“Just like practice!”

David Bennett grabbed his kicker, Matt Gross, and repeated those words.

“Just like practice!”

Bennett was shouting because it was difficult to hear with almost 6,000 fans crammed into 4,000-seat Shuford Stadium, a place that had suddenly become louder than an AC/DC concert.

The Carson-Newman punter had just muffed a snap and now, there were four nerve-wracking seconds left in Saturday’s Division IInational showdown between the college football powers of Carson-Newman and Catawba. Four seconds for Gross to exorcise all of the Carson-Newman demons.

Bennett had waited until four little ol’ ticks were showing on the clock and had called time out. The score was 10-10. It was all on Gross’ shoulders now. He knew it.

And Matt Gross couldn’t wait.

“Coach, give me this kick,” the junior from Hendersonville begged. “Iwant it so bad.”

“They’ve got two timeouts,” Bennett told him. “They’re going to burn both of them. Just relax.

“Just like practice.”

Matt Gross seldom misses in practice. He didn’t miss this time.

A juiced-up Gross sent a cannon shot through the goal posts and a cannon shot exploded throughout Salisbury.

Catawba had won 13-10.

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Gross remembers lying in bed crying. Hurting. Wanting it to be different.

But when he missed a 45-yard field goal in a second-round, 28-25 Division IIplayoff loss to Carson-Newman in 1999, he realized the worst football season of his life had mercifully ended.

“There were nights I cried myself to sleep after that miserable loss thinking about the pressure I put on myself,” he sighed.

Bennett called it the sophomore jinx.

“You’ve got to remember, as a freshman, Matt was 16-of-20 field goals and was third-team All-American,” Bennett said. “He set his expectations too high last year.”

“After my freshman year, I was thinking I was all that,” Gross said.“I wasn’t humble about a lot of things.”

That is, until his sophomore season humbled him.

So he worked. All summer, he worked. He realized that it did no good to throw your helmet when the ball didn’t go through the uprights. It did no good to pout.

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When he went in to try a 49-yard field goal in the first half, Catawba had never needed points more.

The offense had looked very shaky. Meanwhile, Carson-Newman’s offense was chewing up yardage at its usual 400-per-game pace and was already up 7-0.

Dyran Peake, a senior safety, said he was near Corey Reese, a cornerback, when Carson-Newman wide receiver Zach Keys began taunting the Indians.

“When they first scored, I heard No. 18 say, ‘Get it through your head. You can’t beat us.’”

It didn’t even appear Catawba could score — until Gross lined up the field goal. Donnie Vernon zipped back his usual perfect snap, Danny Jenkins put it on the tee and Gross swung that right foot.

This isn’t last year, remember. The ball sailed through cleanly, setting off a fist-pumping Gross.

“Let me tell you something about that kick,” said Bennett. “That was into the wind.”

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Catawba went into halftime down 10-3. Things didn’t look good. The offense had come out passing and it hadn’t worked. Carson-Newman ran its veer for 200 yards.

The offense and defense had to regroup like they never had before.

Defensively, the front line was aching.

“I’m putting (David)Huey’s fingers in. They’re all crooked,” said assistant Jim Tomsula. “(Radell) Lockhart is cramping up. Devonte (Peterson) has a big knot on his back. But they’re not stopping.”

The defense has spent most of the first half on the field and needed a break. So offensive coordinator Jamie Snider decided to give the ball to Kevin McKenzie.

“I knew I could get 10, 15-yards a carry, know what I’m saying?” asked McKenzie.

“The game plan was to pass a lot and get them tired and then run it,” Snider said. “But we had bad field position so we played conservatively. But if you look at the first quarter and the rest of the game, it was different.”

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McKenzie (149 yards rushing) gave Bennett exactly what he expected when the coach went to a Mississippi all-star game two years ago to find a jitterbugging tailback.

“‘Big Game’ has always been my motto,” said the guy they call Smiley. “When I play against better talent, I get an adrenaline rush.”

“We love to see him get out there dancing,” said All-American guard Don Moore.

No one loved it more than Tomsula. His defensive line got to rest.

“Snider goes out there and keeps the ball and there’s 8:05 left in the third quarter when the defense comes back,” Tomsula said of the scoring drive that tied the game at 10. “So let’s talk about the offensive line. They get a game ball.”

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Bennett smiled at how everything turned out perfect.

“At halftime, we said, we’re not going to let them score again and we’re going to score twice and win the ballgame,” he said. “It came true.”

Carson-Newman managed a meager 23 yards of offense in the final 30 minutes. Defensive coordinator Richard Kent made the proper adjustments. Suddenly, Shawn Sanders and his teammates were pounding the veer into submission.

“I’m an offensive coach,” said Snider. “But defense wins games. It did today.”

“The way our defense played in the second half was beautiful,” Bennett said.

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You have to hand it to Bennett, who was as cool as the center seed of a cucumber throughout a week of hearing nothing but Carson-Newman, Carson-Newman and more Carson-Newman.

“You can’t let it consume your life,” he said.

And therein lies the secret of Matt Gross’ rejuvenation. He had allowed last season to consume his life.

“But I had a feeling this week that it was going to come down to me,” said Gross. “I knew it was going to happen.”

Especially when the muffed snap on the punt gave Catawba the ball with 1:18 left.

“I was like, ‘Gosh, we’re going to win this game in regulation,’” said Bennett.

Gross knew it, too. “I thought all week about this game and the impact I could have,” he said.

Impact? Ever wonder what 6,000 fans do when a winning field goal beats a team with an unprecedented history?

“It was pandemonium,” Gross laughed. “It was crazy.”

And Gross said all of this calmly. He wore the look of a player who was completely confident in his abilities.

“Matt Gross has grown up,” said Bennett, smiling like a proud father. “He has become a man.”

Not just a man, Coach.

Saturday afternoon, your kicker was the main man.

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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports editor of the Post.