The Tusculum University football team kicks off its 2022 season this Thursday night when they host St. Augustine's University at the Niswonger Sports Complex and Pioneer Field.
TU head coach Jerry Odom returns 41 lettermen from last year's 5-6 team which finished seventh in the South Atlantic Conference. Ten starters are also back as well as the team's punter and placekicker from a year ago.
With the addition of new SAC member Emory & Henry, along with new associate members Barton and Erskine, league play will be split into two six-team divisions. The Pioneers will compete in the SAC Mountain Division which will consist of TU, Carson-Newman, Emory & Henry, Erskine, Mars Hill and UVA Wise. Barton, Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne, Limestone, Newberry and Wingate will comprise the SAC Piedmont Division. The divisional winners will meet in the SAC Championship game which will be played Nov. 12 at an on-campus site to be determined.
Tusculum and St. Augustine's will meet in the season-opener for a second straight season. TU defeated the Falcons 58-14 in last year's lid-lifter in Raleigh in the inaugural encounter between the two schools.
Defensively, junior Jermaine Witherspoon returns after leading the Pioneers with his 64 tackles including a team-best 40 solo stops. He amassed four tackles for loss and forced a fumble and was tied for the top spot on the squad with seven passes defended (5 break-ups, 2 interceptions).
Senior cornerback Ty'Korian Brown was third on the roster with his 50 tackles including four for loss and had seven passes defended as well to match Witherspoon for the team-lead, including five break-ups and two interceptions.
All-Conference cornerback Jordan Taylor accounted for 44 stops in 2021 which included five hits behind the line of scrimmage. He led the team with six pass break-ups and also tallied an interception to go along with his two forced fumbles and a blocked kick on special teams.
Senior free safety John Smith also returns after tallying 42 tackles a year ago with three for loss with two pass break-ups and an interception. Senior Montreal Henry is back after missing the 2021 season. He posted 14 tackles and three tackles for loss in his five appearances in the 2021 spring season.
New to the secondary for Tusculum in 2022 is New Haven transfer Ryan Dolce. The graduate student played in 12 games last season while earning Northeast 10 All-Conference honors and helped New Haven to a league title and berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. He posted 44 tackles with five passes defended for New Haven.
Preseason All-SAC defensive tackle Dajavon White will be looking to build on last year's solid rookie campaign. He posted 21 tackles including 11 for loss and five sacks. He forced a fumble and a recovered another as he was a finalist for SAC Defensive Freshman of the Year laurels.
In the middle, veterans Jamichael Wilson and Xavier Clemmons will be contributing at nose guard. Clemmons, a graduate student, has totaled 60 tackles including eight for loss in his 27-game career. He finished with 17 tackles last year with a sack and a break-up. Wilson had 10 stops a season ago with three hits behind the line of scrimmage and two sacks.
After a one-season absence, junior defensive lineman Joslyn Mira returns to the TU line-up. Mira last saw action in the COVID shortened spring season in 2021 where he accounted for 14 total tackles with a sack and a forced fumble in the Pioneers' SAC Championship run.
Senior Chris Stevenson and sophomore Earnest Johnson, III will show their talents at middle linebacker this year. Stevenson played in seven outings with three starts in his first TU season. Johnson finished with 19 tackles including five for loss in his 10 contests in 2021.
Keiser University transfer Wesley Scott is set to open at the other linebacker spot after earning All-Conference honors with the Seahawks. He posted a team-leading 90 tackles (50 solos, 40 assists) as Keiser went 9-3 and advanced to the NAIA FCS Quarterfinal last year. He forced two fumbles with one recovery and one interception. He accounted for 10 or more tackles on four occasions including a school single-game record 15.
Savannah State transfer Chris Smith will also see time at linebacker after appearing in seven games where he made 16 tackles last season.
Offensively, the Pioneers return the SAC's top receiver from the past two seasons in senior Justice Parham. The 2021 All-Conference standout enters this year ranked 19th in program history with 1,161 receiving yards on 69 receptions, which includes 12 touchdowns (10th in TU history). Last season, he posted 797 receiving yards (45th in NCAA II) with eight touchdowns (2nd in SAC / 42nd in NCAA II).
