|
MARSHILL— Catawba College traveled to the mountains Saturday afternoon and played a very curious football game with the Lions of Mars Hill.
How curious? It was one of those games where if you least expected it, it was bound to happen.
Expect Catawba, which is next to last in the South Atlantic Conference in net punting, to get off a 74-yard kick? No. But it happened.
Expect Mars Hill to convert a first-and-48 situation? No. But it happened.
Expect Mars Hill to drive near the Catawba end zone three times in second half only to have interceptions thwart each opportunity? No. But it happened.
Expect Mars Hill to rush for 277 yards against the fourth-ranked defense in the country against the run? No. But it happened.
Expect Mars Hill, ranked last in the SAC in passing (97 yards per game), to outgain Catawba 197-177? No. But it happened.
The only thing that was expected was who won the game. In a year where the Indians seem to be walking on water, Catawba won its ninth straight game of the season 24-13.
How did it happen? Big-time teams make big-time plays. And David Bennett’s defense did just that throughout the second half when his offense was so listless it brought back memories of a Dick Crum press conference.
The third-ranked team in the country was anything but content afterward.
“We still won the game,” said linebacker Shawn Sanders, “but I’m not satisfied. I’m sure the whole defense isn’t satisfied.”
It was up to the defense to save this game once the fourth quarter began. Quarterback Mitch Ellis was on the sidelines with a towel over his head, out for the game with a sprained left knee.
Ellis had helped stake Catawba to a 24-7 lead after three quarters and the game appeared in the bag. It wasn’t.
“When we went up 24-7, our kids thought the ballgame was over,” said Bennett, who, in his sixth year, won the 50th game of his career. “Give Mars Hill credit. They never quit.”
Both Ellis and Bennett had to hold their breath during a second half dominated yardage-wise and time-wise by Tim Clifton’s gutsy Lions.
“We whipped ‘em,” said Clifton, who was one exasperated coach after watching his team flagged 13 times for a whopping 159 yards. “But there were some questionable things. There was a penalty on every play.”
Most of them came in what may go down as the wackiest fourth quarter in SAC history.
Mars Hill (5-4, 3-3) started the final 15 minutes by watching the league’s leading rusher Tarrance Stokes (191 yards rushing on 33 carries) race in for a 29-yard score. But holding was called. An incensed Clifton argued a bit too vehemently and was flagged for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. It threw the Lions into a first-and-48.
Which, of course, they made on quarterback Carlos Gatlin’s 10-yard run and 43-yard pass completion to Tennyson Rucker. It led to Stokes’ touchdown with 14:14 left, cutting the lead to 24-13.
Catawba punted and Mars Hill marched to the 21 before Anthony Spencer made a lunging pick on the Catawba eight. He joined freshman Jermonte Battle and senior Dyran Peake, whose interceptions came on Mars Hill’s first two drives of the second half when the Lions drove deep into Catawba-land.
But Spencer’s play went for naught. Kevin McKenzie fumbled it right back with eight minutes left.
This is where the fun started. Gatlin, a 5-10 sophomore who gave Catawba fits with his quickness, scored on fourth-and-goal from the five. But it didn’t count. The refs called aiding the runner.
If Clifton was wide-eyed on that one, the next play had him going nuts. A Gatlin pass fell incomplete but the Indians were flagged for an illegal hit.
Another chance for Mars Hill? Nope. The penalty came after the play. Catawba took over.
“We got the scores,” exclaimed Clifton. “But when two are called back, I don’t know what else to do.”
The Lions got the ball one more time but David Huey and Radell Lockhart recorded sacks to mercifully end things.
“That’s what the defense is for when the offense isn’t clicking,” said linebacker Shawn McBride. “Because we’re the No. 1 defense in the country (actually fifth in total defense), we have to tighten up once you get down in our territory.”
The frantic finish made many of the fans forget Ellis’ performance in the first half. He hit Cedric Squirewell for a 46-yard score and Ryan Millwood with a 12-yarder to up the lead to 17-7 at the half. When fullback Joe Hilliard pulled and tugged his way in from 18 yards out in the third, it was a seemingly-commanding 17-point cushion.
Bennett said the Indians didn’t have a letdown after the 13-10 win over Carson-Newman last week.
“We just didn’t have that wild adrenaline and intensity we needed,” he said. “And when we got it going, there was always something — a holding penalty here, a turnover there, a late hit here. We’d get the fire going and put it out ourselves.”
Mars Hill kept the ball for over 10 minutes in the fourth period and 18 of 30 for the half, mainly on the play of Gatlin, who kept the Indians off-balanced with his scrambling.
“He was quicker than a hiccup,” Bennett said.
“He’s a little jitterbug,” added Peake. “But we have a lot of pride. When he’d get them close, we’d bow our backs.”
Bennett couldn’t praise Mars Hill enough but that did little for Clifton’s frame of mind.
“We came out to win the football game,” he said. “We didn’t come out to play close. Itold (the players) that everybody knows who won the football game (on the field). They won it on the scoreboard.”
As soon as the game had ended, Bennett was already thinking of next week at arch-rival Lenoir-Rhyne.
“They’ll be more fired up for us than Mars Hill,” he said.
Don’t expect anything less.
n
NOTES: McKenzie finished with 114 yards rushing and needs 69 to hit 1,000. ... Matt Gross started the scoring on Catawba’s first series with a 42-yard field goal. ... Danny Jenkins did not set a record with his long punt. The record is 75. ... Jenkins did average 45.5 yards on six punts. ... Catawba’s top three tacklers were defensive backs: Peake (14), Corey Reese (10) and Battle (8). ... Catawba leads the series with Mars Hill 20-19. ... The game at Lenoir-Rhyne is set for 2 p.m.
|
Today's News