By David Shaw
For the Salisbury Post

SALISBURY — Turn off the search lights and call back the hounds.

The rebuilding Catawba football program has found what its been looking for — a decisive, strong-armed quarterback who can lead the Indians out of the wilderness and back toward Division II prominence. His name is Preston Brown, and after throwing a school-record six touchdown passes against Livingstone on Saturday, he’s got a redeeming story to share.

“It’s been a journey,” the redshirt sophomore was explaining at Shuford Stadium, moments after passing for 372 yards in a convincing 55-15 triumph. “But everything that’s happened has prepared me for this moment. I’m lucky. I get to see the game from a different perspective.”

Brown may have seen it all since graduating from West Mecklenburg High School in 2019, yet he hasn’t seen enough. He spent two protracted years with the Charlotte 49ers, toiling as an understudy to Davie High grad Chris Reynolds, absorbing everything but never appearing in a game. Rummaging for playing time, he transferred to Catawba and was quickly blown off course when he suffered a torn ACL in the spring of last year — an injury that cost him the entire 2022 season. “Very tough,” he remembers. “Just didn’t stop me from working toward today.”

“Preston’s kind of making up for lost time,” Catawba wideout Jordan Mitchell said. “You can see it in his eyes. He’s been waiting for this day, for this moment. He’s just wired a little differently, so for him, he’s already imagined having games like this in his head.”

Games like this won’t soon be forgotten. Brown was sharper than a slice of Wisconsin cheddar, completing nine of his first 10 attempts and finishing 24-for-30. He seemingly threw passes to every kid in the mini-van — and found Mitchell (6 receptions, 136 yards) for three TDs, Bo Pryor (5-108) for two and Connor McCarthy (3-56) for a one-handed, Ringling Brothers grab in the right corner of the end zone.

“Elmer’s glue,” Brown offered with a post-game look of amazement. “He’s got hands, but all of them do.”

And Brown has the arm. In his first two collegiate starts, he’s passed for nine touchdowns and 575 yards without an interception. He’s promptly become the face of the franchise, albeit one that endured a 10-game losing streak last season and hadn’t won a home game in nearly two years.

“He’s the leader of our team,” said first-year head coach Tyler Haines. “He goes out there as a captain for us. He speaks at the coin toss. It’s becoming his football team. Every good program I’ve been involved with had a quarterback like that. If you don’t, you’re in for a long haul.”

Now for a twist. After the ’21 season, Brown wasn’t necessarily looking for Catawba — but Catawba found him, almost by chance.

“This is probably the most famous story,” he smiled. “I had a teammate at West Meck (defensive lineman Tyrell Reid). We played together on that 2019 team and he was already here. He told me to think about Catawba and the opportunity I’d have to succeed here. He said I’d fit right in. So I came, talked to the coaches and the rest is history. And that’s what makes it a crazy story. It’s like we’ve come full circle.”

Even crazier was the way he dissected Livingstone’s spongy defense. Brown took the Indians on eight touchdown drives, completed throws to seven different receivers and watched running backs Lee Bracey Jr., LJ Turner and Marquece Williams puncture the winless Blue Bears for 218 rushing yards. By game’s end, Catawba had 590 total yards and its first 50-point performance in five years.

“That’s ‘P’ for you,” cracked senior center Cameron Ivy-Young. “That’s my quarterback. He just stayed poised, stayed calm, didn’t give us anything to worry about. He’s definitely going to be our guy all season. As long as he has time to throw, he’s going to make his reads and hit his targets. For a guy who hadn’t played since high school, he’s already made himself a big part of this team.”

It’s a part that commanded attention after his debut last week at Elizabeth City State, where he threw for 203 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-23 win. “He actually took a big step from Week 1 to Week 2,” said Haines, a former offensive coordinator at Shepherd University in West Virginia. “I thought he missed some throws in Week 1. I don’t think he missed many today.”

Haines became enamored with Brown this past summer. While recovering from his injury, the 200-pound triggerman spent countless hours training, conditioning, studying and weight-lifting on campus. There was no off in his off-season.

“Preston never said he was going to make this happen,” Haines mentioned casually. “He showed us. In Division II, you usually have a bunch of guys who go home for the summer. But he was an older guy and he stuck around. He was the first one in the weight room and the last one to leave. He was there for 7-on-7s, which are player-led, and he was the one leading us. We needed that.”

It’s what jet fighters call SA — for situational awareness. Brown believes in himself, knows where he wants to take this team and is willing to prepare.

“It’s just more intent, more detail,” he noted. “If you don’t get the result you want, you go back to the drawing board and put in more time and more effort. Always, always prepare and the results will come.”

So far they have — and you don’t need a search light to see why.