Football overcomes 14-point deficit, falls in 2OT thriller vs. Limestone

Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College football team overcame a 14-point deficit and held a lead in the final two minutes versus South Atlantic Conference leader Limestone, but the Saints scored the game-winning touchdown in double overtime to prevail, 36-33. 

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba had 28 first downs to Limestone's 20

- The Catawba Indians racked up a season-high 512 total yards on a whopping 96 plays; Limestone recorded 496 yards for over 1,000 combined yards in the game

- Catawba ran for 281 yards, while the Saints had 118 rush yards

- Limestone's 5th-ranked passing attack threw for 378 yards, while Catawba had 231 yards through the air

- The Catawba Indians forced the lone turnover of the night on a fumble

- Catawba was disciplined, being penalized just three times for 25 yards; Limestone was flagged nine times for 75 yards

- Catawba dominated time of possession, leading 42:18 to 17:42

- The Catawba Indians converted 12 of 25 on third down and four of five on fourth down; the Saints were 3-of-10 on third down and converted their lone fourth down

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- SAC rushing leader LJ Turner had another standout game, rushing 38 times for 188 yards and two touchdowns

- Hunter Sheppard threw for a career-high 231 yards and his first collegiate touchdown pass on 21-of-39 throwing

- Amari McArthur hauled in three passes for a team-high 57 yards and his first collegiate touchdown catch

- Deuce Linder had 46 receiving yards on four catches and a team-high 10 targets

- Jakarri Martin forced a sack fumble and had two pass breakups; Rickey Jones recovered the loose fumble

- Evan Simons had a team-best six tackles; Deno Wardlow and Jaylen Hinton had five tackles

- Bryson Sims converted a season-high four field goal attempts on six attempts

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Limestone's Tre Williams took Limestone's opening play from scrimmage 70 yards for a touchdown

- The Saints forced and three and out and drove down the field and Limestone's Dustin Noller found DJ Black for a 23-yard touchdown strike to take a 14-0 lead

- Catawba completed two third downs and a fourth down on a 14-play drive, but the 39-yard field goal attempt hit the left post and fell no good

- A Limestone holding penalty pushed the Saints behind the sticks and they were forced to punt

- Sheppard found McArthur on a deep post for a 31-yard touchdown on the final play of the first quarter to cut the deficit in half 

SECOND QUARTER

- A 34-yard Limestone catch and throw set them up in the Catawba red zone, but the Catawba Indians' defense held strong and forced the Saints to a successful 36-yard field goal try to return the lead to 10 points

- Catawba responded with a 13-play drive, but settled for Sims' 28-yard field goal to make it a 17-10 deficit

- The Saints had an 18-yard catch on 3rd & 9 and a 21-yard catch on 3rd &10 to set up Kevin Lalin's six-yard touchdown run to bring the lead back to 24-10 with three and a half minutes left in the half

- Seven completions from Sheppard helped move the Catawba Indians into field goal range, where Sims converted the 43-yarder; the teams entered the halftime locker room with the Saints lead 24-13

THIRD QUARTER

- Similar to the first play from scrimmage in the first half by Limestone, Turner took the opening scrimmage play of the second half 70 yards to the house as Catawba pulled within four

- Limestone drove the ball into Catawba territory, but Martin's sack fumble recovered by Jones gave Catawba the ball right back with momentum

- Linder's 27-yard pass moved Catawba into Saints' territory, but the drive stalled and the 44-yard field goal try was wide right

- Limestone looked primed to go for it on a 4th & 1 in Catawba territory, but back-to-back false starts moved them back and they were forced to punt

FOURTH QUARTER

- After an excellent Limestone punt went out of bounds at the three-yard line, Catawba marched nearly 90 yards down the field to set up 1st and goal

- The Saints' defense stood strong as Catawba was unable to punch it in on a 4th & goal from the four-yard line and Limestone took over

- Catawba's defense forced yet another punt and the team marched down the field, converting four third downs and a key 4th & 8 to set up Turner's seven-yard scoring scamper to cap a 17-play, 90-yard drive that took over nine minutes off the clock to give Catawba the 27-24 lead with 1:57 remaining

- Limestone threw three straight incompletions before converting a 22-yard catch and run on 4th & 10 to keep the drive alive

- Following an incomplete pass in the end zone, the Saints settled for the game-tying 27-yard field goal; Catawba took a knee to send the game to overtime tied at 27

OVERTIME

- Catawba's defense stood tall inside the five-yard line and Limestone was forced to settle for three points, allowing Catawba the chance to win the game with a touchdown

- The Catawba Indians also stalled inside the 10-yard line after a great breakup in the end zone; Sims' 25-yard field goal sent the game to a second overtime

SECOND OVERTIME

- Limestone sniffed out two Turner runs before forcing an incompletion, forcing Catawba to settle for Sims' 38-yard field goal

- The Saints rushed for eight yards on 3rd & 6 right before Noller scored the game-winner on the quarterback keeper to survive and remain unbeaten in conference play, 36-33

GAME NOTES

- Catawba's fifth straight game decided by single digits; Catawba's three SAC losses are by a combined seven points

- Turner extends his lead in the SAC in rushing yards; his 885 yards is over 200 yards more than the next highest rusher, while also leading the league with 10 rushing touchdowns

- Turner now ranks second in the country in rushing yards

- Catawba's second overtime game in as many weeks; the Catawba Indians had not played in an overtime game since the 2018 season finale versus UNC Pembroke

- Limestone improves to 5-3 in the all-time series; the Saints have won each of the past four meetings 

UP NEXT

- Catawba caps its four-game homestand with Homecoming Weekend next week, hosting Newberry for a 6 p.m. kickoff