Staff report

SALISBURY — From humble beginnings, Limestone has developed into one of the South Atlantic Conference’s top football programs.

Limestone (4-1, 3-0) will play Catawba at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Indians (2-3, 1-2) have been exciting and then some, as all three of their SAC games have been decided by a field goal or less.

It will be a challenge for the Indians, even with the home field and the home crowd, to maintain that level of excitement against Limestone. Catawba is a 14-point underdog, according to the Massey Ratings. Those Ratings project a 38-24 Limestone victory. But Catawba is seen as having a legitimate shot. The Indians have been granted a 22-percent chance of winning.

The feature act for Limestone is Dustin Noller, an old-school pocket quarterback, and the reigning South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He’s considered a top-5 QB in all of Division II.

Now a graduate student, Noller, who starred at Mallard Creek in Charlotte, has experienced an interesting career, with a partial COVID season, a partial season in which he was injured and two full seasons prior to this one. He’s thrown 79 touchdown passes, yes, 79.

Eighteen of his TD passes have come in Limestone’s five games this season. He’s thrown for over 8,000 yards.

Catawba will counter with running back LJ Turner, who is coming off a national player of the week effort. Turner’s 329 rushing yards and five TDs in the 44-41 overtime win against Anderson were the greatest rushing day in Catawba history. Obviously, Catawba’s offensive line also had a great day.

Turner, the SAC’s rushing leader, may battle Noller for SAC Player of the Year honors. So while they won’t be on the field at the same time, that will be a fun matchup of sorts.

The bad news for Catawba is that while the 44-41 win against Anderson was scintillating, Limestone won 52-5 at Anderson.

Comparative scores don’t mean everything, but they usually mean something. The Indians will have their work cut out.