Football’s late drive stalls, UVA Wise survives in SAC opener

Wise, Va. —- The Catawba College football team scored a touchdown in each of the four quarters on Saturday afternoon at UVA Wise in the South Atlantic Conference opener, but it proved to be not enough, as the Cavaliers prevailed, 31-28.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba picked up 23 first downs to 20 for UVA Wise

- The Cavaliers were an efficient 9-of-16 (56 percent) on third downs; Catawba was 6-for-14 (43 percent)

- Catawba did well on fourth downs, converting 4-of-5 (80 percent)

- The Catawba Indians out-gained Wise 499-417

- Catawba threw for 304 yards through the air to UVA Wise's 266 pass yards

- The Catawba Indians also held a 195-151 edge in rush yards

- Catawba committed two of three turnovers in the game

- The Catawba Indians won the time-of-possession battle 31:43 to 28:17

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- LJ Turner recorded 194 total yards and two touchdowns; he led teams in both rushing and receiving yards with 110 and a touchdown and 84 yards and a score, respectively

- Quece Williams added 84 yards on the ground and two touchdowns

- Preston Brown went 23-for-33 with 304 yards, a touchdown and two turnovers

- Deuce Linder hauled in a team-high seven passes for 65 yards

- Kobe Christian had five catches for 64 yards, all in the first half

- Evan Simons led the way defensively with a team-best 12 tackles, a forced fumble and a hurry

- Deno Wardlow and Jamal Boyd each had 10 tackles; Wardlow recorded a pass breakup

- Juice Martin had nine stops and a PBU

- Freshman Nigel Gay recovered the UVA Wise fumble

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Catawba won the toss and deferred, and its defense responded, forcing a quick three-and-out

- The Catawba Indians drove right down the field and capitalized – Williams' two-yard plunge capped a 10-play, 66-yard drive to put the visitors up 7-0 just over six minutes in

- UVA Wise responded with their own touchdown scoring drive, going 73 yards and nine plays as Ian Scammell helped tie the game with a four-yard touchdown run

SECOND QUARTER

- On a 3rd & 3 deep in their own end, Brown lofted a pass on a wheel route to Turner, who took it the rest of the way, blazing 84 yards untouched to regain the touchdown lead for Catawba early in the second quarter

- The Cavaliers once again responded, converting a 3rd & 9 on their way to Seth Fischbach's seven-yard touchdown grab to tie the game at the 10:21 mark

- Catawba once again drove the ball down the field inside UVA Wise's 30-yard line, but Brown's pass was intercepted by RaaPhell Mayes and the Cavs took over

- The Catawba Indians forced a punt and returned into scoring position, but a late-second field goal attempt was no good, as the teams entered the halftime locker room deadlocked at 14

THIRD QUARTER

- Wise was able to force a punt on Catawba's first offensive possession of the second half and score themselves, taking their first lead of the game on James Gunter's two-yard touchdown catch with five and a half minutes left in the third quarter

- An unsportsmanlike conduct and a kickoff out of bounds gave Catawba great field possession at the 50-yard line

- Three straight Turner rushes for double-digit yardage tied the game in just 77 seconds of game time, as Turner's 26-yard scamper tied the game at 21

- A 56-yard kickoff return and 30-yard catch and run set up the Cavs in the Catawba red zone; Fischbach caught the ball over the middle and looked to head to the end zone, but Simons punched the ball free and Gay recovered in the end zone in a huge momentum play for Catawba

- UVA Wise responded, forcing a sack fumble and Da'Jon Barnes scooped the turnover and scored, returning the lead to the hosts

- Catawba returned the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown, but a holding penalty brought the Catawba Indians back to their half of the field

FOURTH QUARTER

- Catawba scored the game-tying touchdown on a 16-play drive, converting three fourth downs including Williams' one-yard rushing score to tie the game again at 28

- UVA Wise returned to scoring position, but Catawba's defense held strong, forcing the Cavaliers to take the 24-yard field goal and the 31-28 lead with roughly four minutes remaining

- Catawba drove the ball into Wise territory, but was held to three yards in three rushing plays, the last of which was short on 4th & 2, as the Cavaliers took over in great position with less than two minutes remaining

- The Catawba Indians stopped UVA Wise's runs and burned two timeouts to get the ball back at their own 20-yard line with 17 seconds remaining

- Catawba completed a 43-yard pass as time expired, but was well short of the game-winning touchdown, as UVA Wise held on for the win in the conference opener

GAME NOTES

- Catawba drops to 0-3 all-time versus UVA Wise

- The Catawba Indians are winless in two trips to Wise

- Turner's third career 100-yard rushing game; sets new career-high for single-game all-purpose yards

- Turner ranks third in the SAC in combined rushing and receiving yards; currently earning 7.6 yards per carry and a team-best 250 rush yards this season

- Christian remains tied atop the league lead in receptions with 17 this season

- Simons' first forced fumble this season; the preseason All-Division defender led the conference with five forced fumbles a season ago

- Wardlow's third consecutive double-digit tackle game to start the season; preseason All-Division selection leads SAC with 30 tackles

- Catawba's third consecutive loss in the conference opener

UP NEXT

- Catawba makes its long-awaited home debut this season next Saturday, welcoming Carson-Newman to Shuford Stadium at 6 p.m. for Family Weekend