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Looking at film of Catawba’s defense in preparation for the Division II South Regional championship game, Delta State head coach Steve Campbell wondered how the heck his team was even going to make a first down.
But when they had to, Campbell’s Statesmen made a statement, slogging out four consecutive chain-chews on miserable, muddy Kirkland Field against theIndians’ mighty defense. Delta stripped the final 6 minutes, 37 seconds off the Shuford Stadium clock, beat Catawba 20-14 and ended the Tribe’s sensational season.
Catawba, which had gotten an amazing, on-the-run punt from Brian Roberson which rolled dead at the Delta 14, seemed poised to pull out its fifth heart-stopping win in as many weeks when its defense trotted onto the field looking for one final stop. But Delta’s 6-foot-5 quarterback Josh Bright and bowling ball fullback Rico McDonald, who combined for 316 of the Statesmen’s 339 rushing yards, refused to be denied. Eleven punishing rushing plays after Roberson’s punt, Catawba’s timeouts were exhausted; Mitch Ellis and his offensive mates were still watching helplessly from the sidelines; the Statesmen were still clinging to the ball like it was their last dollar; and a drenched, disappointed and deflated crowd was drifting toward the exits.
Campbell faced one of the day’s toughest decisions at the tail end of that epic, mud-caked drive, with the clock nearing a minute left and his team staring at fourth-and-3 at the Catawba 39.
“We went back and forth on it,” said Campbell. “You punt it to the end zone and you only gain 20 yards. We decided to go for it.”
Campbell was rewarded. A pitch to slotback Tanny Flowers, who had carried just once on the soupy day, netted the clinching first down.
The Indians, who had 20 seniors suit up for the final time, finished 11-1.
Delta (12-1) lives to see another dawn and advances to play North Dakota State, a 43-21 winner over Nebraska-Omaha, in the national semifinals next Saturday.
Rain pelted Kirkland prior to and during the game, transforming the field into a playground fit for ducks, alligators, pigs — and Statesmen.
“It was the fourth week in a row we’ve played in bad weather,” shrugged McDonald, who served up a million moves even with a bad ankle “Nothing was going to stop me from getting out on the field.”
McDonald mudded like a rain-deer, blasting and bulling for his eighth 100-yard day of the campaign.The kid from Ripley, Ms., set sail for a half-dozen believe-it-or-not runs.
Catawba, on the other hand, had zero experience in conditions that would have easily floated Noah’s ark. The biggest impact of the rain was on Ellis and the Tribe’s powerful passing game, which had air-mailed West Georgia (also from Delta’s Gulf South Conference) right out of the playoffs the previous week.
Ellis threw only an unlucky 13 times. He completed just four for 47 yards. Catawba, which ripped off 380 passing yards last week, simply could not throw downfield. Ellis couldn’t grip the ball and his receivers couldn’t change direction to get open or to adjust to balls in flight. And without Ellis’ right arm, the Indians were fish out of water.
“Our pinpoint passing game was down to throwing it and just having a chance,” said Bennett.
A couple of times the Tribe came close to making big plays. But a surprise pass to start the second half oozed out of the hands of Nick Means. Another, in the corner of the end zone, evaded a leaping Kevin Millwood.
Obviously, the weather didn’t help Delta’s aerial game, either. Bright has nice passing numbers this season. Saturday, he had one completion — for minus three yards. But Delta, an option team, had offensive options. Namely the churning legs of Bright (how ironic that a kid named Bright was the shining star on a gloomy day) and McDonald.
It was an uphill battle up a slippery slope for the Tribe. Delta scored first on its second possession, powering 90 yards in six plays. Three rushing plays in that drive produced more than 20 yards. McDonald made it 7-0 when he scored from 32 yards out.
“That was so huge,” said Campbell. “No one had scored a touchdown all year on Catawba in the first quarter. That gave us confidence.”
With its passing game waterlogged, Catawba turned to rusher Kevin McKenzie, who went over 1,000 yards for the season, to stay afloat. Last week, Catawba had negative rushing yards, but this time, Bennett got results from his ground-hogs. They pushed 17 yards to paydirt after Jamel Jackson intercepted Bright. Fullback Joe Hilliard got the TD, bouncing across the lily pads that had taken root on Shuford Pond and following Demetrus Hopper into the end zone.
Unfortunately, Catawba’s kicking game was another casualty of the downpour. Kicker Matt Gross had to change his steps to maneuver in the muck and missed his PAT attempt. Delta still led 7-6.
Then Delta flew right back on a 62-yard drive for a 13-6 lead. Bright finished from the 5, standing up.
“Bright is a tough cat — a winner, just like our quarterback,” praised Bennett.
The Tribe tried to answer, but had a field goal blocked and still trailed by seven at the half.
Delta’s first possession of the second half was all Bright. Campbell had spotted a soft spot in the Tribe “D” and Bright cut up inside six times for 62 yards on a Delta push that made it 20-6 with 5:08 left in the third quarter. That score placed the Indians squarely against the ropes.
But the Tribe adjusted nicely on defense, bringing in an additional linebacker (usually South Rowan’s Jason Cross). Still. Catawba couldn’t change the scoreboard — at least until LeQuan Talley got a running start, timed his move perfectly and catapulted into the Delta backfield to block a punt and recover it in the end zone for an electrifying TD with 3:52 left in the third quarter.
“With the scheme we used they couldn’t tell we were coming,” said Talley.
A two-point conversion pass from Ellis to SeanPearson made it 20-14. Catawba looked confident; Delta looked concerned.
“Very much concerned,” said Campbell. “That got their crowd, which we had pretty much taken out of the game, right back in it. And we knew Catawba had won a lot of its games when things liked blocked punts got them going.”
Delta followed with perhaps its shakiest possession of the season. Three plays lost seven yards. The Tribe had all the momentum when it took possession at its own 45 in the dying seconds of the third quarter. But Ellis was sacked on third down and Catawba had to punt.
Two more times, Catawba’s defense, led by Shawn Sanders’ 16 tackles, halted the visitors from Mississippi and handed the ball back to the offense. But the Indian offense stayed bogged down.
Catawba started what would prove to be its final drive of the season with 8:52 left. A 19-yard run by Tony Hawkins gave the Indians a first down at the Delta 44. But a first-down incompletion and a 4-yard run by Hawkins brought up third-and-6 at the 40. That’s when Bennett turned to Hawkins again. Hawkins was buried for no gain.
On fourth down, Roberson kicked it away, hoping to pin the Statesmen deep. Roberson did just that, but then Bright and McDonald came back to life. They punched the clock and the yards until they brought the curtain down on a Catawba season that had been brilliant sunshine ever since Sept. 2, but finally ended in a torrent of rain — and tears.
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NOTES: McDonald’s 186 yards and Delta State’s 339 yards were the most by an individual and a team against the Indians this year. ... McKenzie went over 1,000 yards but it was not a Catawba record. Only regular season stats count so Greg Singleton’s 1,0001 mark is safe. ... DeVonte Peterson, the preseason All-American missed his second straight game with a fractured foot. But he has been invited to the Cactus Bowl, an all-star game for Division IIplayers. ... Catawba’s 14-game home winning streak ended. ... Bennett’s record in six years at Catawba is 52-15.
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