The Catawba notebook ...

The Catawba football team and its coach David Bennett can do no wrong. Every decision seems to be the right one.

The Indians were in the final quarter of their third straight wipeout victory, a 53-6 win over Wingate Saturday.

The score was 47-6 when Catawba faced a short, fourth-down play.

The offensive coaches told Bennett to go for it. The defensive coaches told Bennett to punt and pin the Bulldogs deep.

“But something just told me — probably the big man upstairs — that Matt Gross needs this opportunity,” Bennett said.

It would be a 49-yarder, farther than Gross had ever made one in a college game.

How did the Hendersonville native respond? Gross knocked it through with plenty to spare.

A few moments later, he boomed another, a 42-yarder. When the game was over, he had accounted for three field goals and six extra points — a whopping 15 points in all and was named South Atlantic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.

“It’s finally good to make a few — about three in a row,” said a beaming Gross afterward.

And now, let’s all forget about that sophomore jinx that haunted the former Shrine Bowl kicker in 1999.

“After last year, I just tried to work as hard as I could and focus on what I was doing,” he said. “On the long one, I didn’t think I kicked it hard enough. Me and Danny (Jenkins, the holder and punter) thought it was going wide. But it came back.”

Which brought about a lot of smiles, especially from the head coach.

“I wanted Matt to get the confidence I knew he needed to kick that field goal,” Bennett said. “It was a great kick. And it was great seeing him and Danny Jenkins celebrate. They work hard every day too.”

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SMILEYSHOULDPLAY: As of Tuesday’s press conference at Western Steer, Bennett was planning on his star tailback Kevin McKenzie playing Saturday in a home game against Presbyterian.

McKenzie suffered an ankle sprain against Wingate and saw very limited action (three carries, 27 yards).

“He was walking around (Monday)night without anything on it,” Bennett said. “He should be able to practice (by Wednesday).”

McKenzie missed last season’s win over Presbyterian with an ankle sprain.

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HUEY-HUEY: Defensive lineman David Huey just didn’t talk a good game — he played one Saturday. Of his six tackles, three were for losses and he had sacks on consecutive plays.

“He’s done a 180-degree turn.” said Bennett of the 6-2, 295-pounder from Richmond County. “Instead of being just a big ol’ bully pushing people around, he’s playing the game the way you’re supposed to, with intensity and class.”

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DEFENSIVEPLAYER: But not even Huey could snatch the team’s weekly defensive player of the year award away from sophomore linebacker Todd McComb, who finished with 11 tackles — three for losses — and 212 sacks.

“Huey played the best game of his career,” Bennett said. “Todd just out-performed him a little bit.

“Iknew Todd was ready on Thursday when he had to spit,” said Bennett. “He didn’t even take his helmet off. He was running around with spit hanging off his face mask and I said, ‘That boy is focused.’”

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OFFENSIVEPLAYER:Nick Means, another sophomore and teammate and roommate of McComb, caught one pass in the opener against Livingstone. Did he get down? Was he mad?

No, he knew his time would come. Catawba simply has so many good receivers that you can’t have five catches every game.

But Means, an outside receiver, has five in each of the last two games. He caught five against Wingate for 92 yards and has vaulted into the team lead with 11.

“Against Livingstone, the way the defense was playing, the outside guy wasn’t open,” Means said. “That’s why my man, Cedric Squirewell, had a big game. The last two weeks, they haven’t concentrated on outside guy.”

Included in his day Saturday was a 49-yard scoring grab from quarterback Mitch Ellis, who lofted a pass between the safety and cornerback. Means caught it, cut back in and was gone for his third TD of the year.

“Mitch’s throw was perfect,” said Means. “You couldn’t ask for a better pass.”

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MOREDECALS,PLEASE: If the special team downs a punt inside the 20, the players get a decal for their helmet. If it’s downed inside the 10, they get two.

Well, two Jenkins punts were downed inside the 10 and eight of Brian Roberson’s 10 kickoffs had Wingate pinned inside the 20.

“I had to get an extra sheet of decals,” Bennett grinned, not minding one bit.

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DON’TFORGETDONNIE: Bennett said another overlooked player is long snapper Donnie Vernon, a 6-4, 235-pounder from West Lincoln. He snapped the ball back to Jenkins in 0.75 seconds. A good NFLtime is 0.70.

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RANKINGS: Catawba moved up a spot in the American Football Coaches Association-USAToday national poll. The Indians are sixth.

In the coveted regional rankings (only the top four in each of the four regions go to the playoffs), Catawba is second, right behind (you guessed it) Carson-Newman.

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SACREPORT: Last season, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Bryce Rieger kicked a field goal in overtime to beat Presbyterian. Last week, he missed a 41-yarder that would have tied the game in a 24-21 Presbyterian win. ... Mars Hill beat Newberry 38-10 behind Terrence Stokes’ 166 yards rushing, including one TD run of 91. ... Mossy Creek water is obviously more powerful than the Pacific Ocean. Carson-Newman went to Western Oregon and won 24-7. It was coach Ken Sparks’ 200th career win. This week, Carson-Newman begins defense of its SAC crown at Lenoir-Rhyne. ... Mars Hill plays former SAC team Gardner-Webb, while Tusculum travels to Wingate and Newberry will be at West Virginia State.

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TRIBETIDBITS: Wonder where No. 9 Darris Morris has been during the first three games? After the defensive end-linebacker finished off last season strong, he sat out the early part of this season for breaking a team rule. But Bennett expected Morris back on Monday. ... Shawn McBride had nine tackles against Wingate. ... Catawba has won 14 of its last 16 games. ... Gross’ field goals were the first he had attempted this season. He is second on the team in scoring with 23 points, seven behind McKenzie. ... Twelve different Indians have scored. ... Ellis and backup Scott Sensing have combined for seven TD passes in three games. Bret Brown and Tim Rigsbee have also seen time at QB. ... Ryan Millwood made two acrobatic catches in the end zone Saturday but neither counted because he was just out of bounds. ... Marcus Hicks and Anthony Spencer each have two interceptions, with Ryan Norman and Courtney Boler having one each. ... The defensive line has given up an average of only 37 yards rushing per game. ... Radell Lockhart, who had back problems against Wingate and saw limited time, is expected back at full strength Saturday.