Maybe they were just tired of playing against one another but Frank Long of Richmond County High School and Marcus Huntley of Anson County won’t have each other to push around anymore — except, maybe in practice.

The East-West all-stars have decided to sign with Catawba College’s nationally ranked Indians and help keep David Bennett’s winning formula intact.

And they will surely get a few more shots against each other in practice. Long, a 6-foot, 250-pound block of granite, is an offensive lineman. Huntley, a 6-2, 235-pound monster, is a defensive end.

Whatever the situation, both said they have made the right college choice.

n

How does Catawba do it every single year? Division IIteams aren’t supposed to have five players (Long, Huntley, Andrew Womble, Duran Lipscomb and Kyle Connor are all Indian recruits) in all-star games of this caliber. Aren’t the best players in the state supposed to go to Division I schools?

Well, Bennett has found a secret to stealing away big-time prospects. He just invites them to a game on campus.

Long and Huntley, as well as most of Catawba’s signees, were on hand Oct. 28 when the No. 3-ranked Indians defeated No. 5 Carson-Newman 13-10 in a battle of Division II heavyweights. Bennett couldn’t have been happier, not just for the victory but because of the way Catawba won. Matt Gross’ last-second field goal set off some pandemonium that got to the recruits.

“Oh, yes sir, yes sir, I was there,” beamed Long. “Everybody had been talking about that game and that’s what really lured me to Catawba.”

It also didn’t hurt that former Richmond teammates like Michael Green and David Huey were already wearing Catawba blue.

“They told me it was a football school and how competitive it was,” Long said.

n

Speaking of competitive, how about Richmond County? Most feel it’s nothing more than a junior college disguised as a high school. And that can be a problem when it comes to expectations.

“We were a little off this season,” Long says. “We were 12-1.”

Come again?

“We were a little off,” he repeated. “There’s a lot of pressure at Richmond. If we don’t win the state championship, everybody’s mad.”

“There’s a lot of people in the state of North Carolina who would have taken 12-1,” said Fred Davis, a West assistant and Huntley’s coach at Anson County. “But everybody is measured against them.”

n

Long was a part of the state’s longest winning streak (44 games from 1997-99) so the star lineman had no intention of losing Wednesday night.

Trailing by a curious 3-2 score in the fourth quarter, Long and his fellow East linemen finally began opening some holes for Deshaun Stephens. Long started on the right side of the line but when the East rumbled inside the 10, he went to center. Stephens plowed in for the only touchdown of the game and got the MVPtrophy but he could have easily shared it with Long.

“He was right on my butt,” said Long.

When the game was over, Long grabbed the water cooler and doused head coach Frank Jernigan.

“It was a good way to end my high school career,” he said.

And a good way to begin a career in college.

n

Marcus Huntley is a man. That’s all you have to say. Long knows it. His Richmond team had some of its toughest tests against conference rival Anson County.

And obviously, the East coaches knew it. They seldom ran toward Huntley, who had 120 tackles and a whopping 17 sacks this past season.

“Marcus is probably the most solid defensive lineman I’ve coached,” said Davis. “As you saw tonight, they didn’t run at him.”

While Anson never beat Richmond when Huntley played, he was always the guy you noticed.

East Carolina, North Carolina, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Georgia and South Carolina all recruited him.

“It came down to making the scores,” Davis said, “and the big schools didn’t want to wait.”

So Huntley turned to Catawba, a school that is 22-3 over the past two seasons. He also had three coaches at Anson who played here and helped him decide.

n

Huntley credits the recruitment by offensive coordinator Jamie Snider as one of the reasons he is an Indian.

“Catawba has recruited me for three years,” he said. “Coach Snider is a cool dude.”

And Huntley will be a rude dude once he begins play in the South Atlantic Conference. You can envision him following in the footsteps of Radell Lockhart, DeVonte Peterson and the rest of that scary defensive line that assistant Jim Tomsula puts out there each week.

“And they’re not going to redshirt me,” Huntley announced.

Huntley was a force Wednesday night and excited the Catawba fans in attendance.

“I’ll bring toughness, a never-give-up attitude and I’’ll go full speed on every play,” Huntley smiled.

With confidence like that, Huntley should fit in quite nicely on that vaunted Catawba defense. He’s ready for anything, whether it’s Carson-Newman or going after his first win over Long in practice.

n

Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4256 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com .