Indianapolis, Ind.----The Wingate University football team is ranked seventh in this week’s NCAA Division II Super Regional Two poll. The Bulldogs move into the top 10 for the first time this season, following a 50-49 win at Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday.

Wingate is 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Bulldogs are one of two teams in the SAC without a conference loss. North Alabama is number one in this week’s poll, with Albany State coming in at number two. The only other team without a SAC loss, Carson-Newman is third this week. UNC Pembroke is ranked fourth. Mars Hill is number five, followed by Fort Valley State, Wingate, Morehouse, West Alabama and Arkansas Tech.

The Bulldogs will host Newberry College this Saturday at 1:30. The scarlet-and-gray dropped out of the rankings after a 34-28 loss to the region’s fifth-ranked team Mars Hill Saturday. The Bulldogs are also receiving votes in this week’s AFCA top 25 poll. Wingate is the first team out of the top 25, only three votes behind 25th-ranked Carson-Newman College.

Wingate has the number one scoring offense in the South Atlantic Conference, averaging 34.0 points per game. The Bulldogs also lead the conference in turnover margin, red zone offense and third down conversions.

Redshirt junior Perry Floyd (Gastonia, N.C.) leads the league in kick return and punt return yards, ranking second with 148.2 all-purpose yards. He also ranks in the top 10 in receptions and receiving yards per game. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Cody Haffly (Locust Grove, Ga.) is averaging 207.7 passing yards per game, completing 60.7 percent of his passes while racking up 10 touchdowns against only two interceptions in 183 attempts.

Redshirt freshman safety Robert Fletcher (Lancaster, S.C.) leads the league in fumble recoveries, while ranking second in forced fumbles and fourth in tackles. The reigning SAC Defensive Player of the Week, Fletcher had 11 solo tackles, two forced fumbles and one fumble return for a touchdown in Saturday’s dramatic victory.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,159 students offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, career discovery and community service.

Wingate offers more than 40 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, communication, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers graduate degrees in business, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration. In addition, the school awards the doctor of pharmacy and the doctor of education degrees.

Bulldog student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past three years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 34 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 43 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.

(Wingate University assistant sports information director Hugh Patton wrote this article. Patton is a 2006 Wingate grad with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)