GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum quarterback Matthew Palazzo accounted for four touchdowns while the Pioneer defense forced a pair turnovers and limited UVA Wise to 181 total yards as TU prevailed 35-7 Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference football action at Pioneer Field.
Tusculum (4-3, 4-1 SAC) records its fourth win in its last five outings and remains tied atop the SAC Mountain Division standings with Mars Hill (5-1, 4-1 SAC). UVA Wise (1-6, 0-5 SAC) suffers its sixth consecutive loss and fourth in a row to the Pioneers who are victorious before a Homecoming crowd of 3,057.
Tusculum finished 419 total yards in the contest and scored 14 points off of the Highland Cavaliers two miscues.
Palazzo racked up over 300 passing yards for a second straight game, finishing with 314 yards with three touchdown passes including two TD tosses to Tyler Burke. Palazzo also rushed for his team-leading sixth touchdown, while freshman running back Jojo Restall led all players with 76 rushing yards on 11 carries including a 41-yard touchdown in the third quarter to cap a run of 28 unanswered points by the Pioneers.
Burke eclipsed 100 receiving yards for a second straight week as he totaled 115 yards on his five receptions, while Joe Robustelli finished with a season-high 114 yards on his two catches.
TU's Raynell Killian led the Pioneers with seven tackles, while Wesley Scott added six stops with a tackle for loss. Chris Smith posted five tackles with two stops behind the line of scrimmage. The quartet of Jordan Taylor, Gavin Rowell and Dajavon White each had five tackles in the game with one tackle for loss apiece.
UVA Wise quarterback Jake Corkren went 14-of-27 for 113 yards and a touchdown while also throwing two interceptions and was sacked three times. Greeneville native Jaevon Gillespie was held 46 yards under his season average (82.0 ypg) finishing with 37 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Tusculum got on the scoreboard with its second possession when Palazzo connected with Robustelli for a 73-yard TD completion. John Aiden Pittman's kick made it a 7-0 game at the 9:02 mark of the first quarter.
Neither team could get much going for the rest of the first quarter until Palazzo hit Robustelli on a 41-yard pass to move to the Wise 22. The Pioneers would get as close as the 14 but a fumble by Palazzo on third down and a failed try on fourth-and-two turned the ball over on downs early in the second quarter.
The Cavs seized the momentum and marched 84 yards in seven plays highlighted by Corkren's 38-yard touchdown pass to Seth Fischbach with 11:21 remaining before halftime. Jake Marcantel's extra point tied the game at 7-7.
The Pioneers answered later in the quarter when Palazzo posted his second, long touchdown pass of the half with his 70-yard strike to Burke as the Pioneers reclaimed the lead at 14-7 with 6:13 left in the half.
The TU defense forced a seventh punt by Marcantel as TU took over at its 40 with 3:58 on the clock. A defensive holding penalty followed by completions of 18, 11 and eight yards to Ethan Stinnett moved the ball to the Wise two-yard line. Palazzo would run it in from there for the touchdown to extend the lead to 21-7.
The Pioneer defense recorded a pair of negative yardage plays including a sack by Jahari Clemons on third down with 39 seconds left and Wise punting out of its own end zone. Tusculum would take over at the UVA Wise 43 with 30 seconds on the scoreboard and no timeouts. Palazzo would be intercepted by Wise's Patrick Taylor at the one yard-line as the Pioneers would take a 21-7 lead into the locker room.
The Tusculum defense was dominant in the second half especially in the third quarter where the Pioneers held the Cavs to five total yards and zero first downs. Two interceptions also set up a pair of touchdowns for the home team.
The first pick came when Jermaine Witherspoon intercepted Corkren and returned the ball 29 yards to the UVA Wise seven yard-line. On third down, Palazzo completed a seven-yard pass to Burke in the end zone for the touchdown at the 11:39 mark of the third quarter.
On the second play of UVA Wise's ensuing possession, TU's Ryan Dolce gathered in a tipped ball for his first interception of the year at the Wise 41. Restall would take it from there as he ran up the far sideline and broke three tackles and dove into the end zone for the 41-yard scoring run to make it a 35-7 game.
Both teams combined for 70 total yards in the fourth quarter and Tusculum would have the only viable scoring chance but would turn the football over on downs at the Wise 26.
Witherspoon's interception was his third of the season and ninth of his career which are tied for fourth-most ever by a Pioneer.
Palazzo's two completions over 70 yards, marks only the third time in recorded school history which a TU quarterback has achieved the feat in a single-game. TU Sports Hall of Famer Bo Cordell completed two touchdown passes over 80 yards in 2009 at Urbana. Cordell completed an 88-yard pass to TU Hall of Famer Jarrell NeSmith and a 77-yard TD pass to Marcus Foster. The most recent occurrence came in 2013 against Elizabeth City State when Cordell completed an 88-yard TD to Johnathon Dilliberto and later an 84-yard completion to Deon Hicks in the same game.
Tusculum finished the game with 17 first downs while UVA Wise had 10 including four on its lone scoring drive of the day. The Cavs went 5-of-20 on its third-down conversions while TU went 5-of-17 on its third down tries. UVA Wise had the ball for 32:52 on the afternoon while Tusculum held possession for 27:08.
TU punter Nicholas Pope averaged 40.0 yards on his seven attempts including three inside the 20. Marcantel averaged 37.8 yards on his 12 punts.
Tusculum will be on the road for the next two week beginning with an Oct. 21 trip to Emory & Henry. This will be the Pioneers first trip to the Emory, Virginia campus since 1950. Tusculum defeated the Wasps 35-9 in last year's meeting in Greeneville.
