Wingate, N.C. —- The Catawba College football team had a potential go-ahead drive in the final two minutes at South Atlantic Conference leader Wingate, but the Catawba Indians were unable to convert on fourth and short before the Bulldogs scored a late touchdown to pull away, 24-15 at Irwin Belk Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Junior running back LJ Turner broke the Catawba program's 16-year-old single-season rushing record in the loss.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Both teams recorded 17 first downs
- Wingate was 5-for-11 (45 percent) on third down while holding Catawba to 2-of-14 (14 percent) on third down
- Catawba did well on fourth down, however, converting three of four attempts (75 percent)
- The Bulldogs recorded 445 yards of total offense to Catawba's 305
- WU held the slight edge in passing yards 172-148
- Wingate tallied 273 yards on the ground, while Catawba had 157 yards rushing
- Catawba was penalized six times for 71 yards; Wingate was flagged twice as much – 12 times for 112 yards
- Both teams lost a fumble on the afternoon
- The Catawba Indians recorded three of five sacks in the ballgame
- Catawba won the time-of-possession battle 32:56 to 27:04
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Turner took 25 carries for 156 yards and a touchdown
- Kobe Christian hauled in a team-high six passes for 69 yards
- Hunter Sheppard was 18-for-30 with 148 yards passing and a touchdown
- Deuce Linder was the recipient of the touchdown pass
- Evan Simons recorded a team-best eight tackles with a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery
- Jaylen Hinton added six tackles and two quarterback hurries
- CJ Dixon and Evan Pauling also tallied sacks on the afternoon
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
- Wingate's punt on its opening possession was blocked and recovered by Dameyon Gathings deep in Wingate territory
- Catawba's drive stalled from there, settling for Wade Robins' successful 40-yard field goal try
- The Bulldogs took the first play of its ensuing drive 75 yards to take the early lead on the touchdown
- After the teams traded punts, a 31-yard pass to JJ Grant set Catawba up on the Wingate half of the field
- Turner broke through on a 4th & 1 to score from 23 yards out, but the point-after was blocked, so Catawba's lead was just two points after the six-play, 75-yard scoring drive
SECOND QUARTER
- The Bulldogs responded by driving the ball inside the Catawba 10-yard line, but the Catawba Indian defense stood tall there, forcing WU to settle for the 25-yard chip shot to retake a 10-9 edge
- Back-to-back plays of a 20-yard reception from Amari McArthur and Turner's 31-yard rush set Catawba up at the Wingate 12-yard line, but the Bulldogs forced Catawba to a field goal try and the 23-yard try was no good
- Catawba forced another Wingate punt and went on another 11-play drive that included a 4th down conversion from Turner, but another field goal was wide right, this time from 42 yards out just before the teams hit the halftime locker room
THIRD QUARTER
- Catawba started its opening drive of the second half at its own 40-yard line and a 20-yard completion to Christian put the Catawba Indians in positive territory, but the drive stalled and they were forced to punt
- On 3rd & 11 Wingate's Brooks Bentley hit Matt Flanders for a 45-yard touchdown strike to extend their lead to 17-9 near the midway point of the quarter
- Catawba's ensuing drive started on a great note with Christian's 22-yard catch and run; Linder hauled in Sheppard's touchdown pass on 3rd & goal from the seven-yard line, but Mike Geter's pass on the potential game-tying two-point conversion sailed long and Wingate held a slim 17-15 lead
FOURTH QUARTER
- Wingate completed a pass inside the Catawba red zone, but Simons punched the ball out and recovered the fumble, taking away a scoring opportunity for the Bulldogs
- The teams traded punts until Catawba got the ball back on its own 20-yard line with less than five minutes to go
- Catawba converted two first downs to move the ball into Wingate territory, but the Bulldog defense stood tall on a 3rd & 2 and the following 4th & 1 to turn the ball back over to its offense
- The Catawba Indian defense stuffed two runs and called timeouts to try to get the ball back, but WU's Xavier Pugh broke through with a 57-yard touchdown to go up two scores
- Wingate's Marquise Fleming stripped Sheppard on a sack on the second play of the ensuing drive
GAME NOTES
- Turner passes Jamelle Cuthbertson for the most rushing yards in a single season in Catawba program history
- Turner now stands at 1,224 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns on the season; Turner entered the week as the second-leading rusher in Division II
- Turner's third straight game of 25 carries and 150 yards rushing; the next highest rusher in the SAC is almost 400 yards behind Turner
- His fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game also matches a Catawba program record last set by Cuthbertson in '08
- Linder's third touchdown catch of the year
- Simons' second forced fumble is tied for most in the SAC; his 59 tackles ranks sixth
UP NEXT
- Catawba heads to Barton next Saturday as it continues SAC Piedmont Division play with a 2 p.m. kickoff on Nov. 2
