WISE - - No. 19 Lenoir-Rhyne picked off three UVA Wise passes and blocked a punt en route to a 42-10 South Atlantic Conference victory at Carl Smith Stadium Friday.
LR (4-1, 3-0 SAC) took the opening kickoff and scored when Dwayne McGee capped an 8-play, 75-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Johnathan Medlin's conversion kick made it a 7-0 contest; it was a lead that would never be questioned.
UVA Wise (1-4, 0-3 SAC) ran just six plays in the opening quarter and tallied only 21 yards in the first 15 minutes. The slow offensive start allowed the visiting Bears to take a two-score lead to the second quarter when Jordan Payne hauled in a 62-yard touchdown pass from Sean White with 3:14 to play in the first quarter.
Dane Damron's team would get on the board at the 12:10 mark of the second quarter when Kellan Dalton booted a 22-yard field goal to put the finishing touches on a 14-play, 69-yard drive.
Less than three minutes later, LR was back on the board when McGee scored his second touchdown of the game - a 16-yard touchdown run.
Job Whalen would give the Cavaliers a spark when the linebacker deflected a White pass and intercepted it at the Bears' 34-yard with just over a minute to play in the half.
UVA Wise would cash in the interception when Jalen Jackson hooked up with Markel Harrison on an 8-yard touchdown pass. Dalton's extra point made it a 21-10 score heading to intermission.
The third quarter belonged solely to LR as Ryan Carter had a 53-yard punt return for a touchdown, Jadus Davis had a 13-yard touchdown run and White fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to Will Martin to extend the lead to 42-10.
The fourth quarter would be scoreless as the nationally ranked Bears put the finishing touches on their third consecutive league win.
UVA Wise ran 77 plays compared to 52 for LR but the Bears outgained the Cavs 325-to-227. In addition to the punt return touchdown, LR blocked a punt and averaged 44.5 yards on two kickoff returns.
McGee posted 80 rushing yards on 19 carries to lead a rushing attack that posted 134 yards. White finished 11-for-17 through the air for 174 yards and a pair of scores while Ryan Carter caught four passes for 53 yards.
Jackson finished 14-for-31 for 96 yards through the air. Daniel Davis was his favorite target, catching five passes for 38 yards as 10 Cavs caught a pass. Julian Edwards led the rushing effort with 68 yards on 17 carries.
Whalen finished with six tackles, two tackles for loss and the interception while Robert Carter finished with four tackles, two tackles for loss and a pass deflection in defeat.
Jon Ross Maye led LR on defense with seven stops, 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception.
Friday's game was originally slated for Saturday but, the contest was moved up a day due to Hurricane Ian.
Next week, divisional play starts in the SAC as UVA Wise travels to Emory & Henry for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
