Sunday, June 22, 2014

Looking at Game 2, Brevard College

Who:  Brevard College Tornados

When: Saturday, September 6, 2014 at 3:30 pm

Where:  Bob Waters Field at E.J. Whitmire Stadium

The Series: The upcoming game will be only the second meeting between the Tornados and Catamounts on the football field . The first meeting between the two schools was played back in 1945, and won by Western Carolina.

Their conference: The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) - The South Atlantic Conference is in its 38th year as a NCAA Division II conference.  A forerunner of the South Atlantic Conference was the North State Atlantic Conference (NSIAC). The NSIAC was formed when the "Little Six", as it was called, broke from the North Carolina Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1930. These charter members included Lenoir-Rhyne College, Atlantic Christian, Catawba College, Guilford College, Elon College, and High Point College.

Their coach:  Paul Hamilton (67-111 overall). Head Coach Paul Hamilton enters his 31th year coaching collegiate football at both the Division I and Division II levels, with 16 years of experience as a head coach. Hamilton is in his eighth year at the helm of the Tornados.

Last year’s record: 3-8 overall, and 2-5 in conference play

How they got there:  In 2013, Brevard played two Big South Conference teams, Presbyterian to kick off the season, and Liberty to close out the season.  The Tornados lost both games, by a score of 21-59 in the former and 24-62 in the latter.  Between those two losses, Brevard won three games (Tusculum, Mars Hill, & College of Faith), then lost their last six (Newberry, Catawba, Wingate, Lenior-Rhyne, North Greenville, and Carson-Newman).  Brevard used a trio of quarterbacks last season, led by junior Tanner Wright and a pair of freshmen, Caleb Stephens & Kevin Herbst.

Statistics:
Rushing Offense:  258.9 yards per game
Passing Offense:  56.7 yards per game
Total Offense: 315.6 yards per game
Scoring Offense:  27.7 per game
Fumbles-Lost:  18 - 9
Red-Zone Scores:  (33-39)  85%
Red-Zone Touchdowns:  (30-39) 7 7%
PAT-Attempts:  (41-42)  98%

Losses/Weaknesses - The Toronados lose 13 seniors to graduation.
Key Losses -
Kelvin Jeter - Jeter earned a spot on the All-SAC team as a running back after finishing second in the conference with 6.3 yards per carry. The redshirt junior rushed for 800 yards and eight touchdowns on 126 carries. Jeter ran for a season-high 148 yards against Liberty University.

StrengthsReturning Leaders:
Michael Gruber -Gruber was named All-SAC as a linebacker after setting a Brevard College single-season record with 124 total tackles in 2013. The junior recorded a season-high 16 tackles at Carson-Newman on September 28th, and grabbed two interceptions on the year.

Jacob McCleery - McCleery earned a All-SAC honors as a defensive back after finishing third in the SAC in interceptions (four) and second for interception return yards (112). The sophomore intercepted passes in three consecutive conference games, including a 74-yard interception returned for a touchdown in the win over Mars Hill on October 12th

Jordan Ollis - The junior fullback rushed for 786 yards on 183 carries. Ollis finished third in the South Atlantic Conference in rushing touchdowns (11) and also caught a pair of touchdown passes.

Jacob McCleery - McCleery finished third in the SAC in interceptions (four) and second for interception return yards (112). The sophomore intercepted passes in three consecutive conference games, including a 74-yard interception returned for a touchdown in the win over Mars Hill on October 12th.


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