smith and Eric Froschauer. That dropped the Scots to 1-1-1.
VOLLEYBALL Rachel Harper from Boyd- Buchanan School had 17 kills, 12 digs and five aces and fellow junior Kristen Pickett from Cleveland High had 34 assists and nine digs in leading the Carson-Newman volleyball team to a season-opening 3-1 volleyball win Friday against Converse in the Carson-Newman Classic. The set scores were 25-18, 16-25, 22-25, 25-14. Harper had 11 kills and 11 digs and Pickett had 31 assists and nine digs in a 25-15, 25-12, 25-17 sweep of UNC Pembroke.