HOW TO WATCH: The South Atlantic Conference has partnered with FloSports to bring all the SAC digital content to you. As a change from year's past, this is a subscription-based production which means you will need to first sign up for FloSports here. You can download the app once you signup and use your login credentials to get started. Once you are logged in, click the red Flosports logo in the top left hand corner of the app and choose football. From there, you can click schedule and scroll down to the Lenoir-Rhyne game. You can also download the app on your smart TVs and enjoy the live stream on the big screen. To view on a laptop, you can go to flofootball.com and (once logged in) you can click on schedule and navigate to the Lenoir-Rhyne contest. A direct link to the game can be found above.
For the second straight season, the Lenoir-Rhyne Football Team will head to Wise, VA. to take on the UVA Wise Cavaliers. The Bears are looking for retribution as the Cavs shocked LR with a 35-28 victory last season.
The game has been shifted to a Friday afternoon game at 3 p.m. due to the projected effects of Hurricane Ian on the region. This will be the first known Friday afternoon game for the Bears during the NCAA Era. The last time an LR Football game had to move due to projected weather came in 2018 when LR hosted Mars Hill on Thursday at 3 pm and handed the Lions a 59-27 loss.
LR will enter the game looking to go 3-0 in league play and 4-1 overall. The Bears have won by a combined 43 points over their last two games and their only loss on the season came to No. 1 and defending national champion Ferris St. UVA Wise has dropped three straight since winning its season-opener against Division III Ferrum and have lost to Barton and Limestone by a combined 34 points the past two weeks.
LR will enter as the No. 19 ranked team in the AFCA National Poll and own a 43-10 mark as a nationally ranked team. On the road as a nationally ranked squad, LR is 19-6 and this is the 64th week in the history of the AFCA poll (2000-current) that LR has been in the national rankings.
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Deondre Lester moved into 10th in program history with his 100th career catch in last week's win over Carson-Newman. Lester is no stranger to success against UVA Wise either as his 14-grab performance in 2021 stands as the second-most catches in a single game in program history. Only Terrence Steward's 18-catch game against Mars Hill in 1986 is a higher total than what Lester did to Wise in 2021. Lester also extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch to 21 straight games.
Mike Jacobs has a chance to earn his 15th victory in his 20th career game as the leader of the LR Football program and looks to become just the fifth coach in LR history to accomplish that feat.
Defensively, LR looks to extend their sack stream to 59 straight games with a sack. What started in 2016 has extended for nearly five calendar years and 37 different players have contributed during that span. When LR wasn't bringing down the QB last week, they were picking him off.
Percy King had a pair of interceptions -- one which he returned 31 yards for a touchdown -- which was the second two-interception game of his career. LR will need a solid pass rush and pass coverage this week as they face the SAC-leader in passing yards per game in Lendon Redwine. Redwine had a strong performance against LR in last year's Wise victory, throwing for 299 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Make sure to tune in to the game and keep up with the most up-to-date news and information on twitter @LRbears or @LRBearsFootball.
