Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College football team dropped its South Atlantic Conference opener against Mars Hill at Shuford Stadium on Saturday night, 35-20.
TEAM STATS
- Mars Hill gained 21 first downs to Catawba's 18
- The Lions out-gained Catawba 461-362
- Catawba's passing attacked out-gained Mars Hill's 321-216
- MHU rushed for 245 yards to Catawba's 41
- Mars Hill converted on six of 12 first downs; Catawba was 4-of-11 on third downs
- The teams combined for three fumbles, but none were lost
- The Lions had the lone interception on the night
- MHU won the time possession battle 34:09 to 25:51
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Preston Brown went 24-for-41 for 321 yards, three touchdowns and an interception
- Bo Pryor had eight catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns
- Conner McCarthy hauled in six passes for 75 yards
- LJ Turner had a team-high 24 rushing yards on three carries
- Marquece Williams went for 20 yards on the ground, while catching three passes for 25 yards and a receiving touchdown
- Deno Wardlow made a team-high 12 tackles
- Christian Campbell added eight tackles with 2.5 for loss
- Darryll Malachi forced a fumble on a tackle for loss
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
- Mars Hill's opening drive ended in a Campbell sack and were forced to punt
- Pryor took a Brown pass 78 yards to the house to give Catawba an early touchdown lead
- A 45-yard return set up the Lions with a short field and punched it in with a 9-yard plunge from Jon Gullette
- After trading punts, a one-handed McCarthy catch set up a 7-yard Pryor touchdown grab to give Catawba a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter
SECOND QUARTER
- Mars Hill answered with a 10-play drive, capped by a 1-yard touchdown run from Joe Taylor Jr. to re-tie the game
- The teams traded punts until the Lions took the lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass to Simeon Thompson with just under three minutes left in the half, as MHU took a 21-14 lead into the half
- A 42-yard Pryor catch put Catawba into opponent territory, but a 39-yard field goal try toward the end of the half was no good
THIRD QUARTER
- The Lions took its first offensive possession 90 yards in 10 plays as Taylor Jr. finished the scoring drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to go up 28-14
FOURTH QUARTER
- A trick play on the first play from MHU's first possession of the fourth quarter saw Malik Laurent find Thompson for a 79-yard touchdown to go up 35-14
- Catawba answered with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Williams, but the extra point was blocked
- Mars Hill drove down the field, but missed a 35-yard field goal try off the upright
- A deep ball was intercepted on Catawba's first play of the ensuing possession
- Catawba could not convert on a fourth down in the closing minute to fall in the conference opener
GAME NOTES
- Career-high 162 receiving yards for Pryor
- His five touchdown passes through three games is already a career-high
- Second-straight game of 100+ receiving yards
- Second-straight games of 300+ passing yards for Brown
- His 63 completions, 896 passing yards and 12 touchdowns lead the SAC
UP NEXT
- Catawba hits the road next Saturday, traveling to Greeneville, Tenn. to face Tusculum for a 4 p.m. kickoff
