David Bennett walked out onto Shuford Stadium’s Kirkland Field Monday. It was sunny. It was also 60 degrees.
And thoughts of Delta State’s 20-14 win in a mudbath Saturday afternoon immediately came to mind.
“I looked out there and thought, ‘Let’s play it today,’” he said.
There was nothing Bennett could do, of course. Saturday’s second round of the Division IIplayoffs was played in a rain that was steady. The night before the rain was torrential.
And for that fact, Catawba’s passing game was null and void.
“Both teams had to play in it,” Bennett lamented, “but it was more suited to their style.”
Thus ended the greatest season in Catawba history at 11-1.
And Bennett knew as soon as he hit the office Monday, he needed to just move on.
And answer some questions:
Salisbury Post: What else can you say about your senior class?
Bennett: “That group will be successful in life. They don’t put themselves first. They’re mature in their priorities.”
Post: Speaking of seniors, you lose Mitch Ellis. What about your quarterback situation?
Bennett: “I’m excited about our quarterbacks. (Backup) Scott Sensing is coming back for his senior season. We have two redshirt freshmen, Antwain Hillary and Luke Samples. Hillary was all-state in South Carolina and Samples was all-state in North Carolina. So they’ll compete.”
Post: How about your pro prospects DeVonte Peterson and Radell Lockhart, both defensive ends?
Bennett:“Both are going to the Cactus Bowl, an all-star game for Division IIplayers. “DeVonte is hurt right now (fractured leg) but he should get out of his cast in the next few days. DeVonte will play again, just not in a Catawba uniform.”
Post: What are you looking for with recruiting?
Bennett: “Losing 20 seniors is a lot. We need to find a defensive end to take the place of Radell and DeVonte. We need a fullback. And you always sign a cornerback and an offensive lineman.”
Post: Even though you lost many veterans, don’t you think there is still a lot of talent here?
Bennett: “On the offensive line, we still have Joe Nixon, Demtreus Hopper and Cole Bean. Our tight end, Mark Sintich is back.
“We’ll return all of our receivers except Ryan Millwood and we get O.J. Lennon back (after academic trouble).
“On defense, we’ll still have David Huey, Richard Scott, James McDowell, Shawn Sanders, Todd McComb ... we have some good people coming back. But we did lose Jason Cross at linebacker and three very good safeties in Dyran Peake, Courtney Boler and Anthony Spencer.”
Post: You didn’t mention your offensive backfield, which loses Kevin McKenzie and Joe Hilliard. But you let Tony Hawkins (6-2, 230-pound tailback) see some action against Delta State. Is he the future?
Bennett: “We have confidence in Tony. He did a real nice job.
“Tony has already been in here (Monday) all excited. It was good to see somebody bounce back like that instead of moping around.”
Post: What did you tell your team in the last meeting?
Bennett: “We told them we’re mighty proud of them. But when it’s all said and done, look back at how you were the first team to win the first outright conference championship, having an undefeated regular season and winning 22 games in two years.”
Post: People think with the winning here that you’re in big demand. Have you gotten any other coaching offers?
Bennett: “We’ve had one call from an interested alumni of another school. But we love Salisbury. We love Catawba. We just wish we could’ve made Catawba even more prominent across the United States by continuing on and winning the national championship.”
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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports editor of the Post.
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