Hickory, N.C. —- The Catawba College football team overcame a 30-point deficit in a 15-minute span in the second half at Lenoir-Rhyne in the 2025 season finale, but the Bears scored a late touchdown to take the wild 48-46 decision at Moretz Stadium on Saturday.
TEAM STATISTICS
- Catawba out-gained Lenoir-Rhyne 626-440
- The Bears led 214-141 in rushing yards
- The Catawba Indians threw for 485 yards compared to LR's 226
- Catawba converted 28 first downs to Lenoir-Rhyne's 19
- The Catawba Indians led the time-of-possession battle 36:28 to 23:32
- The Bears were 8-for-14 on third downs, while holding Catawba to 5-of-15
- The Catawba Indians converted four of five fourth downs; LR converted both fourth down attempts
- Both teams suffered an interception and a fumble
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Preston Brown was 37-for-55 with 485 passing yards, five touchdowns through the air with an interception
- He also added 41 net rush yards with another touchdown on the ground
- Bo Pryor hauled in 11 catches for a career-high 171 receiving yards and two touchdowns
- Amari McArthur added five catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns
- Jalen Brown hauled in eight catches for 65 yards
- Evan Simons had a team-high nine tackles with one for a loss
- Jaylen Hinton added eight stops and a PBU
- Luke Raykovicz came up with an interception with six tackles
- Bryson Sims was 2-for-2 on field goal attempts
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
- Catawba converted a third down and fourth down on its opening drive of the game, settling for a Sims 34-yard field goal
- The Bears took a swing pass on third down and took it 68 yards for a touchdown to take an early 7-3 lead after the first 15 minutes
SECOND QUARTER
- Catawba went on another lengthy drive on their next possession, going inside the 10-yard line, but once again settled for a Sims field goal, pulling within a point
- Lenoir-Rhyne returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, leading 14-6
- The teams traded punts until LR's Alex Boyd ran it in from 19 yards out near the three-minute mark, going up 21-6
- Catawba was forced to punt, but the Bears muffed the ball and the Catawba Indians recovered
- Two plays later, the Bears forced an interception and returned it 35 yards near midfield
- The Bears completed a two-minute drill and punched it in just before the half, leading 28-6 at the break
THIRD QUARTER
- LR got the opening kickoff to start the second half and Songa Yates caught a four-yard touchdown pass, pushing their lead to 35-6
- Catawba responded with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Pryor; the two-point try failed, leaving the Bears ahead 35-12
- Khamoni Robinson's deep pass was complete to Tate O'Bryen for the 32-yard score, pushing the Bears' lead to 42-12
- Catawba marched down the field in just seven plays, striking with a 16-yard McArthur touchdown with under a minute to go in the period, trailing 42-19 heading into the fourth
FOURTH QUARTER
- After Catawba turned the ball over on downs, LR ran a reverse pass and Raykovicz skied for the interception
- A 32-yard catch and run from Pryor set up Brown's 23-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 42-26 with nine minutes to go
- The Catawba Indians forced a three and out and Quece Williams' 43-yard rush on fourth down propelled them to another scoring drive; Jaylin Davis hauled in a touchdown from three yards out, but the two-point try failed with LR leading 42-32 with under four minutes remaining
- Catawba recovered the onside kick to set up shop inside the Lenoir-Rhyne 40
- Brown found Jalen Brown on fourth down to extend the ensuing drive; Brown found Pryor again for a 15-yard touchdown to cut the difference to 42-39
- LR went for 27 yards on the opening play of their next drive, but Catawba's defense tightened up and forced an LR punt with 95 seconds remaining
- Brown and McArthur connected for an 87-yard touchdown to lead after trailing by 30 points with 16 minutes to go, leading 46-42
- The Bears answered with a nine-play drive, capped by Robinson's 13-yard touchdown run for the go-ahead score
