That David Bennett ... what a nice guy.

He found out that North Greenville College, an NAIA school in Greenville, S.C., was bound and determined to be the next member of the South Atlantic Conference. He found out the Mounties were scheduling as many SAC teams as possible, just like Tusculum did a few years ago.

What North Greenville didn’t know at the time was that when the playing date arrived (today at 2 p.m. in Shuford Stadium) Bennett would be coaching the fourth-ranked Division IIteam in the nation — with an ironclad defense full of guys who would tackle their mother on the one-yard line if it meant recording another shutout — even if the alternative was a sound whipping from Mama.

What we have here today ladies and gentlemen, — on paper — is a mismatch.

Catawba, coming off an open date, is 6-0, is well-rested and growling about getting back on the field.

North Greenville, alas, is 0-6 and has been outscored 177-55.

But the fact remains, as Bennett is always quick to point out, upsets happen at the craziest times. He has repeated it so many times in the past two weeks that fans should expect Catawba to come out fired up.

“It doesn’t matter who we play or what their record is,” said All-American guard Don Moore.

There will be other incentives as well. The offense, which averaged 45 points in the first three games, hasn’t scored over 30 in the past three. An even bigger incentive is that this team can be the first in Catawba history to go 7-0.

“It will be good to get back out there and play,” said Bennett. “We certainly missed that Game Day.”

North Greenville hasn’t run the ball very well (leading rusher Jerry Willoughby has just 264 yards) and considering Catawba’s defense is among the nation’s best against the run, watch for quarterback Corcy Fountain to put it up. He has averaged 147 yards in the air.

But it is Homecoming — Bennett calls it Reunion Week because he hates the “H” word — and there will be emotion all around.

“With a week off and time to re-evaluate what we’re doing, we need to come out and play like we can in front of a big crowd,” Bennett said.

n

The winless Livingstone Blue Bears hope this is the weekend they get their first victory of the season.

Livingstone, which has lost seven straight games, hosts Elizabeth City State (1-6) in a CIAA contest at 6 p.m. Saturday at Alumni Field.

Coach Greg Richardson’s club is in last place in the CIAA’s Western Division with an 0-5 record. Likewise, Elizabeth City is last in the Eastern Division at 1-4.

“They are a team also that has struggled a little bit,” says Richardson about Elizabeth City. “They’ve won one game. Offensively, they are troublesome to us, because they are very versatile in their offense. Their quarterback (John McCoy) is a really fine athlete who can throw the football. They have a real fine running back (Rayshawn Askew). They’re kind of like us: They’ve been shooting themselves in the foot. The thing that alarms us is that they’ve been able to score. So we’re concerned about their offense.”

Elizabeth City is seventh in the nine-team CIAA in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game, while Livingstone is last at 7.3.

Richardson knows that with North Carolina Central and Benedict left on the schedule, this may be the young Bears’ best chance to get a win.

“The last few games, we’ve had a better-than-even chance of winning the game. I feel the same way about this game. We have a really great chance of winning the football game. They’re not going to give it to us. We’re going to have to do what we’re supposed to do in terms of executing our offense, defense and special teams. If we do those things, we tell them every week, we will come out on top,” said the Livingstone coach.

n

The schedule of games and times for the SAC and CIAA are in the Scoreboard on page 2B.

n

Ronnie Gallagher and Steve Hanf will cover the Catawba-North Greenville game for the Post. Ed Dupree, who contributed to this article, will cover the Livingstone-Elizabeth City game.