UVA Wise travels to first place Mars Hill Saturday in search of back-to-back football wins for the first time since 2021. The home standing Lions meanwhile are looking to keep pace in the South Atlantic Conference standings.

Dane Damron's Cavaliers are coming off a 34-23 victory over Erskine's Flying Fleet last week. In the win, UVA Wise ran the ball for a season-high 256 yards. Zavier Lomax had a career-day at tailback. The Big Stone Gap, Va. native rushed for a career-high 74 yards across 15 carries while scoring a touchdown. Quarterback Jake Corkren added 36 rushing yards and a career-high two rushing touchdowns while Jaevon Gillespie also crossed the goal line on the ground in the big rushing performance.

Freshman Jordon Whitley also had a big day. The defensive back scored for the first time in his collegiate career when he intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. Whitley enters Saturday's tilt with Mars Hill having intercepted a pass in back-to-back games.

On the other side, Mars Hill signal caller JR Martin is the reigning SAC Offensive Player Of The Week. Martin completed 15-of-20 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns while adding a rushing touchdown in the Lions' 21-17 win at Carson-Newman. Martin has been one of the more effective quarterbacks in the league this fall having passed for 1,297 yards while completing 58.6 percent of his pass attempts. Most impressive may be his ability to hang on to the ball. Through 174 pass attempts, Martin has been intercepted just three times.

While Mars Hill averages 198.3 passing yards per game, the rushing offense is equally impressive. Behind freshman Jon Gullette's 93 rushing yards per contest, the Lions average 178.4 yards per game on the ground. Martin has also been instrumental in that effort, averaging 50.9 rushing yards per game.

The Lions' defense is as experienced as any in NCAA Division II. Senior linebackers Landon Honeycutt (63) and Dexter Fitzpatrick (45) lead the unit in tackles. Overall, the top 10 tacklers for Mars Hill are all seniors, including its four linebackers. The defense ranks 13th in NCAA Division II in rushing defense at 79.6 yards allowed per contest while the 15 points allowed per game ranks 18th.

An area to watch will be the return game. Mars Hill leads the league in kickoff return defense at 17.1 yards per return while ranking 13th nationally in kickoff returns at 24.5 yards per return. Meanwhile, UVA Wise is allowing 24.9 yards per kickoff return against and is averaging 18.9 yards per return. The Lions' Izaiah Jean-Baptiste leads the SAC at 25.2 yards per kickoff return.

Next week, UVA Wise returns home to face Carson-Newman while Mars Hill visits Tusculum in what could decide the SAC Mountain Division.