WISE - - Jaevon Gillespie rushed for a career-high 166 yards on 18 carries while adding a career-best four touchdowns as UVA Wise rolled to a 33-7 South Atlantic Conference victory over Carson-Newman at Smith Stadium Saturday.
UVA Wise(2-2, 1-1 SAC) dominated seemingly ever facet of the game. Dane Damron's team outgained Carson-Newman (0-3, 0-2 SAC) 446-to-228 while limiting the Eagles to 11 first downs.
The Cavaliers' offense pounced early as a pair of Gillespie rushing scores put the home squad in front 14-0 after a quarter of play.
Markel Dailey setup the first touchdown of the day when the defensive back intercepted Carson-Newman quarterback Micah Young.
UVA Wise would take over on its own 35-yard line and quickly move to scoring position. Lendon Redwine hooked up with Devin Heckstall on a 28-yard completion on the first play of the drive to move the ball to Eagles' territory.
Eight plays later, Gillespie found pay dirt as the Greeneville, Tenn. product scored from one yard out. The conversion kick by Drew Cassidy put the Cavs in front 7-0 and it was a lead that would never be questioned.
UVA Wise would recover a muffed squib kick on the ensuing kickoff before going 3-and-out. Following a Carson-Newman punt, the hosts took over near mid-field and were primed to score again.
As was the story on the first scoring drive, a Redwine-to-Heckstall connection got the drive off to a good start. The duo connected on a 33-yard reception to move the ball to the Eagles' 15-yard line.
Three plays later, Gillespie scooted in from two yards out to make it a two-score affair.
Darrien Newton provided the lone score of the second quarter when the receiver hauled in an 8-yard touchdown pass from Redwine to send UVA Wise to halftime leading 21-0.
The Cavs lived in the Eagles' backfield in the second half. Overall, UVA Wise tallied six stops behind the line of scrimmage in the game's final 30 minutes as part of a day that saw the unit register eight tackles for loss and four sacks.
Deandre Williams and Joel Burgess led the charge to the Carson-Newman backfield. Williams finished with 13 tackles and a sack with Burgess collecting 10 tackles, three coming behind the line of scrimmage.
Dailey picked off a second pass in the win, the defensive back now has three in the last games.
Gillespie put an exclamation point on his day with 4:21 to play in the third quarter as he rattled off a career-long 80-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach at 27-0.
Lamarcus Brown hooked up with Braxton Westfield on a 58-yard scoring strike for Carson-Newman's lone points of the day late in the third quarter only to see Gillespie score from 13 yards out in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin of 33-7.
The 166 rushing yards by Gillespie are the most by a UVA Wise running back since joining the SAC. Redwine finished 25-of-34 through the air for 237 yards. Heckstall had a game-high 88 receiving yards on three catches while Newton led all players with four catches.
Alonzo Houston paced the Eagles defense with 15 tackles but four turnovers and negative plays proved to be too much to overcome for the visitors.
The 0-3 start to the season for Carson-Newman is the first in over 45 years and the first since joining NCAA Division II.
UVA Wise will look to win back-to-back games next Saturday when Lenoir-Rhyne visits Smith Stadium for Homecoming 2021. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
