Keyword
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Scoreboard
Schedules
Rankings
Standings
Statistics
Transactions
Injuries
Message Board
Teams
Recruiting
CONFERENCES


SHOP@ESPN.COM
TeamStore
ESPN Auctions
SPORT SECTIONS
Saturday, December 4
 
Carson-Newman College 42, Northeastern State 7

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) -- Antwon Oliver rushed for 69 yards and had three touchdowns to lead Carson-Newman to a 42-7 victory over Northeastern State in NCAA Division II semifinal action at Burke-Tarr Stadium Saturday.

Oliver scored on runs of 21, 1 and 2 yards. Myron Refoure added 59 yards rushing and one touchdown.

The Eagles (13-0) advance to the national championship game against Northwest Missouri State, a 20-12 winner over Indiana, Pa. in the other semifinal game. The title game will be held next Saturday at Florence, Ala.

Carson-Newman led 21-0 at the half and did not give Northeastern (10-4) a chance to recover, keeping the ball for all except 1:16 of the third quarter and scoring on their first two possessions. The Redmen ran just three plays in the period.

"We needed to dominate in two of the three areas, and we played good defense, offense and in the kicking game," Carson-Newman coach Ken Sparks said. "We did a great job right off the bat establishing something on offense. The big lead early was important."

The first score of the third period came after JoJo Polk fumbled an Eagles' punt at the Northeastern 40. Six plays later, Oliver scored on a 2-yard run.

A 76-yard, 18-play drive by the Eagles led to Oliver's 1-yard touchdown run with six seconds left in the third period to push the lead to 35-0.

"They got after us offensively and defensively. We hadn't seen the veer offense. They run it probably better than anybody," said Northeastern coach Tom Eckert.

Northeastern finally got on the board early in the fourth quarter, when quarterback Andy Collier passed 35 yards to Marcus Long for the touchdown.

Keith Pruett added a 1-yard touchdown run for Carson-Newman with 6:18 left.




 ESPN Tools
Email story
 
Most sent
 
Print story