Livingstone’s biggest name — running back Carl Jones — did not play
Saturday against Catawba.
That was a surprise to many,
because the speedy Jones had been by far the most vocal Bear during the week of
hoopla leading up to the contest.
Jones dressed Saturday in his
familiar No. 6, but an ankle injury prevented him from taking the field.
“It was hard not to be out
there with my teammates,” said Jones. “I don’t want anyone to think I was
a cop-out. I’m not putting myself up there, but I think if I had played I
could have opened up some things for the rest.”
Jones explained that his injury
occurred during a recent scrimmage.
“I was running and then I
stopped on a dime and a defender went by me,” Jones explained. “But then he
reached back and got my leg. It was a freak injury.”
Jones said he hasn’t heard for
certain yet, but hopes to be cleared to return to the lineup when the Bears open
CIAA play at Virginia Union in two weeks.
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HOPPY DAYS: Livingstone
quarterback D’Andre Hopper said that the Bears certainly missed the threat of
Jones’ speed, but that the huge gap in line play between the squads was a much
more critical factor.
“Catawba has veterans up front
and we had a lot of young guys playing, plus a lot of other guys who weren’t
here,” said Hopper. “I thought (Catawba’s) DeVonte Peterson was the man
out there.”
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KICKING IT: Livingstone struggled
with the kicking game at times last season, but coach Greg Richardson said he
expects improvement this year.
He got just that from Hopper
Saturday. Hopper was busy, punting the ball away nine times for a 41.4 average.
He had one 62-yarder that bounced past Catawba return man Cedric Squirewell and
rolled forever.
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WHO ARE THESE GUYS? Freshman
linebacker Michael Ellis from Raleigh was an impressive force with 10 tackles,
many of them crunchers.
Richardson also liked the play of
5-foot-6, 180-pound freshman Ralph Walls of Winston-Salem.
“Walls hasn’t been here a lot
of days, but he played real well,” said Richardson. “Other than that, I’d
be hard-pressed to name many people who played well.”
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NO GAIN: Livingstone not only
played without Jones, it got very little from its other offensive standout,
Shannon Gainey, who was severely limited by a hamstring injury.
Gainey gained 26 yards in six
carries (18 came on one play) and didn’t catch a pass.
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HIGHLIGHTS: Bear receiver Mytrell
Foreman made a spectacular lunging catch. ... Linemen Kedion Carter and Scott
O’Brian accounted for the only sack of the day on Catawba QB Mitch Ellis when
they belted him simultaneously in the second quarter. ... Jesse Louis was in on
seven tackles.
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