Tag Archives: sports

Football, NCAA DII, Sports, Wingate University

Wingate wins 6th straight by beating Tusculum on Senior Day; advances to playoffs

Leave a comment

Brendan Shriver, Staff Writer

Wingate built a 16-0 halftime lead and held on for a 16-12 victory over visiting Tusculum on Nov. 10. With its sixth-straight victory, Wingate (8-3 overall, 5-2 SAC) clinches second place in the final SAC regular-season standings.

Wingate senior defensive back Cameron Mattison celebrated Senior Day in style with a 44-yard interception return for a TD while freshman running back Nijere Peoples carried the ball 25 times for 82 yards to finish his first season with 994 rushing yards.

“We are very proud of our seniors and the great leadership they provided all year. The defense came up big all game. The 10 points off turnovers were the difference,” Wingate Head Football Coach Joe Reich says.

It was a dominating effort for the Wingate defensive unit. They recorded seven sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, forced six fumbles and recovered one of them.

The leader of the defense that night was Cardell Rawlings. He had 8 tackles, 2.5 sacks and forced a fumble.

Offensively, the Bulldogs did just enough to win. Wingate had no turnovers and scored a touchdown and a field goal in their two trips to the red zone.

To start the game, freshman Ra’Quan Simmons returned the kickoff 51 yards. His return set up Wingate’s only offensive touchdown, a 17-yard strike from Shaw Crocker to Mason Flynt.

Following Mattison’s pick-six, Tusculum fumbled on their next possession. Wingate took advantage of the miscue, as redshirt freshman placekicker McLean Robertson nailed a 38-yard field goal to conclude the first half scoring, giving the Bulldogs a 16-0 lead at halftime.

In a scoreless third quarter, Tusculum missed two field goals attempts, one of which was blocked by Robbie Wallace from 24 yards out with 1:36 left in the frame. Finally, Tusculum scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout.

With the win, Wingate advances to the NCAA Division II football playoffs this Saturday. They will play on the road against West Georgia at 12 noon.

Edited by Brendan Shriver

Football, NCAA DII, Sports, Wingate University

Bulldogs win big over Mars Hill on Homecoming

Leave a comment

Brendan Shriver, Staff Writer

The Wingate University Bulldogs scored the fourth-most points in program history on Oct. 20, racing out to a 44-14 halftime lead en route to a 58-21 victory over visiting Mars Hill University in front of a capacity crowd on Homecoming weekend at Irwin Belk Stadium in South Atlantic Conference football action. Wingate wins its third straight, improving to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the SAC.

“It was a very physical, aggressive game for us. We did a really nice job of getting after them physically,” Wingate Head Football Coach Joe Reich says.

As a team, Wingate piled up a season-high 534 yards, including 284 on the ground, collected 5 turnovers and scored 7 touchdowns in as many trips to the red zone.

Quarterback Shaw Crocker and running back Nijere Peoples led the Bulldog offense. Crocker was 13-for-15 for 223 yards and 2 TDs and ran for a TD in the second half. Peoples had career highs of 33 carries, 166 yards and 2 TDs.

Cardell Rawlings and Joe Kelly led the Wingate defensive unit. Rawlings had 9 tackles while Kelly registered 8 tackles.

Despite the lopsidedness of the score, Wingate trailed only 7-0. But it only took 4 plays for the Bulldogs to tie it up and after a bad snap on a punt that resulted in a safety by Floyd Louallen to make it 9-7 Bulldogs, Wingate was off and running with quick drives from that point forward.

Wingate returns home for Senior Day against the Tusculum Pioneers on Saturday, Nov. 10 after two straight weeks on the road at Newberry and Limestone, respectively.

Edited by Brendan Shriver

Football, NCAA DII, Sports, Wingate University

Wingate drops heartbreaker to Florida Tech, 26-23 after mishandling extra point

Leave a comment

Brendan Shriver, Staff Writer

The Wingate University Bulldogs looked to be on their way to tying the game in the final minute of regulation on Sept. 29, but a failed PAT returned for a score finished off a 26-23 victory for visiting Florida Tech. With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 2-3 on the year.

“We had some opportunities and had a nice drive there at the end. Unfortunate to miss the chance to tie it up, it’s something we’ve done a million times so it’s unfortunate,” Wingate Head Football Coach Joe Reich says.

JT Stokes and Nijere People’s led the offensive unit for the Bulldogs. For the second straight week, Stokes had more than 100 yards receiving, with seven catches for 185 yards and a touchdown in the loss. People’s had 23 carries for a career-high 133 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, Robbie Wallace and Auntrell Mack led with 11 tackles each. Kam Johnson also had nine tackles.

