Jefferson City, Tenn. — The Catawba College football team threatened to tie Carson-Newman with a late-game drive after trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter, but the comeback bid fell short, falling in a key game in the South Atlantic Conference championship race, 24-16.

TEAM STATISTICS

- Catawba out-gained Carson-Newman 308-296

- The Eagles picked up 188 yards on the ground to Catawba's 104 on the ground

- Catawba threw for 204 yards while holding C-N to 108 yards passing

- The Catawba Indians picked up 17 first downs to 15 for Carson-Newman

- The Eagles held a slim 30:20 to 29:40 edge in time of possession

- Catawba held C-N to 4-for-11 on third down, but was limited to 4-of-14 themselves

- The Catawba Indians totaled one sack on defense, but Carson-Newman tallied five

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Nick Venezia hauled in five passes for a career-best 92 yards and a touchdown

- Bo Pryor became the program's all-time career receptions leader with two catches for 60 yards

- Preston Brown was 13-for-25 for 204 yards, a touchdown and an interception

- Kevin Lalin ran for a team-best 41 yards; Kevon Rivera added 40 rush yards

- Braylon Baker piled on a career-high 14 tackles with a sack fumble

- Joshua Thomas added 10 tackles with five solo stops and a TFL

- Bryson Sims was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Carson-Newman forced a Catawba punt on their opening drive and drove down to the two-yard line, but settled for a chip shot field goal to take the early lead

- Chunk plays from Rivera and Pryor brought the Catawba Indian offense to the C-N 2-yard line, but the Eagles defense forced Catawba to settle for three points

SECOND QUARTER

- Another 33-yard pitch and catch from Brown to Pryor set the Catawba Indians inside the C-N 10-yard line yet again, but the Eagles came up with a third-down sack to force another Catawba field goal

- The Eagles drove the ball into Catawba territory, but Baker's sack fumble on third down gave the Catawba Indians the ball back with the lead

- Three plays later, the Eagles forced a fumble of their own and recovered in Catawba territory

- Jayden Sullins scored from three yards out as the Eagles took a 10-6 lead into the halftime locker room

THIRD QUARTER

- The teams traded punts on their opening possession of the second half; Carson-Newman went for a 4th & 2 from midfield and Catawba's Nigel Gay made the stop, turning the ball over

- Carson-Newman forced a punt and scored on Cade Meek's 33-yard touchdown grab to push the lead to 17-6 with under five minutes left in the quarter

FOURTH QUARTER

- Catawba once again drove the ball inside the 10-yard line, but a sack forced a 26-yard field goal to cut the game to a one-possession difference 17-9

- The teams traded punts before C-N's James Maddox finished off a nine-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 24-9 with less than six minutes left

- A 30-yard catch from Venezia jumpstarted the next drive, which saw Brown's interception negated by a defensive holding penalty to set up Venezia's 15-yard touchdown grab

- On another 4th & 2 near midfield, Carson-Newman was stuffed again by Jaylen Hinton and Gay to turn the ball over to the Catawba offense down eight with a chance to tie the game

- A 22-yard completion to Venezia on a 4th & 20 extended the Catawba drive, but Brown's pass on 1st & 10 from inside the C-N 20-yard line was intercepted to seal the game

UP NEXT

- Catawba returns to Shuford Stadium for the final time this season next Saturday, hosting Anderson for Senior Day and the Hall of Fame Game; kickoff is set for 6 p.m.