Staff report

ROME, Ga. —  Kujuan Pryor scored three touchdowns and Mike Jones made 11 tackles, but the list of positives was short for the Catawba Indians.

The Shorter Hawks piled up 461 yards on Saturday afternoon in front of 1,750 fans at Barron Stadium, never turned it over and thumped Catawba 34-21 in the first football meeting of the Division II schools.

At least the weather was nice — 72 degrees.

Shorter, a Gulf South Conference program, got 93 rushing yards and three touchdown passes (all to his tight ends) from senior quarterback Dennis Aeneas.

The Hawks (2-0) ran for 265 yards, racked up 25 first downs and were able to control the ball. They couldn’t kick it very well,  but they only had to punt once.

Other than the fireworks provided by Pryor,, the Indians were quiet when they had the ball. Freshman quarterback Kameron Hill managed 140 passing yards, but with two interceptions. He was sacked once.

Catawba (1-1) couldn’t run the ball consistently and only one offensive snap by the Indians produced an explosive play of more than 20 yards.-

Shorter set the tone with a 75-yard march to open the game.

Pryor’s 88-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff was a solid answer, but the Hawks seized control of the game in the second quarter.

It was 28-7 by the time Catawba scored on Hill’s 19-yard pass to Pryor with 55 seconds left in the first half.

Led by Jones, a rugged defensive lineman, and linebacker Christian  Bennett, Catawba made enough second-half stops to stay within striking distance, but the Indians’ only TD of the second half — a 4-yard rush by Pryor — came way too late to put any pressure on the home team.

Catawba lost linebacker Christian Campbell, the reigning South Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Week,  to an injury very early in the contest.

Former Catawba offensive lineman Jagger Jones started for Shorter.

Next up for Catawba is a SAC game at Mars Hill.

 

Catawba    7   7   0    7 — 14

Shorter    7   21  0   6   — 34

Scoring plays

S — Aeneas 4 run (Bardenwerper kick), 7:35, 1st

C — Pryor 88 kickoff return (Crile kick), 7:15, 1st

S — Deitl 34 pass from Aeneas (run failed), 13:25, 2nd

S — Holland 1 run, 7:07, 2nd

S — Safety, 5:43, 2nd

S — Morlock 31 pass from Aeneas (kick failed), 2:06, 2nd

C — Pryor 19 pass from Hill (Crile kick), 0:55, 2nd

S — Dietl 9 pass from Aeneas (kick blocked), 11:43, 4th

C — Pryor 4 run (Crike kick), 5:12, 4th

Rushing

Catawba: Bracey 8-32; Williams 4-26; Pryor 3-21; Parker 3-5; Hill 3-5; Turner 2-4.

Shorter: Dennis 10-93; Holland 21-85; Durant 11-64.

Passing

Catawba: Hill 17-33-2, 1 TD

Shorter: 13-27-0, 196

Receiving

Catawba: Pryor 5-50; Lockhart 3-18; McCarthy 3-18; Sheehan 2-11; Parker 1-17; Grant 1-17; Turner 1-13.

Shorter: Morlock 3-49, Dietl 2-43; Dollard 2-29; Morrow 2-27; Mostellor 2-25; Holland 2-23.