ROCK HILL, SC – The South Atlantic Conference has released their annual pre-season football poll, which is voted on by the head coaches of all the SAC schools.

The Highland Cavaliers are picked ninth in the poll. Lenoir-Rhyne was picked first, followed by Wingate and Carson-Newman.

Additionally, six UVA Wise student-athletes (Ian Scammell, Seth Fischbach, Jake Corkren, Kenneth Long, Brub Hines III, DaCorian Jones-Montgomery) were named Players to Watch by the coaching staff.

Scammell, a native of Grundy, Virginia, led the team in rushing last season with an average of 42.2 yards a game and had four touchdowns. He also caught nine passes for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Fischbach is the top receiver returning from last season. The Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, native caught 45 passes last season for an average of 11.4 yards per catch. He averaged 51.4 yards a game and scored three touchdowns.

Corkren was one of the more efficient quarterbacks in the SAC before his season was cut short due to an injury. In the six games he played the Northport, Alabama, product went 124-204 for 1,154 yards and eight touchdowns.

Huntsville, Alabama, sophomore Kenneth Long returns to help anchor the defensive line. He had 35 tackles last season, including two sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss.

Hines is the top linebacker returning from last season as the junior from Spindale, North Carolina, had 68 tackles and an interception, two breakups, and three quarterback hurries last season.

Jones-Montgomery also was a key defensive component last season. The junior from Chattanooga had 35 tackles.

This is year two of the Gary Bass era, and he and his staff are ready to take another step in their building process.

"Last year was a great building block for our program. Winning four games and four Division two games in that right was a huge step in year one," said Bass. "However, just like last year the process is the most important part of continued growth for Cavalier Football. Our young men believe in who we are and what we do and we are very excited about the future of this program and in particular this upcoming season."

The team will play eleven games this season, with six of those being on the home turf. With the closing of Limestone and the departure of associate members Barton and Erskine from the SAC ranks (they are members of Conference Carolinas, which has added football back as a conference sport for the first time in over sixty years) all the SAC teams will play each other for the first time in several seasons.

The Cavs will open up against local rival and former Mountain East Conference opponent Concord on August 30. That game will also be the annual Lelia Maude Richmond Day, honoring the long-time supporter of UVA Wise Athletics.

Newberry will come to Wise the next week for their first meeting vs. the Cavs in two years due to last season's game being cancelled due to damage to the Newberry campus due to post-Hurricane Helene.
On September 13 the Cavs will travel to Catawba with the goal of extending their winning streak against the Catawba Indians.

The Cavs will then host their next two games as Wingate and Tusculum come to town on Sept. 20 and 27. The Tusculum game will also be a part of UVA Wise's Homecoming.

A trip to Anderson is next on October 4 before the Cavs return home to face South Carolina Central Christian on October 11.

The Cavs then hit the road for the next three games as they play at Lenoir Rhyne on Oct. 18 and Carson-Newman on Oct. 25. Following a by week on Nov. 1, they will then make the trip down U.S. 23 to play at Mars Hill on Nov. 8.

They return home on Nov. 15 for a senior day meeting with arch-rival Emory & Henry in the Southwest Virginia Bowl.

Tickets for all football home games as well as volleyball's Cavalier Classic are now available and can be found here, at the link on the upper right, or at the "Tickets" link under the "Fan Zone" section of the UVA Wise athletics website.