WISE – The UVA Wise football team makes the short trip to Jefferson City for their penultimate road game of the season when they take on the Eagles of Carson-Newman Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

This is the second season in a row that the two South Atlantic Conference foes have played in Burke-Tarr Stadium.

GETTING WISE
- The Cavs are in the midst of a three game road swing that saw them fall at Lenoir-Rhyne 23-10 last week, They will play at Mars Hill next week to close out the road portion of their schedule.
- Against L-R, the Bears surged ahead before the Cavs found their footing in the second half, cutting the lead to 23-10 and were driving with the ball as time expired.
- Jake Corkren is 112-218-8 for 1,312 yards and six touchdowns, while McCalan Beason came in last week and went 16-27-0 for 219 yards and a touchdown.
- Daniel Thomas has rushed 153 times for 751 yards and eight touchdowns and leads the SAC in yards per game. He is also fourth in rushing TDs. The 751 yards are the second-most in the program's NCAA Division II era behind Jordan Gillespie's 775 yards in 2023. The last rusher to surpass 1,000 yards in a season was Ra'Shad Morgan, who had 1,485 in 2007. Corkren is second on the team in rushing with 31 carries for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Andon Rogers has 22 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown.
- DJ Powell leads a deep receiving corps. The senior has 50 catches for 609 yards and two touchdowns and is second in the SAC in yards per game. The last Highland Cavalier to have more than 650 receiving yards was Devin Heckstall in 2021. The last time the Cavs had receivers catch more than 50 passes was in 2015, when Terrence Younger caught 62 and Carlton Griffith had 55 catches. Peyton McClanahan has 20 catches for 317 yards and three touchdowns this season. He leads the team in receiving TDs. Kahlil Jones also has 15 catches for 268 yards and a touchdown.
- Matt Strong and Brub Hines III lead the team with 46 tackles apiece. Strong has two interceptions and two fumble recoveries while Hines leads the team in sacks and also has an interception.

ABOUT C-N
- The Eagles are 4-2 on the season and 3-2 in SAC play after defeating Anderson 28-6 last week. They are 2-0 in Burke-Tarr Stadium this season.
- C-N Head Coach Ashley Ingram is in his second season in Jefferson City.
- They are out-rushing opponents by a 1,422-764 margin, but the reverse is true in the passing game as opponents are out-passing the Eagles 1,027-576 margin. The Eagles do hold a 1,998-1,791 yard margin in total offense.
- Zane Whitson is the leading rusher of a very deep cadre of rushers, gaining 389 yards on 62 carries with 4 TDs. Jayden Sullins has 77 carries for 343 yards and a touchdown, while Tedros Gleaton has 218 yards on 37 carries with two touchdowns. Mario Sanchez leads the team in rushing TDs.
- Whitson also leads the team in passing as he is 17-31-0 for 283 yards and three TDs, while Gleaton is 14-21-0 for 240 yards and four TD. The Eagles have not thrown an interception this season.
- Jeremiah Carroll is the main target as he has 10 receptions for 196 yards and two TDs.
- Cruz Temple (41 tackles), Terry Lemon (34), and Martavis Mason (30) anchor the Eagle defense. Mason and Makhi Brown each have three sacks apiece, while Rich Mellien leads the team in interceptions with two.
- C-N founded their football team in 1895 and are the only SAC school to never lose to LMU in conference play in football. (Both teams were in the Smoky Mountain Athletic Conference together for two seasons but only played in 1931.) They have been playing at the site of Burke-Tarr Field since at least 1904. The site was part of a U.S. Cavalry baggage area for the 25th Michigan and 16th Kentucky during the nearby Battle of Mossy Creek on Dec. 29, 1863. (There is no mention of it being foggy that day, though cannon smoke probably made it so fairly quickly.) The campus was used as a hospital after the battle.

UP NEXT
The Cavs will close out the road portion of the 2025 season when they play at Mars Hill on Nov. 8 at 1:00 p.m.