WISE - - Limestone will make history Saturday evening when UVA Wise visits Saints Field in a 7 p.m. kickoff, marking the first football game ever held at Saints Field.
Limestone (2-1, 1-0 SAC) brings one of the top offenses in the South Atlantic Conference to the game. The Saints are averaging a league-leading 44.7 points per game while also leading the conference in total offense at 476.7 yards per game.
On the other side of the field, UVA Wise (1-2, 0-1 SAC) brings one of the top passing defenses to the game. Through three games, teams are throwing for just 121.7 yards per game against the Cavaliers.
A week ago, Limestone scored its first ever victory over Carson-Newman with a 40-37 double overtime win on the road. The Saints leaned heavily on their running game as Tre Stewart ran the ball 27 times for 180 yards and a pair of scores.
The decisive blow came from the leg of junior Austin Kemp when the kicker booted a 41-yarder in the second overtime to propel Limestone to the 40-37 triumph. It was the fourth made field goal this season by Kemp.
UVA Wise is outscoring opponents 42-7 in the first quarter of games. Yet, a different story has unfolded in the second half. The Cavs were outscored 26-6 in the second half in a 40-20 loss to Barton last week after North Alabama blanked UVA Wise 28-0 in the second half of a 49-17 setback two weeks ago.
Dane Damron's team has seen a resurgence in the ground game. The Cavs are averaging 166 yards rushing per game which is the highest per game average for the program since Damron came to Wise in 2016.
Jaevon Gillespie has spurred the rushing attack by averaging 9.2 yards per carry over his first 29 attempts. Last week, Gillespie rushed for 99 yards on 11 carries to eclipse 850 rushing yards for his career.
Limestone leads the all-time series 2-to-1; UVA Wise's lone win in the series came last fall in Gaffney by the score of 28-24. That day, the Cavs won a contest that saw six lead changes before a defensive stop inside the UVA Wise 25-yard line with under a minute to play sealed the deal. If history is any indicator, this meeting between the two schools could be similar as each of the last two meetings have been decided by six points or less.
Next week, UVA Wise returns home to face nationally ranked Lenoir-Rhyne. Kickoff from Smith Stadium is slated for 3 p.m.
