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 7,200 seat Moretz Stadium in Hickory, North Carolina.

History

Conference history 1954–1969: NAIA 1970–1988: 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. 1951 Pythian Bowl December 8, 1951 California (PA) W 13–7 Salisbury, North Carolina 1952 Cigar Bowl December 13, 1952 Tampa L 12–21 Tampa, Florida 1955 Palmetto Shrine December 10, 1955 Newberry W 14–13 Columbia, South Carolina 1959 Holiday Bowl (NAIA) December 19, 1959 Texas A&I L 20–7 St. Petersburg, Florida 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).

2012 First RoundSecond Round Fort Valley StateCarson–Newman W, 21–6L, 35–38 2013 Second RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsNational Championship Carson–NewmanNorth AlabamaWest ChesterNW Missouri State W, 27–20W, 42–39W, 42–14L, 28–43 2014 Second Round Valdosta State L, 21–23 2018 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinals Florida TechWingateValdosta State W, 43–21W, 21–17L, 21–61 2019 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinals MilesCarson–NewmanWest Florida W, 36–7W, 49–21L, 38–43 2021 First Round Bowie State L, 10–31 2023 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinals ShepherdBenedictValdosta StateHarding W, 63–17W, 35–25W, 35–7L, 14–55 2024 First RoundSecond Round West AlabamaVirginia Union W, 37–34L, 12–44

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

1959 SemifinalsNational Championship Southern Connecticut StateTexas A&I W, 47–20L, 7–20 1960 SemifinalsNational Championship Northern MichiganHumboldt State T, 20–20W, 15–14 1962 SemifinalsNational Championship Northern StateCentral State (OK) W, 20–7L, 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. YearDivisionCoachOpponentRecordScore 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 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), 2011* (7–3), 2012 (9–3), 2013 (13–2), 2014 (11–1), 2018 (12–2), 2019 (13–1)

*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

External links