WINSTON-SALEM — It was a victory, but it will probably be Catawba’s last
football win at Bowman Gray Stadium.Head
coach Dave Bennett had nothing but praise for Winston-Salem State’s coaches, players
and fans after his Catawba club opened its season by holding off the Rams 17-14 in a
non-conference contest here Saturday night.
However, Bennett was terribly disappointed with
the officiating of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association crew assigned to the
game. The CIAA provided officials since it was the Rams’ home game.
“I’ve never seen anything like I saw
tonight,” said Bennett, whose team lost the ball with just less than two and a half
minutes to play on a controversial play that was ruled a fumble recovery by the Rams.
Winston-Salem made one first down before
Catawba’s strong defense held with 26 seconds left and forced the Rams to go for a
field goal that would have tied the score and probably forced an overtime. Shawn Thomas,
however, missed from 29 yards, and Catawba held on for its second straight three-point win
in the rivalry.
“All I told that crew was that they made it
to where we probably, if our administrators go along with it, won’t ever come back up
here as long as I’m coaching at Catawba College,” exclaimed Bennett. “That
beats all I’ve ever seen since I’ve been 6 years old. That’s 32 years
I’ve been involved with football.”
Catawba was penalized 13 times for 147 yards,
according to official Catawba stats. The statistics published in Sunday’s Post that
showed 166 yards in penalties against Catawba were based on statistics provided by the
home school. In sharp contrast, the Rams were penalized four times for 38 yards.
“I’ve got nothing against Winston-Salem
State and nothing against the fans. The coaches are excellent people, and the players did
a great job never giving up. They did a great job coming back,” said Bennett.
Catawba led 10-0 at halftime and 17-0 going into
the fourth quarter. The Rams then rallied for two touchdowns in the final 6:21 to make it
a nail-biter for the Indians in the final minute.
After the Rams pulled within 17-14, Bennett put 11
players on the field with “good hands,” to avoid a fumble, but coach Kermit
Blount of the Rams still came up with tricky strategy.
“We’re still going to win the football
game and not have to go through that dadgum heart attack right there. When they kick the
ball, and we’ve got our hands team in, and once again, great coaching by
Winston-Salem State, they pooch it. The ball goes right in between the deep guys and the
middle guys. We’ve clearly got the ball,” said Bennett. Danny Jenkins, one of three Catawba players near the ball, fell
on it at the Catawba 28-yard line.
“Our guys all go in there to cover our guy
up. We got a freshman in there holding the ball. He learned a valuable lesson, because he
said he got hit and the ball came loose,” said Bennett.
Jenkins was on the ground and surrounded by
teammates, but somehow Monte Simmons of the Rams came out of the pile with the football.
“We teach them, if you’re in the fetal
position, you’re curled around that ball all completely on the ground, there
ain’t no way that thing’s coming out. He learned a valuable lesson
tonight,” said Bennett.
“I’ve never seen in my 32 years either a
pile of your guys on the ball: We’re all on the ball, we’re covering him up and
the ball’s out of there,” added the dismayed Bennett.
The Catawba coach was also displeased with holding
calls on screen passes, when he felt he saw infractions by the Rams, and with a couple of
calls for illegal participation.
n
STRONG AIR GAME: Offensively, the Indians were impressive for three quarters
and finished with 306 total yards, including 175 through the air on 14-for-26 passing by
quarterback Mitch Ellis, who threw for one touchdown (to tight end Sean Pearson) and had
one pass intercepted by the Rams.
“It was alright,” said Ellis, a former
star at North Rowan High School. “The wind played a major part in it in the first
half.”
Most of the long-gainers came in the second half,
when Ellis hit wide receiver Ryan Millwood
for gains of 45 and 30 yards.
“He was open for the long ball. I just threw
it up. I took a hit afterward, but it was for the team,” said Ellis. Millwood caught
three passes for 81 yards.
“The tight end came up with some good catches
tonight,” said Ellis, who found Pearson open over the middle in the end zone for
Catawba’s first touchdown, a 13-yard play early in the second quarter. “I
thought after he got hit, it came out, but he was lucky to hold on to it,” said Ellis
of his 230-pound receiver from Fayetteville.
The quarterback also said, “We didn’t
show everything tonight. We got out of here with a win. That’s the most important
thing.”
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RUNNING GAME: Catawba’s stats credited
tailback Eric Westbrook of Rock Hill, S.C., with 11 carries for 59 yards and newcomer
Kevin McKenzie, a tailback from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with 12 carries for 54 yards.
The Indians finished with 131 yards on the ground.
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FOND MEMORIES: Senior defensive back Alvis James
of Albemarle was on the field when the Rams’ Thomas missed the field goal, and he
appeared to be the most excited Indian as he ran off the field.
James recalled another time when he was that
excited in the final seconds of a game.
“It was the Albemarle-North Rowan game,”
he said, referring to a 1994 contest at North that decided the 2A Yadkin Valley Conference
championship. Coach Jack Gaster’s Bulldogs won 28-21
in overtime over North’s Cavaliers.
“We stopped them on the last play. I went wild out there,” said James of the thrilling
victory five years ago.
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AROUND THE SAC: Teams from the South Atlantic
Conference were winners in all five games played on Saturday.
Presbyterian edged West Georgia State 41-40, and
Newberry nipped West Virginia State in two other close games. Other winners were
Lenoir-Rhyne by a 28-13 score over Jacksonville and Wingate by a 45-30 margin over North
Greenville. |
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