The Birmingham Times
The Miles Golden Bears (10-2) are moving on to the second round of the Division II Football Playoffs following a razor-thin 14-13 victory on Saturday over Carson-Newman (9-3) in Miles’s first-ever NCAA Division II Playoff game at Albert J. Sloan-Alumni Stadium.
The school is looking to become the first SIAC school to advance to the regional final in the Division II playoffs since Tuskegee University in 2015.
The Golden Bears advance to next week’s game in the NCAA Division II Football Playoffs against undefeated Valdosta State (10-0) on Saturday Nov. 30.
Miles’ defense has been the team’s backbone all season, and it was a big reason why they won this contest.
Late in the fourth quarter on Saturday, Carson-Newman was out of timeouts and Miles was looking to run down the clock, The Golden Bears faced a third-and-7 at their own 45-yard line. Jonero Scott, who had already scored a touchdown and finished with a team-high 48 yards on the ground, was looking to get a first down to effectively end the game. Even if he didn’t make the line to gain, Miles could have pinned the Eagles deep with less than 10 seconds to go, making a victory seem inevitable.
Unfortunately, Scott coughed up the ball and the Eagles recovered at the Miles 41 with 1:01 to go. The celebratory mood on the sideline quickly changed. The defense had to get another stop and had little margin for error as Carson-Newman had a kicker that had range from nearly 50 yards and had just missed from that distance in the third quarter, hitting the cross bar.
But Miles stepped up to the challenge. After an incomplete pass on first down, the Golden Bears got pressure on Eagles quarterback Zane Whitson, who lofted a pass into the wind against double coverage. That’s trouble against any team, even more so against one that leads the nation in turnovers gained and second in interceptions. This time, Malachi Oglen got his first interception of the season, bringing a sense of relief to the Golden Bears sideline and reigniting the celebratory feelings that had temporarily been erased.
Earlier, with the game tied 7-7 and five minutes left in the second quarter, the D produced a fumble recovery, giving the Golden Bears’ offense the ball outside the red zone. The offense took advantage of the stop, scoring a touchdown 53 seconds later to take a 14-7 lead.
Although Carson-Newman had success running the football in the second half, the Miles defense did not break, holding the visitors to just a field goal in five possessions.
In a tightly contested fourth quarter, Miles dodged several bullets that could have changed the trajectory of the game. Facing a 4th down and five with 1:25 remaining, Carson-Newman went for a pass and had a receiver spring open down the sideline. With no defenders around and a for-sure first down should the ball be caught, the receiver was unable to haul in the pass, surrendering the ball back to Miles.
Despite the stop, Carson-Newman still had all of its timeouts and began using them as Miles looked to run out the clock.
After Scott mishandled the handoff the Miles defense came through with a big stop to end Carson-Newman’s hopes for a win.
