Staff report

SALISBURY — Catawba’s football team played a turnover-free game, had only 35 yards in penalties and scored a pair of defensive touchdowns off Tusculum turnovers.

That proved to be a winning formula, and the Indians stopped a five-game skid by pounding the Pioneers 47-15 on Saturday night at Shuford Stadium.

The win should give the Indians, who endured a snake-bit season, a little momentum going into the recruiting battles ahead, and the seniors were able to go out with a feel-good victory.

Deno Wardlow’s interception return for a touchdown three minutes before halftime was the key play of the game. Catawba led 13-7 at the time, but that 44-yard pick-six provided the Indians with a 20-7 halftime cushion.

The clinching TD came early in the fourth quarter. After Tusculum had made it a 26-15 game, Masn Fortune threw a TD pass to Duece Linder to give the Indians (3-8, 2-6) a three-score lead over the Pioneers (1-9, 1-7).

Catawba didn’t need to throw often, but Fortune had an efficient effort with two TD passes — his first one went to Joshua Grant — and no interceptions.

Marquece Williams rolled for 150 rushing yards on 20 carries for the Indians, while Kevon Rivera had 106 yards on 16 attempts. Both backs found the end zone once. Williams opened the scoring with a 35-yard run. Rivera finished it with a 12-yard jaunt late in the contest.

Catawba’s second defensive TD came on a fourth-quarter fumble return by Rickey Jones.

Wade Robins (Salisbury) kicked two field goals to push Catawba’s early lead from 7-0 to 13-0.

Evan Simons and Jaylen Hinton forced fumbles to close stellar individual seasons.