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The Catawba notebook ...
Ask any of the players what they liked best about Catawba’s 49-0 football thrashing of Livingstone Saturday and they’ll point to the bleachers at Shuford Stadium.
An overflow crowd of 5,381 included the Catawba Crazies, as the student section likes to call itself.
“It’s great to see that following,” said David Bennett, who won his 42nd game in 56 tries as Catawba’s head coach. “I know it helps the players when the crowd gets into it. Our football team, running out on the field, looked more excited than I’ve seen them in my 11 years here.”
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NOCONTEST: And what the crowd saw was a complete wipeout of the Blue Bears, although Bennett defended Greg Richardson’s club.
“That score doesn’t indicate the type of club Livingstone has,” he said. “That type of mucky, muddy surface is not to Livingstone’s strength. They’re very fast. On a dry field, with Carl Jones (injured and didn’t play) and Shannon Gainey(who barely played due to injury), they’d be very good.
“But I’ll tell you this. They’re our neighbors and we wish them the best.”
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THEFOURTOPS: Catawba and Livingstone joined together before last week’s game to sing the national anthem.
Catawba was represented by Marcus Hicks and Nick Hopper while Livingstone was represented by Thaddeus Harris and Sonji Mason.
Somebody call Don Cornelius, quick. Soul Train needs to know about these voices.
“When those four guys practiced together on Sunday, it made the hairs on my arm stand up,” said Bennett. “It was great to see two teams come together like that.”
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RANKINGS: The American Football CoachesAssociation-USAToday Division II poll is out for the first week and Catawba is ranked seventh in the country, moving up two spots.
“All I care about are the regional rankings,” said Bennett.
The top four teams in each of the four regions make the 16-team national playoff field at the end of the season. But Bennett did admit it was nice getting Catawba’s name out there nationwide.
Northwest Missouri State, last year’s Division II champ, is ranked first with South Atlantic Conference neighbor Carson-Newman second.
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MR. OFFENSE: Mitch Ellis won Catawba’s offensive player of the week award. How good is the senior quarterback? He won it and hardly played.
In one half of action, the former North Rowan star passed for 215 yards on 10-of-15 passing.
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MR. DEFENSE: Radell Lockhart, a defensive end, won the defensive award after two sacks, two tackles for losses and five overall stops.
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ASPECIALTEAM: The coaching staff had a more difficult time choosing the Special Teams Player of the Week.
“We watched film and saw Brian Roberson pinning Livingstone inside its own 20 four times and he also had a hangtime of 4.0 seconds. Matt Gross was perfect on all seven of his extra points. Danny Jenkins punted for a 38.5 average.
But Bennett ended up selecting Maurice Price, a sophomore from Charlotte. He made three tackles on kickoff returns.
“When a guy makes three tackles inside the 20, that’s busting your rump,” Bennett praised. “And the wedge was coming right at him.”
Before each kickoff, Price and his mates were seen dancing on the sidelines, led by assistant Carpaccio Owens, who did a lot of dancing as a defensive back here a couple of years ago.
“We dance to get our spirits up,” laughed Price, a 5-10, 175-pounder.
“Against Livingstone, we had to look for the reverse because they’re so fast but they brought the wedge at me. So the tackles were right there.”
“The special teams are the biggest part of the game,” said Lockhart, another Charlotte native. “They determine where the ball is when we go out there. I think our special teams are going to block a lot of punts this year. They’re real quick and they work hard.”
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GREATSCOTT: When you have Ellis for a QB, it’s easy to forget the backup. But Scott Sensing won’t let anybody forget him.
On the first pass of his career two years ago, he tossed a touchdown pass against West Virginia Wesleyan. Saturday, he fired a beautifully thrown spiral to Preston Lewis for a score against Livingstone.
Bennett remembers Ledford coach Dick Cline telling him time and again that Sensing could help Catawba. But as Bennett says, some kids come in ready to help right away.
“Others, as we say, don’t screw the light bulb in until later,” Bennett said. “Sensing has started screwing the light bulb in. The more reps he gets, the more confidence he gets.”
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THESAC: The South Atlantic Conference was 4-3 last week.
Newberry joined Catawba in recording a shutout but it wasn’t as impressive. The Indians nipped North Greenville 3-0. ... Carson Newman matched Catawba with 49 points but gave up 26 in a win over Arkansas Tech. Quarterback Leonard Guyton ran for three scores and was named SAC Offensive Player of the Week. ... Lenoir-Rhyne topped Division I-AAopponent Jacksonville State 24-14. ... Wingate was leading Concord (W.Va.) 14-9 until Concord scored two late defensive touchdowns for a 23-14 win. ... Presbyterian, which had the preseason pick at QB in Todd Cunningham, managed just 14 points in a 31-point loss to West Georgia. ... Tusculum, which comes to Salisbury Saturday to face Livingstone, had six turnovers in a 23-17 loss to Arkansas-Monticello.
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TRIBETIDBITS: This week, Catawba travels to Clarksville, Tn., for a matchup with Division I-AA Austin Peay. ... Former South Rowan star Jason Cross and Chris Bullers had fumble recoveries against Livingstone. ... Intercepting passes were Tony Spencer and Ryan Norman. ... Shaun Sanders led the defense with six tackles. ... When the game was over Saturday, Ellis didn’t have time to revel in his performance. He was completing his weekly chore of cleaning up the press box. ... The Gutsy Award of the Week goes to fullback Joe Hilliard. The senior from Wilson played with a cast on his foot and still managed 42 yards on seven carries. ... Six different receivers caught passes: Cedric Squirewell, Ryan Millwood, Arnold Gaither, Sean Pearson, Nick Means and Lewis. ... Tailback Kevin McKenzie, who scored four touchdowns, is being looked at by pro scouts.
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