After a scoreless first quarter, Wingate took a 10-7 lead at halftime on a 20-yard field goal by Mclean Robertson. Then after a nearly scoreless third quarter, the final 17 minutes were wild.

Peoples scored his second TD of the day to give Wingate a 17-14 lead on the last play of the quarter. After a Florida Tech touchdown and field goal to make it 24-17 in favor of the visitors, Wingate drove down the field in hopes of redeeming themselves for the missed opportunities that would have tied the game against Lenoir-Rhyne the week before. For the second straight week, they couldn’t muster a tie and a chance to win it in overtime.

Crocker hit Stokes for the touchdown to make it 24-23, but the snap on the PAT bounced and the desperate attempt at a kick was blocked. Florida Tech then proceeded to return it for the game-clinching 2 points and after a failed onside kick, the Panthers had secured their victory.

Wingate is on the road this Saturday, traveling to UNC Pembroke for a 7 p.m. start.

Edited by Brendan Shriver

NCAA DII, Sports, Wingate University

Wingate falls to Lenoir-Rhyne 31-24 at home after furious second-half rally comes up short

Leave a comment

Brendan Shriver, Staff Writer

The Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears jumped out to a 31-7 lead in the third quarter, then withstood a furious rally from Wingate to hang on for a 31-24 victory. The Bears improve to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the SAC, while the Bulldogs fall to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in league play.

“We’ve got a lot of fight, we’ve got good players, we just have to execute more consistently. There were plays throughout the game, in the first half in particular, that we just set ourselves back. You could feel the momentum change on the sideline in the third quarter and we just started executing better,” Wingate Head Football Coach Joe Reich says.

Some streaks were snapped for the Bulldogs. It’s the first time that Wingate has lost at Irwin Belk Stadium at night. The loss was also Wingate’s first to Lenoir-Rhyne in four years.

Wingate outgained LR 378-353 on the night, although most of those yards came during the rally. “Offensively, we’ve got to get it going early on and not wait to until the second half to get things started. But I love the fight, I love the energy, I love this group of guys. They’re high character guys and in the locker I just want to tell them, I love that fight, keep that up, let’s just execute consistently and we’ll be all right,” Reich says.

There were two key plays in the closing moments of the game when Wingate was trying to tie the game. The first play was a goal-line stand by the Bears on the one yard line. Had Wingate scored and kicked the extra point, the game would have been tied and could have gone to overtime or the Bulldogs could have had a chance to win it outright.

The other critical play was an interception by Wingate with three minutes left. This came just after the Bulldogs had recovered a fumble shortly after the goal line stand. Wingate got the ball back for one final shot at the tie and overtime, but couldn’t capitalize.

JT Stokes and Shaw Crocker led offensively for the Bulldogs. Stokes had seven catches for a career-high 186 yards and two touchdowns while Crocker completed 14-of-27 passes for a career-high 288 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score.

“With JT it’s about the execution, but it’s also the leadership on the field as well. It’s the things you don’t see, the rallying the troops, it’s his presence out there. He’s a great leader,” Reich says.

Defensively, Cardell Rawlings had a huge game to lead Wingate. Rawlings piled up 14 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two QB hurries. Rawlings has 11.5 TFLs and 8.0 sacks on the year.

“There’s nobody more passionate. We talk about having a fierce desire, and that encapsulates Cardell Rawlings, just a fierce desire to win, a fierce desire to be the best and a fierce desire to prepare. It’s all emotion and intensity and passion, that’s who he is as a person, so it was good to see him have another big game,” Reich says.

Wingate is at home again next week, hosting Florida Tech at 3:00 p.m.

Edited by Brendan Shriver

Football, NCAA DII, Sports, Wingate University

Wingate moves to 2-0 with win over Fayetteville State

Leave a comment

Brendan Shriver, Staff Writer

Wingate jumped out to a 27-6 lead en route to a wire-to-wire 27-13 victory over Fayetteville State Saturday night at Irwin Belk Stadium. This is the fifth straight year the Bulldogs started a season 2-0.

“It was a good win. Fayetteville State was a much bigger, more physical team than what we faced last week. It was a step up in physicality, which will help us heading to next week’s game,” Wingate Head Football Coach Joe Reich says.

In his second career start, redshirt freshman quarterback Shaw Crocker connected on 19-of-33 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns, with his primary receiver being BJ Muckelvene, who caught seven passes for 122 yards and a TD. Crocker now has 5 touchdown passes through two games this season. “Shaw continues to take steps forward, both in practices and during games, which is good to see,” Reich says.

