Carson-Newman rallies for win at Catawba
Oct. 11, 2008
SALISBURY, N.C. – Carson-Newman didn’t bring its best game to Catawba Saturday, but in the end it was good enough to pick up a key South Atlantic Conference victory.
Alex Good (Greensboro, N.C.) connected with receiver Otis Miller (Miami, Fla.) on a 29-yard hitch-and-go for a touchdown with 44 seconds remaining to power the 21st-ranked Eagles to a 21-14 win over Catawba at Shuford Stadium.
Carson-Newman managed just 325 yards of total offense, with 110 of those coming on the Eagles’ final two drives of the contest. The Indians finished with 315 yards.
Neither team was very efficient on offense. The Eagles were just 2-of-13 on third down, while Catawba was 0-of-10 on third and 0-of-2 on fourth down. Each squad lost two fumbles in the contest. G
ood led the Carson-Newman offense with 235 total yards, including 129 on the ground and 106 on 8-of-15 passing. Buck Wakefield (Drummons, Tenn.) added 74 yards on 13 carries. Miller finished with a team-high four catches for 50 yards.
Jamelle Cuthbertson paced the Catawba rushing attack with 125 yards on 17 carries. The Indians used four quarterbacks in the contest, who combined for 148 yards on 10-of-22 passing. Patrick Dennis led the group with a 6-of-11 effort for 97 yards and a touchdown.
Catawba opened the scoring with 2:08 remaining in the first quarter when Aaron Cauble blocked a Chris Jones punt and Tyon Bennett picked it up and returned it 15 yards for the touchdown. Thomas Trexler added the extra-point.
Carson-Newman answered with a five-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a run by Good from five-yards out with 2:45 left before the half. Joey Scribner-Howard (Irmo, S.C.) kicked the extra-point to tie the score at 7-7.
The Indians once again gained the upper-hand in the third quarter when Dennis completed a 34-yard strike to Gerron Bryant to make it 14-7 at the 9:20 mark.
That remained the score until Carson-Newman began a drive at midfield with 2:01 left in the game and needed just two plays before Wakefield rushed for a 10-yard score. Good set up the touchdown with a 40-yard jaunt on the previous play.
Catawba drove the ball to the C-N 40-yard line on its ensuing possession when Mario Russell (Columbus, Oh.) and Otis Ballard (Miami, Fla.) forced Cuthbertson to fumble and Corey Parks (Miami, Fla.) was there to fall on it. Eight plays later. Good found Miller down the left side for the game-winning score.
Brian Brown (Hartwell, Ga.) led the Carson-Newman defense with eight tackles, including 1.5 for a loss. Russell added seven stops, while Lasanio Smalls Greensboro, N.C.) had a forced fumble.
Carson-Newman improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the South Atlantic Conference standings. Catawba fell to 3-3 and 1-2, respectively. The Eagles will return home next Saturday to host Lenoir-Rhyne for homecoming.
