GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Wingate quarterback Elijah Pugh pass for three touchdowns, while Elihu Lipscomb returned a pair of fumbles for scores as the 23rd-ranked Bulldogs upended host Tusculum 56-10 Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field on Senior Day.
Wingate (8-2, 6-2 South Atlantic Conference), who is listed fifth in the NCAA Division II Super Region 2 rankings, returned two fumbles for touchdowns, while also blocking a punt which set-up a short field for another score. WU scored the first 56 points of the contest including 35 in the second half to post its largest margin of victory in the 28-game series with Tusculum since the first meeting in 1996.
The Bulldogs finished the game with 376 total offensive yards while limiting the Pioneers (1-8, 0-8 SAC) to 148 yards on the afternoon (126 rush, 22 pass).
Lipscomb's two scoop-and-scores covered 51 and 52 yards respectively, both coming in a 28-point third quarter for the Bulldogs.
Wingate running back Xavier Pugh added to his SAC-leading TD tally as he ran for pair of touchdowns, giving him 18 rushing scores on the season.
Holmes went 15-of-26 for 263 yards without an interception and was not sacked on the afternoon. Jaylen Himes led all players with six receptions for 126 yards and his SAC-best ninth TD catch.
Tusculum's John Celestin led the Pioneers rushing for 65 yards on 15 carries, while Ike Perry added 40 yards on his nine attempts.
TU utilized four quarterbacks on the day including starter Lavante Adams who was knocked out of the game in the first quarter.
Wingate got on the board first at the 8:08 mark of the opening quarter as Pugh ran in for a two-yard touchdown. Caleb Bonesteel's extra-point made it a 7-0 Wingate lead to cap an eight-play, 62-yard drive.
Tusculum fumble on its next possession and Wingate's Omar Ba came up with the recovery at the TU 35. The TU defense held and would force a 36-yard attempt by Bonesteel, but his kick would be unsuccessful.
The Pioneers would be forced to punt again as Wingate took over at the WU 40. On the final play of the quarter, Holmes would connect on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Estronza to extend the lead to 14-0. The Bulldogs would dominate the opening 15 minutes holding onto the ball for over 10 minutes and out-gained TU in yardage by a 124-7 margin.
Tusculum would advance the ball to midfield before Adams was injured on his third down run and would be taken out of the game. After a punt, Wingate would go three-and-out and would be forced to punt themselves as TU took over in great field position at their own 49.
TU went to wide receiver Damien Dawson who took over under center. His first play looked promising as he ran for a 26-yard gain, but it would be erased on a holding penalty. Backed up behind the chains TU would be forced to punt as Quinton Brandon released a 50-yarder as Wingate started at the WU 15.
The defense held again for the Pioneers forcing a Wingate punt as the Pioneers took over at the TU 47 with 7:15 left in the half.
With freshman Trey Frazier under center, Tusculum moved into Bulldog territory to the WU 33. On fourth-down and 10, Frazier would be intercepted by Brandon Perry as he went out of bounds at the WU 3. For TU, it was its first interception thrown of the season.
Pinned back into the shadow of its own end zone with 1:48 left on the clock, the Holmes orchestrated three long plays to cap a 97-yard scoring drive. He completed a 23-yard pass to Xavier Jackson to get to the TU43 with 23 seconds on the clock. After Wingate timeout, Holmes found Jackson again on a 22-yard completion to the TU 18. With the clock running, Holmes connected on an 18-yard TD strike to Tanner Mays, scoring with seven seconds on the clock as the Bulldogs took a 21-0 lead into the locker room.
Tusculum took the opening possession of the second half and moved into Wingate territory as Celestin posted a 35-yard run to the WU 38. But on second down, Frazier dropped back to pass, but was blindsided by Diego Aviles at midfield and the ball was scooped up by Lipscomb as he rambled 51 yards for the touchdown for a 28-0 lead.
On the ensuing TU possession, Jaden James sacked Frazier for a nine-yard loss back at the TU 16. A penalty would push TU back to the eight-yard line and Brandon would be forced to punt out of his end zone. Wingate would take over at the TU 31 after the punt.
Holmes completed a 28-yard pass to Himes to get to the TU 3. Pugh would run in for his second score of the day from there to extend the advantage to 35-0.
Tusculum would go three-and-out as Wingate started at its own 25. Six-plays later, Holmes completed a 34-yard TD pass to Himes with 6:27 left in the third quarter as the Bulldogs led 42-0.
Dawson came back into the game for Tusculum as the Pioneers advanced into WU territory as the offense converted three first downs including one on a pass interference call on Wingate. With ball at the WU 41, Dawson rushed up the middle, but the Pioneers committed its third fumble of the afternoon as Lipscomb scooped up the ball and rumbled down field for a 52-yard touchdown, his second of the day.
On the ensuing TU possession, the Pioneers fumbled for a fourth time, but Tusculum was able to recover. The 14-yard loss put Tusculum in bad field position at the TU 11 and would be forced to punt out of the end zone again. But this time, the Bulldogs got to Brandon as Malik Tyrell-Crittington came up with the block and was recovered by G.W. Clemmer at the TU 3 with 29 seconds left in the quarter.
On the first play of the final quarter, Jayshawn Appling ran in for a two-yard touchdown to push the Wingate lead out to 56-0.
Running back Ike Perry got the ball on five straight carries as he would total 33 yards to get to the WU 26. The drive would stall as Max Turan came on and kicked a 42-yard field goal to put the Pioneers on the scoreboard at 56-3 with 10 minutes left in the contest.
Wingate would be penalized for holding on the ensuing kickoff as the Bulldogs started at the WU 11. Quarterback Brook Brien took over and on the second play, he would be flushed out of the pocket and was pursued in the end zone. His incomplete pass was initially ruled to have not have gone beyond the line of scrimmage and was called for intentional grounding in the end zone and resulting in a safety.
But Wingate challenged the call and after video review, the play was reversed to an incomplete pass and took the safety off the board.
A 39-yard punt return by TU's Jaden Outar gave Tusculum its best starting position of the day at the WU 14. From there, Engle found senior Ashton Hagans in the left corner of the end zone for his fifth TD catch of his career. Turan's extra-point made it 56-10 to provide the final margin of the game.
Wingate's David Squires led all players with his eight tackles including six solo hits. Tyson Brown added seven tackles and a sack, while Lipscomb tallied four tackles to go along with his two fumble returns covering 103 yards.
TU's Da'Shawn Elder led the Pioneers with his seven tackles, while rookie Justin Thomas had five tackles in his first collegiate start.
Rivers Teeter averaged 38.8 yards on his five punts including two inside the 20. Brandon had seven punts for a 37.4 yards per kick average including two inside the 20.
Tusculum will close out its season next week as they make the short trip to Jefferson City to face arch-rival Carson-Newman for a 1 p.m. contest at Burke-Tarr Stadium.
