That was the statement Fort Valley State football coach Kent Schoolfield made shortly after his team were soundly beaten in the first round of the Division II playoffs Saturday afternoon in Salisbury.

Schoolfield had become a believer after watching the Indians defeat his Wildcats 48-17.

Everyone has been a believer since the fifth game of the season, a Catawba loss, 28-17, to Carson-Newman. Gardner-Webb came in bragging and left with spirits sagging. Presbyterian arrived only to be sent home bumped and bruised. Wingate’s vaunted passing game? Forget about it.

Everyone now believes in 11-1 Catawba, except, maybe, the last team to defeat the Indians: next week’s opponent, Carson-Newman, the No. 1-team in the nation.

No one has come close to beating Catawba since Oct. 2 when the Eagles came back from a 17-0 deficit to win 28-17. Fort Valley thought it had a chance, especially when it trailed just 14-10 at halftime.

“We have been a second-half team all season,” Schoolfield said. “This is the first time we haven’t played well in the second half.”

Of course, he reasoned, it’s the first time he had faced Catawba College.

“ That’s an excellent football team,” he said.

Coach David Bennett already knew that. Now, little by little, the word has gotten out.

But has word reached Jefferson City, Tenn.?

“Probably not,” Bennett says.

While Bennett downplays concern on Carson-Newman’s part, you’ve got to wonder. It’s difficult for Ken Sparks and company not to have noticed how Catawba has beaten teams into submission since their meeting.

As good as Catawba was then, it is even better now. And amazingly, the players didn’t seem too hyped about getting a second chance at Carson-Newman.

“Carson-Newman...” sighed defensive back Darrell Erby, who hasn’t seen a win over the Eagles since his first year out of high school in 1996. “We’re just going to have to focus. We’ll get this win behind us and start working on Sunday for them.”

Erby was a key to Catawba victory Saturday. Fort Valley State looked to see where he lined up and promptly sent receiver Trammel Pryor to his side.

All 6-foot-4 of his jumping jack self.

It worked occassionally. Quarterback Brian Villanueva would launch an airball that Pryor would jump and make a tremendous catch on. He finished with seven receptions for 107 yards but the key word is finished. His team is done.

When the final stats came out, it was Erby who had two interceptions. It was Catawba that finished with four picks overall.

“I knew they were going to challenge me,” said Erby, an All-South Atlantic Conference performer. “It was a great battle. (Pryor’s) the real deal.”

And Erby and the defense had Schoolfield so flustered that he benched Villanueva after a pick and brought in Ryan Weiss.

Who was replaced by Villanueva again when he threw a couple of interceptions. Schoolfield even tried third-stringer Barry Wyche. He threw one pass and (you guessed it ) he was intercepted.

And, of course, Catawba had its usual dose of five quarterback sacks.

“The heart and soul of their team is the defensive front,” Schoolfield said. “They gave us pressure all day.”

DeVonte Peterson, Catawba’s Sack Man of the Sack Pack, said the defensive line plays so hard that it pumps everyone else up, from the players, to the fans to the concession stand workers.

“We play with energy so the team can feel the energy and we can all share the energy,” he said.

At halftime, the defense had done its part, getting two interceptions, but the offense had not capatilized.

“The defense was frustrated because they got two picks and the offense didn’t do anything with it,” said Bennett. “They were like, ‘Come on, do something with it.’ “

Ellis did. In a career-best 263-yard passing day, he led a precise drive downfield for a score on the first possession of the third quarter. It was 21-10 and everyone seems to calm down.

“Then,” Bennett said, “the defense said, ‘OK, the offense is doing its part, let’s do ours.’”

“We decided right then we were going to play as a team and make a stand,” the 6-4, 250-pound Peterson said.

The result was a 34-7 second half.

The same type of stand will be needed this week in front of a full house in a stadium that is more impressive than some Division I-AA places. The Eagle fans will be revved up and it will be a very hostile environment.

“This is college football,” Peterson reminded everyone in the postgame press conference. “Anybody can win at any time.”

Saturday in Jefferson City, the Catawba Indians hope it’s their time.