WISE - - UVa-Wise committed a school record eight turnovers as No. 16 University of Charleston posted a 59-7 Mountain East Conference win Thursday. The win assures Charleston its first NCAA Division II playoff berth in program history while the loss concludes the worst season in UVa-Wise history; the Cavaliers finished with a school-low one victory.

Charleston (10-1, 9-1 MEC) dominated the contest from the onset. The Golden Eagles took the opening kickoff and scored on the third play from scrimmage. Following a 54-yard pass from Jeremy Johnson to Joey Augustin, Johnson scored on a 6-yard quarterback keeper to give the visitors a 6-0 lead they would not relinquish. Bret Benes' PAT was good, leaving the score 7-0.

Following a 30-yard field goal by Benes, UVa-Wise (1-10, 1-9 MEC) had its strongest drive of the day, trailing 10-0. After eight consecutive rushes moved the ball from the Cavaliers' 21-yard to the Golden Eagles' 9-yard line, Daniel Lewis first pass of the drive was intercepted and returned to the Charleston 14-yard line.

The interception was the first of six thrown by Lewis and Max Rodgers. Charleston finished the first half by scoring 28 points in the second quarter to take a 38-0 lead to intermission. Jermaine Kelly had a pair of touchdown runs in the quarter while Johnathan Pruden had a 34-yard interception return and D'Andre Brooks caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Johnson.

Things got worse for UVa-Wise in the third quarter, Tevion Cappe scored on a 4-yard touchdown run before Kane Roush scored from 22 yards out. Benes was perfect on the PAT attempts extending the lead to 52-0.

The Cavaliers scored their lone touchdown of the game when Tyquan Weston scooped up a fumble and raced 36-yards for the touchdown. Trent Martin's PAT made the score 52-7 with 4:22 to play in the third period.

Kelly's third touchdown run of the day came with 11:34 to play in the contest, Benes' final extra point left the final margin of 59-7.

Zachary Blair recorded 12 stops, including two behind the line of scrimmage. His two tackles for loss gave him 28.5 on the season, a new single-season school record at UVa-Wise.

The Cavs' Timmy Meador posted a game-high 14 stops.

Max Rodgers received the most extensive playing time of his young career as he passed for 127 yards and ran for 71 more. Both are career-highs for the former Grayson County standout.

As a team, UVa-Wise hit on just 12 of 43 pass attempts while Charleston tallied 416 yards of total offense.

Charleston will learn its playoff opponent later this week while the season concludes for UVa-Wise.