By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY —  Evaluating Catawba football during the preseason, Catawba head coach Tyler Haines discussed overall improvement related to having more depth and more talent at most positions.

But he admitted that getting more wins than last year’s five depended on a guy who already was good taking the next step.

That guy is quarterback Preston Brown, and Brown took that step Haines was looking for last Saturday.

Brown wasn’t just pretty good; he was about as good it gets.

In an exciting 37-28 win at Shaw, Brown was 24-for-29 for 295 yards and flipped four touchdown passes to four different receivers, with no interceptions. An 83-percent completion rate, including a school-record 11 straight completions, will get you a South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Week Award, and Brown was a deserving recipient of that accolade.

So Catawba (1-1) hits the road to start South Atlantic Conference play this Saturday with a little more swagger, confident that it’s very good QB is on the verge of becoming an elite one.

That trip will be a long one to the mountains of southwestern Virginia to play the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. That’s a mouthful, so the name of the school is normally condensed to UVA Wise (no hyphen). Like the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, they are Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers have a new head coach that Catawba fans will remember with fondness, and they’ll be glad to start cheering for him shortly after Saturday’s game is in the record books.

Gary Bass started on rugged offensive lines for the Indians during good days at Shuford Stadium. During his playing days in Salisbury, Catawba won a lot, went to the playoffs often and competed for championships.

Bass, who started his coaching career as an East Rowan High assistant, has been coaching now for 17 years, including 14 in Division II. He got a chance at Missouri Southern State University. Then he had a long run at Quincy (Illinois) before he was hired by UVA Wise last December.

Bass got his first head-coaching win at UVA Wise (1-1) last Saturday when the Cavaliers manhandled Concord on the road, 28-0.

The UVA Wise defense forced three turnovers on the way to that shutout. The offense was led by a QB who enjoyed almost as good a day as Brown had for Catawba at Shaw. Jake Corcren was 27-for-39 for 276 yards and two TDs.

The part of that game that Bass, as a former offensive lineman, had to relish the most, was maintaining ball control and pounding the rock on the ground the final 10 minutes.

UVA Wise will be playing its first home game under Bass, a native of Marion, on Saturday. He is downplaying the amazing coincidence that it will be against Catawba, his college home, but it still will be an emotional experience for him watching the Indians charge on to Beaty-Richmond Field at Carl Smith Stadium.

UVA Wise beat Catawba in 2019 and 2021.

The Massey Ratings  favor Catawba to win this time by six points and give the Indians a 65 percent win probability.

It probably comes down to pass push, as both defenses look to disrupt passing games that were on a roll last week.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.