Going into Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. clash with Newberry at Kirkland Field, the Big Four are the main reason Catawba leads the nation — that’s right, the nation — in rushing defense. They allow 51 yards per game. Catawba leads everybody in sacks with 48 — 29 by the Big Four. Catawba has a whopping 118 tackles for losses, totaling 464 yards. The Big Four have 88 of those hits for 309 of the yards.

Defensive line coach Jimmy Tomsula was asked how he coerces the Catawba College defensive line to produce like it has in a 7-1 season.

The Indian assistant coach laughed.

“Coaching’s overrated, man,” he said. “I wish I could take credit for it. But it’s easy to coach that group. I’ve got great guys. They come to work every day and they go after it.”

“That’s unbelievable,” says head coach David Bennett.

What’s really unbelievable, notes Tomsula, is the work ethic of the player who received the award: Peterson, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound stud from the football factory known as Clinton High School.

“DeVonte is self-made,” Tomsula said. “He’s the dream. He’s the one you want to make it.”

Nobody was saying that a year ago when Peterson got very few reps in practice or games. Then came the summer. Peterson joined his line mates in Salisbury and worked. And ran. And lifted. And ran. And lifted. And ran some more before he lifted some more.

The result is a junior lineman who could very well be named the conference’s defensive player of the year. He leads the league in sacks with 11 and with three games remaining, has already broken the school record.

Tomsula left a very lucrative job in sales to coach football so the game is emotional to him. He has coached all over, including the World League in Europe. But regardless of the level, he still gets emotional when he watches players like Peterson put that extra oomph into his preparation for football — and life.

“I’ll go home at midnight and see DeVonte running around the block,” Tomsula marveled. “At home, DeVonte runs three miles to his high school to lift and then runs the three miles back. He hasn’t missed a practice. He won’t go to the training room. He’s the energizer bunny.

“But the best thing about him is in the fourth quarter. He’s just a different player than anyone else on the field.”

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Miles certainly found out last week in a 20-6 loss. Its final numbers were minus-34 yards rushing for the game and 81 total yards. Peterson had five sacks, four quarterback pressures and nine tackles.

“That whole front sets each other up,” explained Tomsula. “They all play as one. Three of DeVonte’s sacks, he owes somebody a hamburger. Because Huey’s pressuring up the middle or Lockhart is coming off the backside. The (ballcarrier) has nowhere to go.”

Lockhart has seven sacks, an injury-riddled Montgomery has 6.5 and Huey five. The linemen say they’re not in competition but you have to wonder with those gaudy stats. And it all starts in the daily workouts where they try to even out-practice each other.

“I put them through a lot, it’s no walk through the park,” Tomsula said. “My expectations are to be dominant. We should be a very violent front. Coach (Richard) Kent (the defensive coordinator) puts them in a position to make a lot of plays. We’re on the field 55-to-65 snaps a game. We better be ready to produce 55-to-65 snaps a game.”

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Tomsula said Huey is a 5-foot-11, 285-pound round mound of sound.

“He’s the spokesman,” Tomsula said of the sophomore wordsmith from Richmond County. “He’ll talk. The rest are just quiet guys.

Especially Peterson, who is a big teddy bear off the field.

“DeVonte seems to be very spiritual,” Tomsula said. “He’s very good academically. He’s very conscientious. He has a great personality and no ego.”

Bennett went further.

“It’s unbelievable what DeVonte’s done. He has gone from being a great guy and an okay football player to being a dadgum beast. Yet, you see him off the field and it’s ‘Yes ma’am, No sir.’ He does volunteer work. He even reads scripture with the head custodian. He has character galore.

“Then, you see how he’s playing and it makes your heart swell up with pride.”

“The sky’s the limit for DeVonte,” added Tomsula.

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Speaking of the sky, it is supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny Saturday when Newberry brings what Bennett calls “the most complete backfield in the conference” to Salisbury.

When Peterson reads how much Bennett respects Newberry’s skill people, his eyes will probably light up and motivate him to throw on his toboggan and run around the block, regardless of the time of night.

Gotta be ready, you know.

Gotta be the best in the fourth quarter.

Bennett and Tomsula want a 10-1 record and national playoff invitation to become a reality for DeVonte Peterson, Derrick Montgomery, Radell Lockhart and David Huey.