Joe Kelly led the Wingate defense with 13 tackles on the night. Cardell Rawlings also contributed with two sacks and Juan Pagan-Gonzalez had three tackles and an interception.

But perhaps the biggest factor in Wingate’s victory was the special teams. “Our punter was a difference maker,” Reich says. “He got us out of jams. The kicker did a nice job as well. It was also good to see Ronnie Procopio break off a big return.”

Chris Birozes averaged 44 yards on six punts, with a long of 55 and another punt downed at the two-yard line. McLean Robertson was two-for-two on field goals, connecting on a 31-yarder and 42-yarder while also going three-for-three in PATs. Procopio had a 48-yard kickoff return to start the third quarter.

Wingate is back in action next Saturday, hitting the road for the first time this season and opening league play, traveling to Carson-Newman for a 7 p.m. start.

Edited by Brendan Shriver

NCAA DII, Sports, Wingate Volleyball

Volleyball begins 2018 on six-match winning streak

Leave a comment

Jalen White, Staff Writer

Last week, the Wingate Volleyball team faced Winston-Salem State, Belmont Abbey and Converse College, to open up the season. In the Belmont Abbey game, Wingate started off slow, but fought their way through the second set. They ended the game with a score of 3-1. 

Sophomore outside hitter Anne Abernathy stated, “This was a game to grow on, with the rough start and being able to fight back. It shows us our mentality for the rest of the season.”

In the next two games they dominated against Winston-Salem State and Converse, extending their hot start to the season.

The Bulldogs then faced the Augusta Jaguars in an exciting match. “At the end of the game we noticed that we needed this adversity to be a stronger contender in the SAC,” said Sophie Schaff. Wingate ended up coming on top with a 3-1 victory. They have an undefeated record of 6-0.

Senior middle blocker Phoebe Havenaar expressed that, “Winning the regular conference season and SAC, then hosting regionals, and making the Elite Eight,” are some of their teams goals this season. The team is really excited about having newcomers Molly Lambillotte, Shannon Kasprak, Reese Blackley and Kasey Eastland.

The Bulldogs are looking forward to improving their last season record of  27-4. As they go into this season as the favorites to win the SAC conference, the Bulldogs are on a roll and are ready to make a big impact.

 

Edited by Brendan Shriver

NCAA DII, Sports, Wingate University

Men’s soccer looks forward to challenging season in 2018

Leave a comment

Jaelyn Campanella, Staff Writer

As we kick off a new school year, we also welcome back fall sports, including Men’s Soccer. Coming off of a hot streak that ended with the Bulldogs being crowned national champions in 2017, they have a reputation of the top team to uphold. Not only did the Bulldogs claim the national championship last year, but for the past four years, they have won the South Atlantic Conference title.

Coach Gary Hamill said, “The upcoming season is always a challenge since we have been the top team in the league for the last several years.”

Hamill has been the head coach for 27 seasons and has been named the SAC Coach of the Year eight times, and Regional Coach of the Year twice. He is hopeful for the team this year and is excited for the opportunity to rebuild the team, since they graduated 10 seniors last year and only two of the starters are returning players.

One player to look out for is senior Pablo Jara. As the goalkeeper, he plays a vital role in the Bulldogs’ success, and has 29 career shutouts, which ranks second in SAC history. Jara was Wingate’s first player to be named a three-time All American in the school’s history and also earned All-SAC and All-Region honors for three consecutive years.

This season is unlike the past few years for the team, because it is a year of uncertainty. With so much of the past team gone it will be interesting to see the new players start. Luckily, there were no changes to the coaching staff, so the team still has a solid foundation.

Hamill also said, “ We graduated 10 seniors last May and with just two returning starters. It’s a whole new team. It is both a challenge and an exciting time to rebuild the team again and start a new era.”

The Bulldogs started their season with a pair of games in Winter Park, FL on Thursday, Aug. 30 and Saturday, Sept. 1. The first match  against Rollins ended up as a loss for the Bulldogs, with a score of 1-2. However, the game on Saturday against St. Leo was quite impressive, with strong offensive plays in the first half that led the Bulldogs to take their first victory of the season, with a final score of 3-2.

Wingate then returned home for two games. The first game of the year at Pride Park was played on Wednesday, Sept. 5 and the Bulldogs tied Chowan, 0-0. The second game was on Saturday, September 8th and Wingate defeated Flagler 4-1, as junior forward Elliot Curtis led the way with a goal and an assist.

Wingate is back in action Wednesday, Sept. 12 opening up SAC play against Mars Hill at 7:30 pm at Pride Park.

Edited by Brendan Shriver