HICKORY, N.C. – The South Atlantic Conference announces its preseason football coaches' poll and Lenoir-Rhyne was predicted to finish second. Lenoir-Rhyne earned four first-place votes and 112 points in the poll, trailing Newberry who had eight first-place votes and 118 total points after winning the league crown a year ago.
The league also announced its Preseason All-SAC first and second teams with the Bears heavily represented. On the offensive side, RB
Dwayne McGee, WR
Deondre Lester and OL
Blake Jefferson and
Bryce Heidinger were named First Team nominees.
Kelin Parsons was voted in as a Second Team Preseason All-Conference selection.
Defensively, LB
Jon Ross Maye and DL
Andre Jefferson were the lone selections with each being named to the first team.
On special teams, return specialist
Ryan Carter was named a First-Teamer.
2022 SAC Football Preseason Poll
| Rank |
School (1st Place Votes) |
Score |
| 1 |
Newberry (8) |
118 |
| 2 |
Lenoir-Rhyne (4) |
112 |
| 3 |
Wingate |
99 |
| 4 |
Mars Hill |
94 |
| 5 |
Tusculum |
76 |
| 6 |
Barton |
68 |
| 7 |
UVA Wise |
60 |
| 8 |
Catawba |
53 |
| 9 |
Carson-Newman |
42 |
| 10 |
Limestone |
32 |
| 11 |
Emory & Henry |
20 |
| 12 |
Erskine |
18 |
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
