By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
Area college athletes …
HICKORY – Ike Whitaker rumbled for 103 yards on 20 carries as Lenoir-Rhyne buried Tusculum 51-6 in a SAC game played in front of 7,981 fans in Hickory on Saturday.
Lenoir-Rhyne controlled the ball for 10 more minutes than Tusculum, in large part, because of Whitaker’s work at fullback.
Whitaker, a 5-foot-10, 225-pound sophomore, ranks fifth in the SAC in rushing with 384 yards and averages 5.1 yards per carry for the Bears (4-2).
Whitaker was a linebacker/fullback at Salisbury High. His final football season was 2009. He rushed for 1,570 yards and scored 17 TDs for coach Joe Pinyan’s Hornets.
• L-R’s tough defense got contributions from two area standouts. Junior defensive back Zach Long (Davie) made six tackles, while redshirt freshman defensive lineman Andrew Leslie (A.L. Brown) made one. Leslie played linebacker for the Wonders.
• Sophomore defensive end Quentin Sifford (West Rowan) made a tackle for a loss of 2 yards on a first-down running play and helped West Liberty (4-3) upset Shepherd.
• Catawba’s B.J. Sherrill (West) threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-28 loss to Mars Hill.
Sherrill’s 13-yard scoring pass to Joe Watson (Davie) in the second quarter put the Indians on the board. It was the first TD grab for Watson.
Sherrill is fifth in the SAC in passing yards with 1,273 and he’s thrown for 12 touchdowns.
• UNC Pembroke (5-2) lost 42-30 to Charleston (W.Va.) despite big outings by three local products. UNCP linebacker Cadarreus Mason (South Rowan) was in on 13 tackles. Ben DeCelle (East Rowan) had six catches for 58 yards. T.J. Johnson (A.L. Brown) had four catches for 59 yards and added a 47-yard punt return.
Charleston didn’t use backup QB John Knox (Salisbury) but improved to 6-1.
• Josh Patch (East) had a fourth-quarter sack for an 8-yard loss for Wingate in a 27-10 SAC win against Newberry that improved the Bulldogs to 3-1 in the SAC. Joseph So (Salisbury) started at center for a Wingate offense that racked up more than 400 yards.
Division I
Virginia sophomore K.P. Parks (Virginia) had his most prolific game so far for the Cavaliers in a loss to Maryland. Carrying 17 times, Parks racked up 129 of Virginia’s 168 net rushing yards. Parks’ longest run was 26 yards. He also had two pass receptions.
For the season, Parks has 93 carries for 475 yards and three TDs. He ranks fifth in the ACC in rushing yards.
• Romar Morris (Salisbury) enjoyed another productive day with 10 carries for 77 yards as UNC won 18-14 at Miami.
• Darien Rankin (Salisbury) made three tackles for the Tar Heels.
• UNC’s Travis Riley (A.L. Brown) will miss the rest of the season with a right knee injury suffered in the Idaho game. Riley had seven carried for 18 yards this season. True freshman Damien Washington (A.L. Brown) saw some action for the Tar Heels.
• Shaun Warren (Carson) only got one carry for Western Carolina in a loss to The Citadel. He returned two kickoffs for 26 yards.
• Army’s Jon Crucitti (West) fielded two punts and ran back two kickoffs for 37 yards in a loss to Kent State.
• Appalachian State’s Jamill Lott (A.L. Brown) made two tackles in the Mountaineer’s big 28-25 SoCon win at Samford. ASU improved to 5-2.
• West Virginia linebacker Jared Barber (Davie) made two tackles in a surprising loss to Texas Tech. Texas Tech backs weren’t tackled very often in a 49-14 upset of the nation’s fifth-ranked team.
• Arkansas’ Chris Smith (West) was mostly quiet but he batted down a pass and made a tackle as the Razorbacks crushed Kentucky.
Division III
Guilford’s Matt Smith (Davie) had four catches for 59 yards, including a 22-yard TD in the second quarter. He helped Guilford beat Bridgewater 23-20.
• Defensive lineman Jordan Farmer (Davie) made seven tackles for Guilford.
• Averett Zack Grkman (Carson) played well again. In an 18-16 loss to Greensboro College, he intercepted a pass and was in on seven tackles.
• Averett’s Hobie Proctor (West) averaged 52 yards on four kickoffs.
• In a loss to Hampden-Sydney, Emory & Henry kicker Matt Turchin (west) averaged 60 yards on kickoffs, went 2-for-2 on PATs and even made a tackle on kickoff. Turchin missed on a 47-yard field goal try, which is well within his range, and he made one from 26.