Junior Tyler Ajiero is also back in the talented receiving corps for the Pioneers. He started in the first five games of the 2021 campaign where he finished with 14 catches for 191 yards.
Sophomore Tyler Burke appeared in 10 games including a pair of starts in his rookie season. He finished with 20 receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns. He also posted a school-record 100-yard kickoff return in the season-finale win over Carson-Newman. He averaged 30.4 yards on his 10 returns which is the second-highest average in program history.
Joining the TU ranks this year are transfers Kemani Brown and Mydreon Vines. Brown originally signed with NCAA-FBS Tulsa after an outstanding prep career at Northwestern High School in Miami, Florida where he played at quarterback.
Vines is a seasoned veteran with 34 games of NCAA Division I experience including three seasons at East Carolina and last year at NCAA-FCS Western Carolina.
The team's top two running backs from a year ago also return led by graduate student Maurice Gomillion. In his 32 games, he has rushed for 1,016 yards (13th in TU history) on 247 carries and nine touchdowns. He has also made 41 receptions for 424 yards and three TD grabs. Last year, he rushed for 332 yards and four scores while also making 23 catches for 209 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns in last year's encounter with St. Augustine's.
Senior Cortney Jackson earned All-SAC second team honors in 2021 in the TU backfield. He led the Pioneers rushing for 557 yards (8th in SAC) for seven touchdowns (5th in SAC). He also finished the year with five receptions for 48 yards.
Orchestrating the offense at quarterback this year is sophomore sensation Tre Simmons. He appeared in nine games under center last season as a true freshman including starts in the final two games of the year. He passed for 776 yards with eight touchdowns and only one interception. He also rushed for 128 yards on 41 carries with three TD runs and demonstrated he can be a dual threat both through the air and on the ground.
Redshirt freshman Brayden Phillips is listed as Simmons back-up on the depth chart for TU. Phillips passed for 1,209 yards and 15 touchdowns while posting a 101.4 QB rating in his senior season at North Florida Christian School in Tallahassee, Florida.
The Tusculum offensive line lost three starters but returns the anchor of the trenches in All-SAC first team choice Tommy Mahoney. He has been a consistent performer in his 16 consecutive starts at center for the Pioneers and is an early candidate for the SAC's Jacob's Blocking Trophy.
Junior Ben Shellenback also returns for the Pioneers after playing in all 11 games last year including eight starts at tackle and earning Preseason All-SAC second team accolades.
Back in the trenches once again for TU are veterans Taylor Williams, Joe Lock, Garrett Priest and Bode Patton. Newcomers Julius Linton, Levi Gould, Gabe McLamb, Tyrone Kelsey and Bryson Ridge will contribute to the offensive line efforts for Tusculum.
The veteran duo of Bryce Moore and Will Shellenback will be manning the tight end position in 2022. Moore made the transition from quarterback as he played in eight games with one start. He finished the year with seven catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
Shellenback has been Tusculum's starter at tight end for the past two seasons. He finished last year with eight receptions for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
Playing in his collegiate finale is graduate student punter Andrew Cantrell. Including the four seasons his older brother Hunter spent at TU, there has been a Cantrell punting for the Pioneers. Andrew has punted in 37 games and is third all-time with 188 punts for 7,211 yards, both listed third in program history. His 38.36 career punting average is ninth in the TU record book while his 58 punts inside the opponents' 20-yardline are third-most by a Pioneer. Last year, he averaged 40.1 yards per punt (3rd in SAC / 28th in NCAA II). Of his 48 punts, 28 resulted in fair catches which were the most in the league. His 18 punts inside the 20 were second in the SAC. Andrew has also shined off the field where he is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and is a national nominee for the prestigious AFCA Good Works Team.
Sophomore John Aiden Pittman is slated to handle the kicking duties once again for the Pioneers. He took over the kicking duties a month into the 2021 season and finished the year going 27-of-30 on extra points and 2-of-5 on field goals. He finished fourth on the team in scoring with his 33 points.
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