WISE, Va. — The Anderson University football team (2-1, 1-0 SAC) defeated UVA Wise (0-3, 0-1 SAC) 39-21 Saturday at Carl Smith Stadium. AU scored 19 unanswered points across three scoring drives spanning the first and third quarters, building on a 13-0 halftime lead. The Trojans threw for 308 yards and four touchdowns, converted 10 of 15 third downs, and added four sacks defensively.
"This was a great conference win for our team on the road!" said head coach
Bobby Lamb. "UVA Wise is a tought place to play, and I thought our players were locked in and ready to go from the start. This was by far our best game offensively and another solid outing from our defense."
Wilson Edwards completed 24 of 37 passes for 308 yards and four touchdowns, setting career highs in both passing yards and touchdowns. He also added 49 rushing yards.
Zay Williams caught five passes for 92 yards and one touchdown.
Cade Eavenson recorded four tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, and returned a fumble 54 yards for a touchdown.
Carter Wit finished with a team-high seven tackles.
AU built the first quarter around a 12-play, 73-yard scoring drive, with Edwards finding
Zay Williams for a 21-yard touchdown at 4:35 that put the Trojans ahead 6-0 before the extra-point attempt failed. Earlier, the Trojans' opening series stalled after a sack, but the defense answered on Wise's first possession when
Chase Brightharp sacked McCalan Beason for a 7-yard loss on third down to force a punt. The touchdown march featured repeated third-down production, including Edwards' 26-yard completion to Williams,
Darren Lloyd's 10-yard run, and Edwards' 17-yard keeper before the scoring pass on third-and-16. After the touchdown,
Corvarie Hammond dropped the Cavaliers for a 2-yard loss on first down, and although the home team moved into AU territory, the quarter ended with the Black and Gold holding a 6-0 lead.
The Trojans finished the second quarter with a 72-yard touchdown drive, as Edwards completed passes of 22 yards to
Zay Williams and back-to-back 15-yard gains to
Kenneth Brown before finding
Rob Sanders for a 2-yard touchdown with 14 seconds left.
Ross Burnette added the extra point to make it 13-0. Earlier, AU put together a 17-play possession from its own 9-yard line, converting three first downs through the air and another on an Edwards 14-yard run before a false start preceded a fourth-down incompletion at the Wise 35. The defense answered by limiting the Cavs to two first downs on the next drive, with
Daniel Williams' 25-yard tackle for loss helping force a punt, and the Trojans owned 10:49 of possession in the quarter while totaling 113 passing yards.
AU controlled the third quarter with two touchdown drives and 10:13 of possession, moving the score to 26-7 by the end of the quarter. After forcing a three-and-out to open the half, Edwards led a 10-play, 75-yard drive that included a 16-yard third-down completion to
Zay Williams, a fourth-down conversion by
Darron Parry, and a 37-yard strike to Lloyd before Edwards hit Parry for a 4-yard touchdown at 9:16. Wise answered with a touchdown drive to make it 19-7, but the Trojans put together another long response from its 22, using
Parr Folsom runs, an 8-yard third-down pass to
Seth Fischbach, and a 24-yard completion to
Lennix Valarie before Folsom scored from 3 yards out.
Zack Ramsey added a 7-yard sack on the Cavaliers' final possession, and the Black and Gold finished the quarter with 10 first downs, 137 yards of offense, and a 26-7 lead.
AU closed the fourth quarter with Eavenson's sack, fumble recovery, and 54-yard touchdown return with 10 seconds remaining, finishing a 39-21 win over Wise. Earlier, the Cavs finished their opening drive with McCalan Beason's 1-yard touchdown run and PAT to make it 26-14, but the Trojans answered with a six-play, 70-yard possession that included Edwards' 15-yard third-down run and ended when Edwards found
Lennix Valarie for a 43-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4 at 9:49.
Alex Ledford recorded a sack on the next Wise drive, though the home side converted a fourth-and-1 and later scored on Beason's 6-yard run to make it 33-21 with 3:46 left. The Black and Gold then used Folsom for two carries before Samuel Mullis' 48-yard punt pinned the Cavaliers at their 3, and
Keshawn Jordan's hurry preceded Eavenson's turnover return on the final home drive.
Up next, the Trojans football team travels to Greeneville, Tenn., to face Tusculum on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 2 p.m.
