PREVIEW: Football hosts Newberry for Homecoming matchup

Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College football team wraps up its four-game homestand on Saturday night, hosting Newberry College for its annual Homecoming game at Shuford Stadium at 6 p.m.

THE MATCHUP

- Who: Newberry (1-4, 1-2 SAC) at Catawba (2-4, 1-3 SAC)

- Where: Shuford Stadium, Salisbury, N.C.

- When: Saturday, Oct. 19, 6 p.m.

- Links: FloSports ($) | Live stats

THE HISTORY

- Newberry leads all-time series 43-41-3

- The Catawba Indians hold a 25-20-1 record in Salisbury

- The Wolves have won the last six games in the series; Newberry has won each of the last four meetings by exactly seven points

- 88th meeting the two teams, second-most played opponent for Catawba (Lenoir-Rhyne - 102)

LJ TURNER WITH THE AFTER-BURNER

- A season-high 38-carry efforted netted 188 yards and two touchdowns for LJ Turner, lifting him up to second in the country in Division II with 855 rushing yards on the season, eighth-most across all divisions of college football

- Turner has scored a touchdown in five straight games and has recorded three 100-yard performances this season

- Through only six games, Turner has already recorded the 11th-most rush yards in a season in Catawba history; he is on pace for over 1,500 rush yards this season, which would crush a Catawba record (Jamelle Cuthbertson, 2008 - 1141)

- His 18-touchdown pace would match the Catawba record by George Bell in 2007

CLOSE SAC LOSSES

- Each of Catawba's four SAC games have been decided by three points or less

- The three losses in conference play have been by a combined seven points, including a one-point loss and a double-overtime loss to SAC undefeated teams Carson-Newman and Limestone, respectively

- Catawba out-gained their opponents in both games

YARDS AND YARDS (AND YARDS)

- Despite the starting quarterback and leading receiver miss games this season, the Catawba Indians rank top 15 in the country in total offense (441 - 13), rush offense (217 - 12) and 3rd down conversion percentage (.512 - 9)

- Catawba also ranks in the top 20 in fewest penalties per game (5.17 -16) and time of possession (33:05 - 16)

- Catawba only trails Limestone for the top offenses in the SAC

SCOUTING THE WOLVES

- Newberry has not scored a touchdown in SAC play since dropping 50 points in a win at Tusculum on Sept. 21

- The Wolves' game against UVA Wise was canceled; Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne held the Wolves out of the end zone in their two losses in October

- Newberry tallies the third-most rushing yards in the SAC behind Carson-Newman and Catawba

- Dwayne Wright and Quez Spells have both rushed for at least 225 rush yards and two touchdowns this season

UP NEXT

- Catawba hits the road on Saturday, Oct. 26, facing Wingate for a 3 p.m. kick