GAFFNEY, S.C. – Junior QB
Grayson Willingham broke the Lenoir-Rhyne all-time record for most career touchdown passes as the Bears survived an upset bid in a 28-20 victory at Limestone on Saturday afternoon. Willingham needed just one TD to break the record of 39 set by Brian Bryson in 1987 and finished with a trio of touchdown passes on the day.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne 28, Limestone 20
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (8-0, 6-0 SAC), Limestone (2-6, 1-4 SAC)
Location: Gaffney, S.C. | The Reservation
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STATS OF THE GAME:
• Coming into the game, the Bears had only trailed for nine minutes of game action all season. However, the Bears never led until the 9:39 mark on the third quarter in this one. Limestone connected on a 57-yard TD pass just 44 seconds into the game.
•
Jaquay Mitchell capped off the Bears longest drive on the season to tie the game at seven. Mitchell's three-yard plunge completed a 14-play, 75-yard drive that took five minutes.
• However, the Saints would answer to start the second quarter as D.J. Phillips hit Juwan Scott for another touchdown pass, this one spanning 49 yards. LC would add a field goal before Willingham's record-breaking strike. With 1:29 left in the half, Willingham hit
Drake Starks for an 18-yard touchdown. However, the Bears would go into the half trailing for the first time all season.
• Willingham hit
Ryan Carter (37 yards) and
Dareke Young (41 yards) to give LR a 28-17 advantage in the fourth quarter. The Saints would cut it to a one possession game with a 29-yard field goal with 6:23 to go but a pair of fourth down stops from the LR defense gave the Bears their 18th straight regular season victory.
• Willingham finished the day with 211 yards on 12-of-23 passing and three touchdowns to go with one interception. Mitchell had 149 yards on 19 carries and added a pair of catches for 23 yards.
•
Dareke Young erupted for a career-high 120 yards on seven catches. This marks the second time on the season that LR featured a 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver in the same game.
• Phillips finished with 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Saints and Scott had six grabs for 154 yards. On the ground, the Saints Jerko'ya Patton had 12 carries for 147 yards and is the first individual to run for more than 100 yards on the Bears since the last game of the 2017 season -- a span of 21 games.
• Once again, DE
Jaquan Artis was unblockable. The senior registered 10 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. Artis has now recorded at least 0.5 sack in every game this season and has 10 on the year.
Dan Louba added a pair of sacks and
Sherrod Williams had an interception.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
• This is the first regular season game decided by single-digits since a 30-22 LR victory over Fort Valley St. on Oct. 20, 2018. LR had won 10 straight regular season games by double figures prior to today.
• The Bears tied a season-high with six sacks. LR also had six sacks in a season-opening win over St. Augustine's.
• The 23 pass attempts from Willingham is a season-high.
UP NEXT:
LR will now set their sights on a nationally broadcast matchup with No. 12 Wingate on Saturday at 2 p.m. Each squad enters the game with an undefeated record in league play and the winner will clinch at least a share of the South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship.
