Lions tabbed fourth in preseason poll, land eight on All-SAC teams

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Newberry has been voted as the conference favorite by the South Atlantic Conference football head coaches, the League announced today.  The Wolves collected eight first-place votes and 118 points in the poll. 

The Wolves took home their second SAC Football Championship under Coach Todd Knight's leadership, finishing the season with a record of 10-3 overall and 7-1 in the conference. The Wolves also picked up their first NCAA postseason victory since 2006, with a 33-30 overtime win over West Florida. Newberry will enter the 2022 season ranked No. 24 by Lindy's Sports.

The Wolves return one of the top offenses in the SAC as they were second in the league in scoring (378 points), second in total offense (5,177 yards), and first in rushing yards (2,657). Preseason All-Conference first team selections Dre Harris (QB), Mario Anderson (RB), Bryson Woodruff (WR), and Blake Arnoult (LS) all return this season and will be looking to bring the SAC championship home to Newberry.

The defensive side of the ball is equally as impressive, with the Wolves finishing 2021 allowing 16.8 points per game and on 287.2 yards of total offense. The Wolves led the league in total tackles with 797 tackles and they had 18 sacks on the season. Preseason All-SAC selections Marcus Morgan (DB) and AJ Valentine (LB) return to lead the Wolves on defense.

At No. 2 in the poll was Lenoir-Rhyne with 112 points and four first place votes.  The Bears are coming off their third straight NCAA DII playoff appearance, finishing the season with a record of 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the conference. Leading the Lenoir-Rhyne offense will be the 2021 SAC Offensive Player and Freshman of the Year Dwayne McGee who averaged 151.4 yards per game and scored 19 touchdowns. On defense, the Bears will look to continue to dominate as they allowed a league-low 16.4 points per game in 2021. Preseason All-SAC selections Andre Jefferson (DL) and Jon Ross Mayne (LB) will be the leaders of the Bear defense.

Wingate checks in at No. 3 in the 2021 preseason poll with 99 points.  The Bulldogs are coming off a 2022 campaign that saw them finish the year with a 7-3 overall record, going 6-2 in the conference. Wingate will be looking to return to the NCAA playoffs this season, after missing out on postseason play for the first time in the last three years. Offensively, the Bulldogs averaged 380.9 yards per game in 2021, while allowing just 345.4 yards per game on the defensive side of the ball.

The Mars Hill Lions came in at No. 4 in the preseason poll with 94 points. They finished the 2021 season with an 8-3 overall record, going 6-2 in league play. The Lions had one of the top defensive units in 2021 allowing just 292.1 yards per game and 211 points, thanks in part to the dynamic duo of linebackers Dexter Fitzpatrick and Landon Honeycutt, who are both preseason All-SAC picks on defense. On offense, the Lions had the third-best passing offense in the SAC in 2021, averaging 252.3 yards per game in the air.   

Tusculum landed at No. 5 in the preseason poll with 76 points.  Under the direction of head coach Jerry Odom, the Pioneers return a slew of players from last season's team that went 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the conference. Among the returners are six preseason All-SAC selections, including first team wide receiver Justice Parham who averaged a league-leading 72.5 yards per game, was second in receiving yards with 797, and was third in touchdowns with eight.  

At No. 6 in the poll was one of three new teams to the SAC this season, Barton with 68 points.  The Bulldogs went 6-5 overall last season with wins over Erskine, Limestone, Carson-Newman, Wingate, and UVA Wise. Leading the way for Barton will be one of the most prolific running backs in NCAA Division II, Jordan Terrell. A preseason first team All-SAC selection, Terrell rushed for 1,843 yards, averaging 167.5 yards per game in 2021. He found the end zone 15 times and rushed for more than 200 yards on three separate occasions.  

Coming in at No. 7 in the poll was UVA Wise with 60 points. The Cavaliers went 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the SAC in 2021. Preseason all-conference quarterback Lendon Redwine returns to lead UVA Wise. He led the SAC in every major quarterback category in 2021, including completions (246), yards (2,819), yards per game (256.3), and touchdowns (24).

Checking in at No. 8 in the poll was Catawba with 53 points. Led by head coach Curtis Walker, the Catawba Indians finished the 2021 season with a record of 5-4 overall. Leading the way for Catawba will be a pair of preseason all-conference selections, defensive back Izaiah Taylor and punter Clayton Crile.

The Carson-Newman Eagles earned the No. 9 spot with 42 points. The Eagles had a down year in 2021 going 1-9 overall and 1-7 in the SAC.

