David Bennett found out what it’s like to be the coach of a nationally prominent football team this morning.

Bennett pulled up to Noah’s Ark Daycare to drop off son Jeb around 7:15 a.m. Nothing odd about that. That’s Bennett’s job every day.

But this time, as soon as Bennett stepped out of his car, he found a reporter sticking a tape recorder in his face.

That’s the way it goes when you coach a 10-0 team that is the No. 1 seed in the South Region.

“We’re playing West Georgia,” he chirped, already knowing the question. “We have to get ready to play probably the best overall football team we’ve faced.”

By virtue of its pulsating, come-from-behind 19-14 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne, Catawba is the South Region’s top seed and will host the 10-1 Braves at 1 p.m. in Shuford Stadium Saturday.

There are 16 teams vying for the Division IInational championship and only three of them are undefeated.

One is located in Salisbury.

And Catawba is the No. 1 seed in perhaps the toughest region in the nation. Valdosta State and Delta State are also 10-1. For the record, that’s a combined 40-3. The Midwest region, which includes two-time defending champion and No. 1 team in the nation Northwest Missouri State, is also 40-3.

West Georgia lost is first game of the season Saturday, 42-35 to Valdosta State. After spending most of the season as the No. 2 seed, the Braves dropped to fourth.

West Georgia is one of three Gulf South Conference teams representing the South Region. Had West Georgia beaten Valdosta State, Catawba’s fellow South Atlantic Conference foe Presbyterian would have gotten in.

“It’s a strong region,” understated Bennett, who watched film of Glenn Spencer’s team Sunday night with his assistants.

Catawba’s win Saturday in the regular-season finale came with a huge price. All-American defensive lineman DeVonte Peterson has a small fracture in the fibula of his left leg, the non-weight-bearing bone. Doctors speculate that he’s out for three weeks. If he wants to play again, his teammates must win three straight and make the national finals on Dec. 2 in Florence, Ala.

West Georgia is located in Carrollton, Ga., and has 8,300 students, compared to Catawba’s 1,300. Bennett is expecting an overflow crowd at Catawba Saturday — and more than one tape recorder stuck in his face.