Box Score SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Jacorin Thomas passed for 128 yards and rushed for 113 and two touchdowns in less than two quarters of action while the Sewanee defense posted five sacks and allowed only 239 total yards in a 33-0 victory over North Carolina Wesleyan in football action Saturday in Rocky Mount, N.C.
Barton Mixon also threw for a touchdown and ran for two scores, helping the Tigers (2-1) build a 26-0 lead at the half. Sewanee scored on four of its first five possessions of the game, including 40 and 15-yard TD runs by Thomas and a two-yard scoring run and four-yard TD pass from Mixon.
Jaylen Mack provided the only turnover of the game for the Tiger defense, though the unit was unable to pounce on three fumbles by the Bishops, two of those on sacks. Sewanee rushed the ball 54 times for 325 yards, eating up almost 35 minutes of time off the clock.
Thomas completed 11-of-13 passes for 128 yards and rushed 13 times for 113 yards and the two touchdowns.
AJ McLemore caught four passes for 69 yards in the game, including a terrific sideline grab in the first quarter and a 20-yard catch on fourth down in the second period.
Mixon finished with 10 rushes for 86 yards and one TD and
Cam Beasley added seven carries for 61 yards.
Thomas carried for 11 yards on a read-option on the first play of the game and completed a 14-yard pass to
Sean Johnson on third down. Two plays later he rushed 40 yards for a touchdown, breaking a tackle and sprinting to the corner of the end zone. The PAT was no good after a low snap and the Tigers led, 6-0, less than three minutes into the game.
Sewanee's defense got a fourth-down stop at its own 35, sacking Wesleyan quarterback Colten Newsom twice on the drive, including a
Drew Rozier sack on fourth down.
From there the offense went to work again, including a great catch along the sideline by McLemore for 26 yards. Thomas gained 16 yards on the ground after a holding penalty in the red zone, and two plays later Mixon rushed two yards for the score. The two-point conversion was no good and the Tigers led, 12-0, with 3:19 left in the opening quarter.
In a possession that took nearly six minutes off the clock in the second period, Sewanee moved 85 yards on 13 plays, overcoming a pair of holding penalties. Mixon gained 14 yards on a rush and McLemore caught a nine-yard pass before the Bishops were called for pass interference against
Dyer Barnes.
The Tigers gained first downs on consecutive plays inside Wesleyan territory but were called for holding on both, but Thomas found McLemore for 20 yards along the sideline for the first down. On the next play Thomas bounced outside to the right, beating defenders to the pylon for a touchdown. Johnson ran the jet sweep for the two-point conversion and Sewanee held a 20-0 advantage with 5:15 left in the half.
The Tigers added another score late in the quarter, with Thomas gaining 14 yards to near midfield. Beasley completed a pass to Barnes and Wesleyan was called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the play. Beasley then rushed for 23 yards and two plays later, Mixon found
Cooper Alford all alone in the back of the end zone for a four-yard TD. The two-point try was no good and Sewanee led, 26-0, with 1:45 left in the half.
On the second drive of the third quarter, Beasley rushed for 20 yards on the first play and gained nine yards on third down. Mixon picked up 26 yards on three straight carries, the last one from six yards out, extending the advantage to 33-0 with the PAT late in the period.
Sewanee is off next week and returns to action October 4 against Maryville College, celebrating the Hall of Fame on the Mountain.