Earning the No. 10 spot in the poll was Limestone with 32 points. The Saints will be under new leadership in 2022 as Mike Furrey returns to Gaffney to lead the team after a four-year stint with the Chicago Bears. He was the head coach for the Saints previously in 2016 and 2017, going 9-12 during that time. The Saints went 0-9 overall in 2021.

Rounding out the poll at No. 11 was Emory & Henry and Erskine at No. 12.  

In their first year of SAC competition, the Wasps will be looking to see what they can do in NCAA Division II. They went 6-4 in 2021 playing a mostly Division III schedule.  

Erskine went 3-8 overall in 2021. This year they will begin SAC play as an associate member along with Barton.

In addition to the preseason coaches poll, the SAC also released its 2022 Preseason All-Conference teams. The full preseason all-conference teams are listed below.

The 2022 SAC football season will kick-off on Thursday, September 1. This season will be the first year the SAC will play in divisions for football with six teams in each division. The winners of each division will then meet in a SAC Football Championship Game on Saturday, Nov. 12. The Mountain Division will feature: Carson-Newman, Emory & Henry, Erskine, Mars Hill, Tusculum & UVA Wise, while the Piedmont Division will be comprised of Barton, Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne, Limestone, Newberry & Wingate.

Be sure to catch all of the SAC football action online with live video streaming via the FloSports Network! Fans can sign-up for FloSports by visiting https://flosports.link/3IwzCJ6.

LINK TO PRESEASON POLL VIDEO WITH COACHES' INTERVIEWS

2022 SAC Football Preseason Coaches Poll

2022 Preseason All-SAC Football Teams

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE

QB –     Dre Harris, Newberry

RB –     Dwayne McGee, Lenoir-Rhyne

RB –     Mario Anderson, Newberry

RB –     Jordan Terrell, Barton

WR –    Deondre Lester, Lenoir-Rhyne

WR –    Bryson Woodruff, Newberry

WR –    Justice Parham, Tusculum

OL –     Blake Jefferson, Lenoir-Rhyne

OL –     Cameron Thomason, Limestone

OL –     Thomas Mahoney, Tusculum

OL –     Leondre Andreas, Mars Hill

OL –     Bryce Heidinger, Lenoir-Rhyne

TE –      Ty Snelson, Mars Hill

PK –     Jackson Brooks, Barton

LS –      Blake Arnoult, Newberry

RS –      Ryan Carter, Lenoir-Rhyne

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE

DL –     Andre Jefferson, Lenoir-Rhyne

DL –     Joel Burgess, UVA Wise

DL –     Sirod Cook, Wingate

DL –     Jay Swegheimer, Emory & Henry

LB –      Dexter Fitzpatrick, Mars Hill

LB –      Landon Honeycutt, Mars Hill

LB –      Jon Ross Maye, Lenoir-Rhyne

LB –      Jaquan Edwards, Wingate

DB –     Jordan Taylor, Tusculum

DB –     Tristan Rankin, Mars Hill

DB –     Marcus Morgan, Newberry

DB –     Markel Dailey, UVA Wise

P –        Ethan Evans, Wingate

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE

QB –     Lendon Redwine, UVA Wise

QB –     Jimmy Urzua, Mars Hill

RB –     Cortney Jackson, Tusculum

RB –     Kalen Clark, Wingate

RB –     Jaevon Gillespie, UVA Wise

WR –    Kameron Johnson, Barton

WR –    Kamal Desor, Wingate

WR –    Kelin Parsons, Lenoir-Rhyne

OL –     Justin Bullock, Mars Hill

OL –     Hunter Jolly, Wingate

OL –     Ben Shellenback, Tusculum

OL –     Daric Cotman, UVA Wise

OL –     Alex Buschow, Barton

TE –      Ryder Martin, Wingate

LS –      Andrew Bradshaw, Carson-Newman

RS –      Kyron Thomas, Wingate

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE

DL –     Dajavon White, Tusculum

DL –     Donovan Pinnix, Emory & Henry

DL –     J.I. Ledbetter, Barton

DL –     DJ Horne, Wingate

LB –      Alonzo Houston, Carson-Newman

LB –      Shane Perry, Barton

LB –      AJ Valentine, Newberry

LB –      Caleb Goins, Carson-Newman

DB –     Izaiah Taylor, Catawba

DB –     Nick Jackson, Mars Hill

DB –     Robert Carter, UVA Wise

DB –     Daquan Mosley, Wingate

P -       Clayton Crile, Catawba