By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
The Catawba notebook …
Mario Washington moved swiftly across the grass, lowered himself closer to the ground and secured a grip on kick returner Ryan Tallent’s ankle.
The shouts of “Snake!” from Catawba’s sideline confirmed that Washington had pounced again.
Washington is the proud owner of five pythons, so his teammates and coaches had little trouble coming up with a nickname for the 5-foot-8 Ragsdale alum.
“I know a lot of people are so afraid of them, but they can be really tamed,” Washington said. “Like I tell a lot of people, I tell them they’re better than having a pet dog because they’re easier to maintain. You don’t have to take them to the vet. You can feed them once a week, once a month.”
Washington, who shared Catawba’s special teams player of the week honor with kicker Thomas Trexler following a 41-27 victory at Tusculum, developed an interest in snakes by watching Animal Planet and the National Geographic channel.
He keeps his pythons ó named Big Squeeze, Little Squeeze, Slither, Predator and Killer ó at his parents’ house in High Point. His three ball pythons are in one cage, and the two carpet pythons are in another.
“I just don’t want him to bring them anywhere around me,” Catawba coach Chip Hester said with a laugh.
Washington’s siblings are comfortable around the snakes, but the safety of his infant brother creates parental concern.
Washington, who hopes to get another python during Christmas break, takes the responsibility seriously.
“I don’t want to scare people too much,” he said. “Sometimes I may wear them around my neck and walk around outside.”
Washington wants to work with snakes in some capacity ó possibly as a breeder, an educator or a zoo employee ó once he finishes college. He’s currently a valuable member of Catawba’s kick coverage units.
Punter Colby McCanna said his net average has been enhanced by Washington’s ability as a gunner. Washington, who turned 21 on Sunday, made one solo tackle and teamed with Scottie Floyd for two other stops on kickoff returns by the Pioneers.
A field goal by Trexler tied the score at 13-all, and Tallent advanced from the 5-yard line to the 17 before coming into contact with Washington.
“The biggest thing on special teams is giving great effort, and you have to have courage,” Hester said. “I thought he showed those things.
“He beat his guys and ran so fast he went around their wedge, dove and made a great leg tackle in front of a guy getting ready to block him.”
Special teams coordinator John Fitz stresses the value of leg tackling to his players. Even an unsuccessful swipe can force a returner to change directions and prevent him from hitting a seam at full speed.
“I didn’t quite know which way the guy was going, but I guessed right,” Washington said.
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INJURY UPDATE: Junior center Zane Gibson, who had been bothered by a knee injury, hurt an ankle against Tusculum and probably won’t play Saturday against Wingate.
“He’s been a picture of durability his whole career, and all of a sudden he’s got two that have gotten him,” Hester said. “He’s tough and he’ll fight through as much as he can.”
Kewone Harris (neck), Terrence Jones (concussion) and Julian Samolu (ankle) missed the Tusculum game. Hester said he hopes Harris is able to play against Wingate.
Quarterback Cam Sexton (concussion) hasn’t been cleared medically. Patrick Dennis ranks third in the SAC in passing yards per game (228.5) and is tied for fourth with 10 TD throws even though he’s appeared in just four contests.
“He’s playing at as good a level as anyone in our conference at quarterback,” Hester said.
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HONOR ROLL: Dennis (offense) and Melquan Fair (defense) were Catawba’s other players of the week.
Fair had eight tackles and accounted for 21/2 of Catawba’s 10 sacks.
“We talked about turning up the tempo, and we turned it up to a 10.5 instead of a 10,” fellow lineman Brandon Sutton said. “We peeled back and just ran.”