WHITE PINE, Tenn. — Dustin Noller passed for 228 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Limestone University football team to a 49-21 South Atlantic Conference win over Tusculum University Saturday afternoon Lakeway Field.
The game was moved to the campus of Lakeway Christian Academy due to the on-going flood recovery efforts in Greeneville and Greene County.
The Saints (4-1, 3-0 SAC) snap a four-game losing streak to the Pioneers (0-4, 0-3 SAC) as both teams will begin SAC Divisional play next weekend.
Limestone amassed 422 yards offensively on 51 plays while holding onto the football for only 19:40. Running back Kevin Lalin rushed for 186 yards on 18 carries including a 71-yarder on the first play out of the locker room to set-up a touchdown.
The Pioneers finished 339 total yards on the afternoon including 255 on the ground as Jalen Hunt rushed for 85 yards on a dozen carries. Jojo Restall had a 11 rush attempts for 52 yards and touchdown, while freshman quarterback Kamden Wellington recorded his first collegiate start rushing for 45 yards and posted 18 passing yards with a touchdown.
Defensively, Limestone’s Luke Janack led all players with his 13 tackles including a dozen solo stops with two for loss while Zero Johnson finished with 10 hits.
Tusculum’s Marcel Bowes tallied six tackles, while Daryl Smith and Rashad Watson had five tackles each.
Limestone took its opening possession and went 68 yards in 10 plays with Noller connecting with TaTrevias Robinson for a 22-yard touchdown. Daniel Deenen’s kick made it 7-0 at the 9:51 mark of the first quarter.
The Pioneers answered with an 11-play, 74-yard march deep into Saints territory, but on fourth-and-goal from the one, Johnson and Preston Hamilton stopped Otasowie Dion for no gain as TU turned the ball of on downs.
The teams exchanged possessions before the Saints took over at the LU 48 with 10:46 left in the second quarter. Noller’s 11-yard pass to Tre Williams moved Limestone into TU territory. Four plays later, Noller and Williams connected again, this time for a 35-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0 with 9:02 before halftime.
Tusculum put together a 17-play, 75-yard drive which took 7:44 off the clock, converting on third down twice and once on fourth down before Restall ran in from a yard out. John-Aiden Pittman’s kick was good as TU cut the deficit in half at 14-7 with 1:20 remaining before halftime.
But on the ensuing kickoff, Taivon Derisma posted a 54-yard return to the TU 40. On the play, Tusculum was penalized for an illegal block giving Limestone the ball at 25. Noller completed a 21-yard pass to Williams to the TU 4. Noller would roll to his right and score on a four-yard touchdown with 56 seconds left as the Saints took a 21-7 lead into the locker room.
Limestone had the ball to start the second half and on the first play, Lalin plowed up the middle and headed to the Tusculum secondary before he was stopped at the TU 4 and a 71-yard run. He would get the ball three more times including the last on his one-yard plunge as the lead swelled to 28-7 at the 13:33 mark of the quarter.
The Pioneers answered when Taivonn Erwin took the ensuing kickoff and returned it 66 yards to the Limestone 30. Wellington would convert on third down with his 11-yard scramble. Wellington would find Dion in the right corner of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown as TU trailed 28-14 with 11:38 left.
The Tusculum defense held on the next possession and as Noller was sacked for an 11-yard loss by freshman Malachi Jim-Lawson.
TU looked to go three-and-out, but on the punt, Limestone was penalized 15 yard for roughing the long snapper to put the ball at the LU 47. The Pioneers would get to the nine before having to settle for a 27-yard field goal try but the Kick was blocked by Myles Walker as the Saints took over.
Lalin rushed for 20 yards on the first play and Noller completed a 54-yard TD to DJ Black to make it a 35-14 game with 4:01 left in the period.
The Pioneers were stopped on three plays and Limestone answered with an eight-play, 57-yard drive which Noller completing a 15-yard pass to Mikey Jones as the Saints led 42-14 with 13:58 left in the game.
Tusculum would get into Limestone territory but the drive stalled as TU turned it over on downs for a second time at the LU 33. The Saints would be forced to punt but on the return, TU lost a fumble for the first time this year which was recovered by Luc Louissant at the TU 10. Two plays later Jayden Stinson completed a nine-yard TD to Williams for his second TD catch of the day and SAC-leading seventh of the season.
With Limestone ahead 49-14, Tusculum salvaged a scoring drive as junior quarterback Jacob Dennie took over and orchestrated an 11-play, 75-yard drive with John Celestin running in from six yards out with 1:37 remaining.
Tusculum established a new school single-game record for time of possession with 40:20, surpassing the previous mark of 40:02 against Cumberland (Ky.) on Oct. 10, 1992.
Limestone went a perfect 5-of-5 on scoring touchdowns on its five trips to the red zone while Deneen was a perfect 7-of-7 on his extra points.
Tusculum returns to action next Saturday when they host Emory & Henry for a 2 p.m. contest at Pioneer Field. The game was slated to be Tusculum’s homecoming game, but it was moved to Nov. 9 due to the on-going recovery from Hurricane Helene.
