What Was Was Football: Week 8 – North State Journal

North Carolina teams had another losing week, although Duke became the first FBS team in the state to reach bowl eligibility. St Andrews, meanwhile, may have missed their best chance of victory this season with a huge loss at home to Point.

Western Carolina’s Cole Gonzalez also deserves a special mention after the quarterback threw for a whopping 620 yards in a win over Furman.

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North Carolina Record: 12-16 (total 102-120)

Last week’s winners (ranked in order of impressiveness of victory – combination of opponent and performance):

1. Western Carolina: 52-20 at Furman
2. Lenoir-Rhyne: 20-0 vs. Barton
3. Wingate: 38-12 at Limestone
4. Elon: 30-14 at Albany
5. Winston-Salem State: 31-17 at Livingston
6. NC State: 24-23 at Cal
7. Mars Hill: 30-0 over Tusculum
8. Wake Forest: 23-20 at UConn
9. Davidson: 70-48 over Stetson

10. Duke: 23-16 over Florida State
11. Johnson K. Smith: 21-14 over Shaw
12. Gardner-Webb: 42-35 over Lindenwood

Last week’s losers (ranked in order of impressiveness, despite the result):

1. Campbell: 35-28 at William & Mary
2. Shaw: 21-14 at Johnson C. Smith
3. UNC Pembroke: 37-28 at Fairmont State
4. East Carolina: 45-28 at Army
5. Charlotte: 51-17 at Navy
6. Catawba: 27-21 to Newberry
7. NC A&T: 59-17 at Hampton
8. Methodist: 21-17 to Southern Virginia
9. Brevard: 26-21 to LaGrange

10. Greensboro: 30-20 to Belhaven
11. Livingston: 31-17 to Winston-Salem State
12. Guilford: 40-23 to Washington and Lee
13. Barton: 20-0 for Lenoir-Rhyne
14. Chowan: 35-6 to West Florida
15. Elizabeth City State: 36-7 over Virginia State
16. St Andrews: 40-12 to the point

Excluded: UNC, NC Central, App State, Fayetteville State, NC Wesleyan

Remaining unbeaten (1 left):

Johnson K. Smith: 7-0

Winning entries (9, down from 10 last week):

Duke, Lenoir-Rhyne: 6-1

Wingate: 5-1

Winston-Salem State: 6-2

NC Central, Davidson: 5-2

Livingston: 5-3

Brevard: 3-2

Western Carolina: 4-3

At .500 (4, same as last week)

NC State, Shaw: 4-4

Fayetteville State, Guilford: 3-3

Lost entries (18, up one from last week):

Mars Hill: 2-3

ECU, Wake Forest, UNC, Charlotte: 3-4

Campbell, App State, Chowan: 2-4

UNC Pembroke, Barton, Elizabeth City State, Catawba, Elon, Gardner-Webb: 2-5

NC Wesleyan, Greensboro: 1-5

NC A&T, Methodist: 1-6

Still winless (1 left):

St Andrews: 0-5

State title standings:

Livingston was knocked out of the tie at the top after a loss to Winston-Salem State. JC Smith won his first state game of the season.

2-0 Duke, Guilford, Wake Forest, Wingate, Lenoir-Rhyne

1-0 NC Wesleyan, App State, Davidson, Brevard, Johnson C. Smith

2-1 UNC, Charlotte, Fayetteville State, Livingston, Winston-Salem State

2-2 NC Central

1-1 NC State, Campbell, Catawba

1-2 Barton, Methodist, NC A&T, Elon, WA

1-3 Elizabeth City State, Shaw

0-1 Gardner-Webb, Mars Hill

0-2 ECU, Chowan, UNC Pembroke

0-3 Greensboro

State title games this week:

NC A&T in Campbell

Catawba in Wingate

Fayetteville State Show

Johnson S. Smith at Winston-Salem State

Out-of-State Battles for Week Nine:

SMU at Duke, Wake Forest at Stanford, UNC at Virginia, Charlotte at Memphis, Morgan State at NC Central, Gardner-Webb at Southeast Missouri, Temple at East Carolina, Georgia State at App State, Elon at Hampton, Butler at Davidson, Western Carolina at Mercer, Limestone at Lenoir-Rhyne, Barton at Newbury, Chowan at West Alabama, Lincoln, Pa. at Elizabeth City State, Mars Hill at VA-Wise, West Virginia State at UNC Pembroke, Brevard at Huntingdon, Greensboro at LaGrange, Guilford in Shenandoah, Methodist in Maryville, NC Wesleyan in Southern Virginia, St. Andrews in Reinhardt, GA.

Off: NC State, Livingston

Bad neighbors: Virginia schools went 5-0 against North Carolina last weekend and are now 26-10 against North Carolina schools. However, North Carolina recorded its first wins of the year against Florida, California and Missouri.

All State Performances for Week Eight:

Quarterback: Cole Gonzalez, Western Carolina, 35 of 55 passing, 620 yards, 5 touchdowns.

Running backs: Quazean Holmes, Gardner-Webb, 26 carries for 156 yards, 1 TD, JT Thomas, Elon, 19 carries, 138 yards, 1 TD.

Receiver: Chase Sowell, East Carolina, 7 catches, 138 yards, 1 TD, Isaiah Johnson, Western Carolina, 6 catches for 117 yards, 2 TDs.

Defensive line: Wesley Williams, Duke, 5 tackles, 3 solo, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, blocked field goal attempt. Devin Vann, NC, 3 tackles, 2 solo, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, forced fumble.

Linebacker: Ozzie Nicholas, Duke, 9 tackles, 3 solo, forced turnovers on consecutive FSU offensive snaps (forced fumble and interception) leading to 10 Duke points. Jalen Brooks, Campbell, 19 tackles, 9 solo stops, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

Defensive back: Anthony Hightower, Lenoir-Rhyne, 1 tackle, 1 solo, 64-yard interception return, 2 pass breakups, Juice Martin, Catawba, 7 tackles, 4 solo, 2 catches for 117 yards on returns, 89 yards for choice six

Special teams: Chandler Brayboy, Elon, returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, 94-yards and 93-yards, becoming the first player in school history to receive two in a game.