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Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football

Football program of Lenoir–Rhyne University, North Carolina, USA

Summary

Football program of Lenoir–Rhyne University, North Carolina, USA

Field	Value
TeamName	Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football
ImageSize	168
HeadCoach	Doug Socha
HeadCoachYear	1st
HCWins	10
HCLosses	3
Stadium	Moretz Stadium
StadCapacity	8,200
Location	Hickory, North Carolina
NCAAdivision	II
Conference	South Atlantic Conference
FirstYear
WebsiteName	LRBears.com
WebsiteURL	https://lrbears.com/sports/football
ATWins	546
ATLosses	467
ATTies	34
NAIANatlTitles	1960
ConfTitles	23 (10 SAC, 8 NSC, 5 CC)
MascotDisplay	Joe Bear
MarchingBand	Spirit of Lenoir-Rhyne
Rivalries	Newberry, Wingate, Catawba

The Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Lenoir–Rhyne University located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The team competes in the NCAA Division II and are members of the South Atlantic Conference. Lenoir–Rhyne's first football team was fielded in 1907. The team plays its home games at the 10,000 seat Moretz Stadium in Hickory, North Carolina.

History

Conference history

1954–1969: NAIA
1970–1992: NAIA Division I
1989–present: NCAA Division II

Conference affiliations

1907–1930: Independent
1931–1960: North State Conference
1961–1974: Carolinas Conference
1975–present: South Atlantic Conference The Bears had no team from 1912–1920 and 1942–1945.

Postseason appearances

Bowl games

The Bears have participated in five postseason bowl games, compiling a 3–2 record.

1960	Holiday Bowl (NAIA)	December 10, 1960	Humboldt State	W 15–14	St. Petersburg, Florida

NCAA Division II playoffs

The Bears have made eight appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs. Their combined record is 12–8, with one appearance in the NCAA Division II championship game (2013).

2024	First Round
Second Round	West Alabama
Virginia Union	W, 37–34
L, 12–44

NAIA

Lenoir–Rhyne made three appearances in the NAIA playoffs, with a combined record of 3–2–1.

1962	Semifinals
National Championship	Northern State
Central State (OK)	W, 20–7
L, 13–28

Coaches

Clarence Stasavich has the most victories as coach of the Bears.

Tom Warlick (1907–1908)
Burton H. Schoeff (1909)
Daniel M. Williams (1910–1911)
Phil Utley (1921)
Norman Lamotte (1922–1923)
Dick Gurley (1924–1931)
Robert M. Shores (1932–1936)
Albert Spurlock (1937)
Robert M. Shores (1938–1941)
D. M. Williams (1942–1945)
Clarence Stasavich (1946–1961)
Hanley Painter (1962–1972)
Danny Williams (1973)
Jack Huss (1974–1979)
Henry Vansant (1980–1983)
John Perry (1984–1990)
Charles Forbes (1991–1996)
Bill Hart (1997–2001)
Wayne Hicks (2002–2006)
Fred Goldsmith (2007–2010)
Mike Houston (2011–2013)
Ian Shields (2014–2015)
Mike Kellar (2016–2017)
Drew Cronic (2018–2019)
Mike Jacobs (2020–2023)
Doug Socha (2024–present)

Notable former players

Kyle Dugger – NFL safety, drafted 2nd round (37th overall) in the 2020 NFL draft by the New England Patriots
Perry Fewell – former NFL coach
Craig Keith – NFL tight end, drafted 7th round (189th overall) in the 1993 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers
Donnie Kirkpatrick – former college football coach
Tommy Laurendine – college football coach
John Milem – NFL defensive end, drafted 5th round (150th overall) in the 2000 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers
Hanley Painter – former college football coach
Wes Phillips – NFL offensive tackle
Jason Poe – NFL offensive guard
Mike Pope – former NFL coach
Clarence Stasavich – former college football coach
Terence Steward – NFL wide receiver
Don Testerman – NFL running back, drafted 10th round (282nd overall) in the 1976 NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins
Dareke Young – NFL wide receiver/kick return specialist, drafted 7th round (233rd overall) in the 2022 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks

Year-by-year results

Year W-L-T 1907 (0-3), 1908 (5-2-1), 1909 (3-5), 1910 (1-2), 1911 (3-3), —-NO TEAM 1912-1920—- 1921 (2-3), 1922 (1-5), 1923 (0-5), 1924 (5-4), 1925 (6-3), 1926 (7-2), 1927 (3-6-1), 1928 (2-6-1), 1929 (4-5-1), 1930 (3-6-1),

1939* (6–1–3), 1951 (10–1), 1952 (8–1), 1955 (9–0–1), 1956 (10–0), 1958 (9–1), 1959 (10–1), 1960 (12–0), 1961 (8–1–1), 1962 (11–1), 1965 (7–3), 1966* (6–3), 1967 (8–1), 1975 (7–3–1), 1988* (7–4), 1994* (8–2), 2005 (5–5), 2006 (3–8), 2007 (2–9), 2008 (3–8), 2009 (5–6), 2010 (7–4), 2011* (7–3), 2012 (9–3), 2013* (13–2), 2014* (11–1), 2015 (5–5), 2016 (3–8), 2017 (3–7), 2018* (12–2), 2019* (13–1), Spring 2020 (3-1)

Championship appearances

The Bears made three appearances in the NAIA championship game during their tenure, winning in 1960, and appeared in the NCAA Division II championship game in 2013.

Year	Division	Coach	Opponent	Record	Score
1959	NAIA Playoffs	Clarence Stasavich	Texas A&I Javelinas	10–1	L 7–20
1960	NAIA Playoffs	Clarence Stasavich	Humboldt State	12–0	W 15–14
1962	NAIA Playoffs	Hanley Painter	Central State (OK)	11–1	L 13–28
2013	NCAA Division II Playoffs	Mike Houston	Northwest Missouri State	13–2	L 28–43

Conference championships

*denotes co-championship. The Bears won 8 titles in the North State Conference, 5 in the Carolinas Conference, and 9 in the South Atlantic Conference.

References

(2016). "BOWL/ALL STAR GAME RECORDS". NCAA.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

lenoir–rhyne-bears-football american-football-teams-established-in-1907 1907-establishments-in-north-carolina

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