Staff report
For the second straight Saturday, both Catawba and Livingstone will be at home today.
At 1 p.m., Livingstone and Johnson C. Smith will continue the longest black college football rivalry in history in the annual Commemorative Classic.
Thirty minutes later, Catawba will try to bounce back from its first loss of the season by playing host to Newberry. It’s Homecoming.
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Catawba coach Chip Hester’s team has worked hard all week to get past a 14-12 loss to Mars Hill, a defeat he called, “one of the more frustrating losses we’ve had to endure.”
Now, Newberry (2-2) brings in a very athletic team and the Indians must avoid distractions.
“A lot of people are coming and there are a lot of activities on campus,” Hester said. “Our focus has to be on football.”
All eyes on defense should be focused on Newberry’s talented senior quarterback Brandon Gantt.
“He’s going to be the best athlete we’ve seen thus far,” Hester said. “They have the biggest receivers we’ll see. They’re big and fast.”
Neither team can afford another loss.
“This is a big weekend for us,” Hester said. “Newberry’s another team who’s back is against the wall. We’ve got our hands full, no doubt about it.”
Last week’s loss has Catawba (3-1) ready to get back on the field.
“I think our guys are pretty frustrated,” Hester said. “They’re mad and I hope they play like it (today).”
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Livingstone and Johnson C. Smith first played 117 years ago. The two have met on the field 61 times.
The Blue Bears are still looking for their first win after four losses. Last week was the closest Livingstone came to winning, dropping a 10-0 verdict to Lincoln.
The Golden Bulls enter with a 2-3 record after a 24-20 win against St. Paul’s last week.
Both defenses have struggled. Livingstone is giving up a whopping 323 yards rushing. J.C. Smith is giving up 33 points per contest.
Expect interim coach Eric Brown to continue to take advantage of the Steven Williams-to-Christopher Peoples combination. Last week, Peoples had eight catches for 132 yards.
Williams is close to breaking two school records. He has 690 attempts, six off the mark, and has 309 completions, 33 from that mark.
Returning to Alumni Stadium is Golden Bulls’ assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Greg Richardson, who was the head coach at Livingstone for three seasons.
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NOTES: Catawba will be broadcast on WSAT 1280 AM. … Livingstone can be heard on 93.3 WOGR FM.