#21 Lenoir-Rhyne surges past Football in second half

Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College football team jumped out to a 14-3 lead over 21st-ranked and NCAA Play-off hopeful Lenoir-Rhyne, but the Bears scored the game's final 30 points to pull away in the 103rd meeting between Catawba and LR.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba gained 20 first downs to 18 for Lenoir-Rhyne

- The Catawba Indians were 7-for-15 (47 percent) on third down, while holding the Bears to 3-of-9 (33 percent) on third downs

- Catawba converted the lone fourth down of the game in the closing seconds

- The Catawba Indians churned out 385 yards of total offense, while holding the Bears to just 271 yards of offense

- Catawba threw for 306 passing yards while limiting LR to 160

- The Bears rushed for 111 yards and kept the Catawba Indians to a season-low 79 yards on the ground

- Catawba was flagged six times for 33 yards, while the Bears were penalized twice for 20 yards

- The Catawba Indians had four giveaways in the ballgame while turning over LR twice

- Lenoir-Rhyne recorded both of the game's sacks on the night

- Catawba won the time of possession battle 34:44 to 25:16

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- JJ Grant hauled in a team-high 11 passes for a career-best 109 yards receiving

- Kobe Christian added 51 yards on four catches with a touchdown

- Amari McArthur chipped in eight catches for 57 yards against his former team

- Quece Williams rushed for a team-high 68 yards on 13 carries and punched in a touchdown

- Mason Fortune finished the night 28-of-40 for 306 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions

- Jaylen Hinton racked up a game-high 12 tackles with two for a loss

- Evan Simons added six tackles and two forced fumbles

- Zy Brown intercepted his first pass of the season

- Jy Favor recovered a fumble and had two pass breakups

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Catawba forced a punt on LR's first possession and drove the ball inside the Bears' 30-yard line, but a lost fumble stalled the early drive

- The Bears settled for a 42-yard field goal to take an early 3-0 lead

- Christian caught a third-down pass and scampered 36 yards to the end zone on the very next drive to give Catawba the lead, 7-3

- Lenoir-Rhyne's Jalen Ferguson was intercepted by Brown on the very next play, giving Catawba the ball at midfield

- A McArthur catch on 3rd & 7 allowed Williams to score on a third down from 18 yards out to take a 14-3 lead after 15 minutes

SECOND HALF

- The teams traded punts until the Bears converted two third downs on their way to an eight-play scoring drive, when Jamir Fox punched in a two-yard score to cut the Bears' deficit to 14-10

- LR forced a Catawba punt and drove the ball near the end zone, but Simons punched the ball free and Favor recovered at the Catawba one-yard line to prevent a go-ahead score

- With Catawba pinned deep, Lenoir-Rhyne forced a punt, but missed a 34-yard field goal attempt to shorten the deficit further, as Catawba led 14-10 at halftime

THIRD QUARTER

- Catawba was forced to punt on its opening possession and the Bears took advantage, striking for a 21-yard Fox touchdown, but the PAT was botched, keeping the Catawba deficit to 16-14

- A third-down sack forced another Catawba punt, but the Catawba Indian defense held strong in the red zone, forcing LR to a short field goal to stay within arm's reach, 19-14

FOURTH QUARTER

- After the teams traded punts, Fortune's pass was intercepted by Damien Savage and returned 30 yards for a touchdown to stretch the LR lead to 26-14

- A 49-yard heave to Deuce Linder set Catawba up in plus territory on the following drive, but Fortune's pass to the end zone was intercepted

- Catawba forced a punt, but another Fortune pass was picked off, this time returned 70 yards for a touchdown by LR's James Ussery to push the game out of reach 33-14

GAME NOTES

- Lenoir-Rhyne improves to 50-49-4 in the all-time series, a top-10 played rivalry in all of Division II football

- Grant's previous career-high was 34 receiving yards

- Fortune has thrown for over 300 yards in both of his two career starts

- Second touchdown grab for Christian this season, seventh for his Catawba career

- Catawba has held leads in each of its last seven losses this season

UP NEXT

- Catawba wraps up the 2024 season with one final game at Shuford Stadium next week, hosting Tusculum for Senior Night at 6 p.m.