It will happen.Catawba and
Carson Newman II.
The heavyweight fight of the
century — well, in the history of the South Atlantic Conference, anyway.
It’s going to be the
SAC’s Ali and Frazier battling in a Thrilla, just not in Manilla. Two football teams
will try to punch each other’s lights out in Jefferson City, Tenn., the site of
Catawba’s only loss this season.
You must understand the magnitude
of this meeting. Next Saturday, Catawba gets a second chance in a sport that usually
doesn’t offer one. The Indians, by virtue of their convincing 48-17 pummeling of Fort
Valley State in the first round of the Division II national playoffs, get another shot at
the invincible machine known as Carson-Newman football.
For the past seven weeks, Catawba
coach David Bennett has pointed to Nov. 27. That would be the second round of the playoffs
and a chance to make people forget what happened Oct. 2.
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For those who obviously live in a
Rowan County cave, here’s what occurred in the fifth week of the season: Catawba goes
up 17-0 on the No. 1 team in the nation. But as Carson-Newman has done so often, it makes
its own breaks, scored on an interception to take the lead and then holds on to win 28-17.
It has been in the craw of
Bennett, his quarterback Mitch Ellis and the rest of the Indians since.
Catawba felt it was better than
Carson-Newman. But to prove it, seven straight wins had to be recorded. Six were in the
bag going into Saturday.
The first playoff game in Catawba
history. A chance to win its way back to Jefferson City.
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It was a perfect afternoon for
being outdoors. It was 68 degrees and sunny (it was Nov. 20th, right?) but like the
weather, this would not be an ordinary Saturday afternoon in Shuford Stadium:
- By 10:30 a.m., the parking lot was
packed with tailgaters.
- Zack Mabe, a Catawba student whose
head was shaved and colored white and blue, was strutting around, firing up his fellow
classmates, who had become the Catawba Crazies.
- SAC commissioner Doug Echols, who
also wears the title of mayor of Rock Hill, S.C., was shaking any and every hand like a
good politician should.
- There was more than one newspaper
covering the Indians. For the first time this season, press row was a real press row.
Oh yeah, there was also an
opponent on the field with the same 10-1 record as Catawba called the Fort Valley
Wildcats, an absolute unknown quantity.
Which meant tension.
“I think our kids were a
little nervous,” said Catawba coach David Bennett.
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Nervous? There were 5,000 fans
spread throughout the bleachers, massed around the track and bunched together in the end
zone, wondering about those Indians at halftime. Although Catawba led 14-10, they had
watched their team miss two field goals, squander chances after two Fort Valley turnovers
and had even watched the unthinkable: Ryan Millwood dropping a sure touchdown pass.
It was a lead, but a very
precarious one against the explosive visitors.
“At halftime, we felt we were
just going through the motions,” said quarterback Mitch Ellis. “We had the right
plays called but we weren’t executing.”
“It was like two dogs
who’ve never seen each other sniffing each other out,” Bennett said. “We
told the guys to just relax.”
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Then, the third quarter began. And
Catawba began sniffing victory.
On the first drive of the second
half, Ellis faced a third-and-six. Kevin McKenzie made a first-down catch. Ellis faced a
third-and-10. O.J. Lennon made a first-down catch. Ellis faced a third-and-13. Face mask
for another first down. McKenzie eventually took care of the last 26 yards and scored for
a 21-10 lead.
It was over.
Suddenly, people saw what
Bennett’s team was all about. Shawn Sanders made the first quarterback sack. Then
Derrick Montgomery. Then Darris Morris. Then DeVonte Peterson, who had a couple.
Joe Hilliard scored. Cedric
Squirewell took a perfect pass from Ellis for a 42-yard touchdown. Eric Westbrook tiptoed
for a score. Fullback Steve Peterson bulled in.
Thirty-four second-half points.
“You looked up and it was
another score here, another score there,” Ellis said. “It just happened.”
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And now, it’s going to happen
again: Catawba vs. No. 1.
Carson-Newman is a football
factory. Football, first and foremost, brings national attention to the school. It’s
big business.
“They’ve got
coordinators up there making more money than I do,” Bennett said while holding a
microphone in a very official postgame press conference. “They’ve probably got
some position coaches making more. But it’s not about money. We’ve had a couple
of chances to leave but this right here is why we stayed.”
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So what better way, Bennett
reasons, to get recognition for Catawba than knocking the Eagles out of the playoffs
— and in the process forgetting the ghosts of Oct. 2 when Ellis’ interception
gave Carson-Newman the lead for good.
“I still think about
that,” Ellis said. “I want to redeem myself.”
Bennett was asked what
Carson-Newman, a 40-28 winner over Arkansas Tech, might be thinking when it saw
Catawba’s score.
“Carson-Newman’s
probably not real worried about Catawba,” he said. “They’ve played for the
national championship the last three years. They’re just worried about getting (in
the title game) on ESPN.
“We’ll try to worry them
a little bit when we get up there.”
Put on the gloves, boys. It’s
going to be a slugfest.
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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports
editor of the Post. |
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