Mitch Ellis was mad. Frustrated. Confused. And bitter.

He had just thrown his third interception of the game. It was his fourth turnover. And the local kid from North Rowan High School had to come to grips with something he hadn’t experienced all season: failure.

Luckily, as Ellis admitted later, his teammates would not allow him to think that way. After all, this was the third-ranked team in the country and “failure” is nowhere to be found in its vocabulary.

The game, they all reminded Ellis, was still 10-10.

After the last pick, he jerked away from one teammate and steamed past another.

“I was down,” said Ellis. “But my teammates picked me back up.”

First, All-American guard Don Moore came over. When a 6-foot-3, 305-pound guy talks, you better listen. Ellis did.

“We support and care to the end and that’s why we’re a team,” he said.

“Everybody picks everybody else up,” Moore said. “If I miss a block, or if a receiver drops a ball or if a running back fumbles, we’re going to do that.”

Offensive coordinator Jamie Snider saw Ellis fuming and headed straight for his QB.

“I said, ‘Look, you can’t take it back. Take the next snap and here we go.’”

Of course, Carson-Newman, the fifth-ranked team in the nation, had a say in Ellis’ off day. Chris Butler and Montrae Ford are two of the best defensive backs in Division II football and each had an interception.

Ellis had his moments, too. He once hit Ryan Millwood, who made a twisting, leaping grab. He hit Nick Means and Cedric Squirewell for first downs. But it just wasn’t his day. He was 4-of-14 in the first half and 9-of-23 for the game.

However, each time an errant throw was snatched out of the air by Carson-Newman, the defense rose up to give him and the offense the ball back.

With 13 minutes left, Catawba appeared ready to win the game. It was inside the 25 when Ellis threw the ball into the end zone. End of drive, courtesy of Butler.

On the next possession, another interception.

“It was three bad reads,” said Ellis. “They made great plays on the ball.”

What hurt Ellis was how much he had prepared for this game.

“Icouldn’t go to sleep last night,” he said. “It was like the first day of school.

“I didn’t have to do anything until 9:30 but I was up at 8 watching TV.”

It was probably the words of coach David Bennett that put things in perspective for Ellis.

“I saw Mitch had his head down and I said, ‘We’re going to get another chance,’” Bennett said. “I told him, ‘You can’t get down. You’re our quarterback. You’re our leader. We’re going to win this ballgame.You gotta believe the whole way.”

And then, Carson-Newman muffed a snap on a punt and Ellis was back on the field. A new man. He handed off twice and watched Matt Gross win the game with a field goal.

“When they muffed the punt, it was like it was meant to be,” grinned Ellis.

And when the game was over? Fans were congratulating their star quarterback.

Three interceptions and a fumble?

Who remembers trivial things like that when you win?