HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – An NCAA Division II playoff game is ahead for Lenoir-Rhyne University but the Bears have one more bit of business to close this year’s regular season in football.
LRU (9-1, 6-0 South Atlantic Conference) meets visiting Catawba (2-3, 3-6) on Saturday 2 p.m. The Bears – ranked No. 17 in NCAA Division II — go for their 10th straight win in their first season under Drew Cronic as head coach, and they’ll then await the NCAA postseason seeds and pairings.
Catawba has won three straight in the series and leads it 49-44-4.
The Bears are coming off a 40-21 road win over Carson-Newman that assured they would win the SAC title outright.
The Indians, beaten 40-10 on the road by Newberry, S.C., in their game last Saturday, share sixth place with Mars Hill.
LOUBA
Louba wins Lott Award
Sophomore defensive end Dan Louba won the Ronnie Lott Award for the win at Carson-Newman, finishing with seven tackles and one of them for lost yardage.
LRU’s defense held the Eagles, averaging 363.7 rushing yards per game, to 113. The Bears forced seven turnovers with Louba, who is from Harrisburg, forcing one fumble and recovering another.
Sherrod Williams, a linebacker from Edison, Ga., won the Bears’ Defensive Player of the Week and also won the same award for the SAC. He repeated as the league’s top defender – and has won three of the last four – after having nine tackles (2 ½ for lost
WILLIAMS
yardage), a sack, two forced fumbles and interception and a recovery against Carson-Newman.
The Offensive Player of the Week for the Bears was tight end Drake Starks from Ringgold, Ga. He had two catches for 36 yards and a TD.
Former South Caldwell High player Colt Kirby and former West Caldwell High player Elijah Brooks were the Offensive and Defensive Scout Team Player of the Week, respectively. Kirby, an offensive lineman, is a freshman, and Brooks is a freshman defensive back.