College football: Indians win the last one
Published 11:44 am Sunday, November 12, 2023
- Catawba head coach Tyler Haines. Photo by Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Both teams finished 5-6, but the feeling as the 2023 South Atlantic Conference football season concluded couldn’t have been more different.
For Carson-Newman, there was disappointment with a sluggish Senior Day performance that included 160 spirit-crushing penalty yards against the home team.
For Catawba there was glee. After experiencing a 1-10 season and a 10-game losing streak, hearts were light and 5-6 felt like a championship.
Catawba (3-6 in the league) took another step forward under first-year coach Tyler Haines, as the Indians took charge early at Burke-Tarr Stadium in front of 1,859 dismayed fans and thumped the Eagles 24-14. Catawba hadn’t won a SAC road game since 2017 and Carson-Newman (4-5 in the league) hadn’t lost on Senior Day since 2018, but both things happened simultaneously.
Besides Catawba’s massive advantage in penalty yards (160 to 47), the most important stats were third-down conversions. Catawba was 9-for-14, a rate that will win championships, while the Eagles were a shaky 4-for-12. Catawba’s defense was getting off the field quickly and frequently.
Catawba’s Preston Brown turned in a solid season and was good again, throwing for an efficient 198 yards with no picks, but it was Catawba’s running game that did the most significant damage. Catawba had long, clock-chewing drives and possessed the ball for almost two-thirds of the game.
LJ Turner was a key to victory. He rushed 24 times for 117 yards and he also caught Brown’s lone TD pass. Bo Pryor closed a super season with five catches for 79 yards.
Catawba ran the ball a whopping 47 times for 183 yards. Carson-Newman QB Zane Whitson threw for 234 yards, but the Eagles had only 80 rushing yards.
The Indians set the tone on offense the first time they had the ball, with a six-minute, 80-yard drive. Marquece Williams got the touchdown from the 1.
Carson-Newman was looking at a short field after a shanked punt, but got no points after having first-and-goal at the Catawba 3. That backs-to-the-wall stop by the Indians early in the second quarter was a pivotal moment. Christian Campbell and Juice Martin made the tackle on fourth down.
When Catawba lost a fumble — the game’s only turnover — Carson-Newman had another golden chance to score. The Indians stopped the Eagles again.
