The Catawba notebook ...

The NFL scouts who watch Catawba College’s football practice like tailback Kevin McKenzie. they just have one question concerning the 5-10 speedster.

Can he break the long one?

They were asking that before the season began and asked it again after his four-touchdown day in an opening-season win over Livingstone. McKenzie’s four touchdowns came on runs of 6,5, 2 and 3 yards.

Perhaps McKenzie, a senior, put the questions to rest after Saturday’s 33-7 win over Austin Peay. The first score of the game came on a third-and-10 when he broke one 74 yards.

“It was a draw play,” McKenzie said. “I took two steps and saw two linemen flip up in the air and all I saw was daylight.”

Everyone seemed elated.

“That excites the players,” said offensive coordinator Jamie Snider. “It makes the linemen want to block better and makes Kevin want to carry the ball more.”

Nick Means escorted McKenzie down the field and as McKenzie pranced off the field, he headed straight for head coach David Bennett.

“There’s a long one, coach,” McKenzie yelled.

McKenzie had 150 yards at halftime but Bennett pulled him early in the third quarter after 19 carries had produced 188 yards, a career high.

“He could’ve had a huge night,” Bennett said. “But when you’re up by four touchdowns, you’ve got to get some other people some reps.”

McKenzie, who has 239 yards on 29 carries in two games, hopes the NFLscouts are now satisfied.

“I’ve been dreaming about the pros since I was young,” he said. “It makes me feel real good that they’re looking at me.”

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TONY! TONY!TONY! With two runaway wins, Snider has been able to get other backs into the game, replacing McKenzie and Joe Hilliard. Included among that pack is Tony Hawkins, a redshirt freshman tailback, who stands a muscular 6-1, 225 pounds. He finished with 12 carries and 53 yards.

“Tony made huge strides from the first to the second game,” Snider said. “If he keeps making them, he’ll be a force by the end of the season.”

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THISWEEK: Wingate (1-1) will visit Shuford Stadium this week for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. A report on the Bulldogs will appear on Saturday’s College Football page.

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PLAYERSOFTHEWEEK: The coaches chose McKenzie has its offensive player of the week, Radell Lockhart as the defensive player of the week and Anthony Spencer as the special teams player of the week.

Lockhart has won this award for the second week in a row. The 6-3, 285-pound defensive end added two sacks to bring his total to four in two games. He also had two QB pressures and was in on four tackles.

Spencer had two tackles and one knockdown block on kick returns.

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INJURYREPORT: Linebacker Jason Cross and defensive lineman Rashad Smith are scheduled to return this week. Both had twisted knees.

Linebacker D.J. McLeod is suffering from a deep shin bruise and James McDowell, a defensive lineman, has a twisted knee.

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STRONGMAN: Cole Bean is a 6-3, 310-pound offensive lineman. Don’t mess with him when it comes to lifting weights.

“He’s our strongest player,” said Bennett of the North Gaston graduate. “I saw him with 505 pounds on the bench (press) and told him we don’t go that high during the season. He repped it three times and racked it back up. It was pretty impressive to watch.”

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BIGMAN: Bean may be the strongest but he isn’t the biggest. That title goes to freshman lineman Ronald Crenshaw of Portsmouth, Va., who weighs in at, well, Bennett isn’t sure.

“Our scales only go to 350,” Bennett said. “We know he weighs between 350 and 400.He’s our big man on campus.”

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BOUNCINGBACK:Bennett expects a very good game from his quarterback Mitch Ellis Saturday.

“Mitch was watching film and said, ‘Coach, I’ve never had three interceptions in a game in my life,’” Bennett said. “It was a learning experience for us because we forced some things. But Mitch will come back and have a great week.”

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CARPETBURNS: For many of the Catawba players, running on Austin Peay’s astroturf was a new experience.

“I thought it felt good,” said Lockhart. It felt like it had spring in it where you felt faster and could jump higher.”

“I liked it,” agreed Spencer. “It was a lot nicer than I thought.”

Bennett likened it to playing football on a carpet in the rain.

“It’s pouring rain and you have no mud on your shoes or mud on your pants,” he said. “It’s weird.

“If you play on grass, you’re foot will slide,” he said. On turf, you stop on a dime.

Bennett paused. “I like grass,” he said.

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SACREPORT: Two South Atlantic Conference teams beat Division 1-AA opponents Saturday. Presbyterian took care of Charleston Southern 28-13. Todd Cunningham threw for 276 yards on 21-of-33 passing.

Cumberland (Ky.) , an NAIAteam, took advantage of four turnovers and a blocked field goal to beat Mars Hill 18-16.

Tusculum beat Catawba neighbor Livingstone 26-0 and Lenoir-Rhyne fell to Western Carolina 53-10. Carson-Newman was off.

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TRIBETIDBITS: Catawba kept its No. 7 national ranking. ... McKenzie leads the SAC with 30 points on five touchdown runs. ... The defense is giving up just 35 yards per game on the ground. It has 13.5 sacks with DeVonte Peterson and Richard Scott recording three each. ... .. Ellis went 11-of-18 for 136 yards and three TDs against Austin Peay. ... Ellis also threw an interception that Thomas Sexton (not related to the Tom Sexton of Salisbury soccer and Catawba kicking fame) returned 81 yards for Austin Peay’s only score. ... Arnold Gaither has become a scoring machine. He has caught a scoring pass in each of Catawba’s games. ... After catching one pass in the opener, Means had five for 67 yards in Game 2. ...Joe Hilliard is averaging 5.5 yards per carry. ... Almost everyone got to play against Austin., Long-snapper Robert Ambrose got a chance to play center.