GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Carson-Newman's Brandon Baker rushed for 185 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Eagles to a 66-36 South Atlantic Conference win at Tusculum Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Pioneer Field.

Carson-Newman (7-2, 4-2 SAC) records their fifth straight win as the Eagles totaled 649 yards on the day, including 563 on the ground as three C-N players each rushed for over 100 yards.

Tusculum quarterback Bo Cordell accounted for 426 yards of total offense on the afternoon. He passed for 323 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for a career-best 103 yards on 14 carries. Cordell established another school record as he now has 85 career TD passes, moving him past former TC great Corey Russell, who tossed 81 TDs from 2005-08.

C-N signal caller Brandon Haywood ran for 172 on 22 carries, including a touchdown, while Andy Hibbett carried the football for 161 yards on 23 attempts, including a pair of scores. Haywood went 5-of-7 through air for 86 yards and two touchdowns.

Carson-Newman kicker recorded a dozen points as he was a perfect 9-of-9 on extra points and drilled a school-record 54-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, breaking a record that has stood for 27 years.

Defensively, the Pioneers (2-8, 1-5 SAC) were led by senior Luke Harris' career-high 17 tackles, including 10 solo stops and a fumble recovery. Brian Alexander finished with a dozen tackles, while Deres Benn tallied 11 hits for Tusculum.

C-N's Jonathan Sites accounted for 11 tackles, while Oliver Davis made eight stops, including one for loss.

Tusculum posted 485 yards offensively, including 358 passing and 127 on the ground.

Xzanvion Smith was Cordell's top target as he hauled in seven catches for 112 yards and two scores. Justin Houston followed with six receptions for 99 yards as Cordell recorded completions to eight different players.

Tusculum scored on the opening possession of the game as Cordell completed a 26-yard TD pass to Xzanvion Smith at the 11:39 mark of the quarter to cap an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Cordell went 6-for-6 passing, while also recorded 23 yards rushing during the possession. Logan Cornelius' extra-point attempt went wide as TC led 6-0.

C-N covered 67 yards in six plays on its initial possession, capped by Hibbett's three-yard run. Duncan's kick gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead with 9:33 left in the period. Haywood's 40-yard run set up the Hibbett's TD run.

Tusculum would be forced to punt, but on the C-N's first play from scrimmage, Haywood's pitch to the right side was off target as TC's John Perry came up with the fumble recovery on the sideline at the C-N 14. TC covered four yards in three plays and would have to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Cornelius as the Pioneers retook the lead at 9-7 at the 5:03 mark.

C-N took its next possession and ran 65 yards on nine plays, including a fourth down-and-two conversion at the TC 7 and later capped off by a Hibbett two-yard TD as the Eagles led 14-9.

Cordell started the game completing his first 10 pass attempts. Following his first incomplete pass, he answered with a 35-yard pass to Houston and a 38-yard strike to Smith down to the C-N one-yard line to end the quarter. Spradlin would leap into the end zone on the first play of the second period for a one-yard TD as Tusculum regained the lead at 16-14 with 14:56 remaining before halftime.

The Eagles wasted little time as Hibbett rambled 40 yards to the TC 22 on the first play from scrimmage and Baker took it into the end zone from there with his first score of the day as C-N led again, 21-16.

Tusculum gained great field position following Smith's 33-yard kickoff return to the TC 41. TC converted on third down twice, including a 15-yard pass from Cordell to Houston. The two would get together again, this time on a 15-yard scoring strike in the end zone as TC led 22-21. But the extra point attempt was unsuccessful as the Pioneers held onto the one-point advantage with 11:57 left before the intermission.

C-N's Christian McFall ran returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards to the Eagles 41. Carson-Newman would convert on fourth down twice during a 12-play, 59-yard drive, which was capped off by a Baker two-yard TD run as C-N led 28-22 with 7:30 remaining on the clock.

Tusculum went three plays and out and were forced to punt as Carson-Newman took over at its own 42, following a 49-yard punt by senior Andy Rosetti. The trio of Haywood, Baker and Hibbett moved the Eagles into TC territory once again and converted a fourth-and-one at the TC 27. On second down and six from the TC 12 and after 39 straight running plays, Haywood completed a 12-yard pass to Jason Brown for the touchdown as the Eagles increased their lead 35-22 with 3:02 on the scoreboard.

Tusculum faced a fourth-down and five yards to go from their own 22. TC gambled and it paid off as Rosetti completed a 27-yard pass to Irim Aiken to keep the drive alive to midfield. Cordell completed a 26-yard pass to Joshua McKie and followed with a 25-yard TD pass to Houston, his second of the quarter. Brandon Burkey made the point after as TC trimmed the deficit to 35-29 with 52 seconds left.

Taking over at its own 16, Carson-Newman worked the ball across midfield into TC territory setting up a 54-yard field goal attempt by Duncan. After a pair of timeouts called by Tusculum to ice the kicker with one-second remaining, Duncan drilled a line-drive kick that inched over the cross bar as time expired as the Eagles took a 38-29 into the locker room.

Duncan's 54-yarder surpassed the previous school record of 53 yards kicked by David Ward against ETSU in 1973 and Louis Reveiz vs. Gardner-Webb in 1985.

Carson-Newman would score on its first two possessions of the second half sparked by a Haywood 26-yard TD pass to Steven Isom. Cordell would be intercepted by Sean Rawson to stop the Pioneers on their first series of the half. Baker ran 47 yards to the TC 16 and Haywood finished off the two-play, 63-yard drive with a 16-yard run as C-N led 52-29.

Tusculum bounced back with a nine-play, 77-yard drive that was aided by a C-N pass interference call and Cordell runs of 13, 16 and 11 yards. Smith would post his second TD grab of the afternoon as Cordell found him in the middle of the end zone on a six-yard roll out as TC trimmed the deficit to 52-36 at the 6:42 mark of the third quarter.

The tide looked to be turning the Pioneers way when Harris recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff as TC took over at the C-N 35. Tusculum would get to the C-N 10, but would have to settle for a 27-yard field goal try by Burkey, which went wide right.

The Eagles took the momentum from there and marched 80 yards in 13 plays, ending the drive on a one-yard Baker scoring rush and a 59-36 C-N lead.

Tusculum would roll the dice again on fourth-down and 12 from the TC 25, as Rosetti completed "jump" pass to Alexander as he hauled it in but would get to the TC 30 before fumbling the ball, which was recovered by C-N's Eric Cain at the TC 33.

Baker would put the game out of reach with his 30-yard touchdown run with 10:36 left in the contest to provide the final margin.

Cordell continued his assault in the NCAA Division II record book. He has passed for 12,190 yards, which is currently seventh in DII history. His 1,076 career completions are the third most ever by a DII signal caller as the redshirt junior needs 43 to match the NCAA record held by Steven Gachette of Southwest Baptist (1119 from 2007-10).

Saturday was the final home game for Tusculum seniors Luke Harris, Israel Pickens, Brian Marshall, Aaron Morgan, Skylar West and Andy Rosetti.

Tusculum will close out its season next Saturday as the Pioneers travel to Wingate for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff from Irwin Belk Stadium. Carson-Newman will host SAC co-leader Mars Hill for a 1 p.m. contest from Burke-Tarr Stadium in Jefferson City.

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