SALISBURY, N.C. — The Catawba College football team fell to the 14th-ranked Carson-Newman Eagles, 41-7, in a South Atlantic Conference skirmish at Shuford Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Catawba Indians (4-5, 3-4 SAC) had a solid showing through the air with Mason Fortune going 15-for-23 with a touchdown. Tracy Harrington enjoyed a career day with 92 yards on three receptions, highlighted by his first collegiate TD on a 70-yard reception. Nick Venezia hauled in a team-high five passes, all short grabs reflected by totaling 16 yards. JP Gilchrist made two catches for 19 yards with a game-long 16-yard snag.
Catawba was led on the ground by Bennett Galloway who tallied 28 yards on six touches. Jayden Jones moved the ball well again, earning a team-high eight carries for 24 yards. Fortune gained 37 rushing yards but netted in the negative.
Braylon Baker fronted the defensive effort with six tackles, followed by Cam Anderson and RJ Brown at five stops apiece. Anderson, Brown and Jy Favor topped the lineup in solo tackles at four. Kyiev Bennermon registered a sack as Jaylen Hinton and Isaiah Herrera each logged one tackle for loss.
Carson-Newman (8-1, 6-1 SAC) did not record a pass attempt and was sacked on its only verifiable drop-back. Instead, the Eagles employed a dominant ground game using the triple option that totaled 368 yards. The rushing attack gave C-N a 368-202 advantage in total offense with four more yards per play. Penalties grounded the Eagles on multiple occasions as they were flagged more by four penalties (12-8) and yardage (135-63).
Catawba had a bright spot in its third-down defense which did not allow the Eagles to convert on eight tries, while the offense converted two of 13 attempts. It was a steady afternoon on kickoff return as Tre Fields returned all eight kicks, generating 169 yards for a 21.1 average.
The contest was scoreless for the first 12 minutes, beginning with a foul-filled opening drive that featured a combined four penalties. The Eagles found paydirt late in the first quarter and early in the second to jump ahead 14-0. After drilling a 41-yard field goal, C-N forced a Catawba turnover on downs and reached the paint on the next play. The blue and white moved into Eagle territory with five straight completions, getting to the 39 when the game clock expired.
Behind 38-0 midway through the third stanza, Harrington secured a pass from Fortune at Catawba's 35-yard line and took it 65 more yards to the end zone to put the hosts on the board. Francisco Garcia Rodriguez put the extra point through, then turned kicking duties over to Bryson Sims for the kickoff. Sims popped a pooch kick over the visitors' front line in a virtual onside attempt that nearly resulted in a Catawba recovery, but the Eagles fell on it. One last score for C-N was a 47-yard boot with 30 seconds left in the third as Catawba blanked the Eagles in the fourth.
The Catawba Indians remain in contention for a winning season at four victories with two matchups left on the docket. Catawba hits the road on Saturday, Nov. 7, for a road test at UVA Wise that kicks off that 3 p.m. The blue and white return to Shuford Stadium the following Saturday, facing off against nemesis Lenoir-Rhyne on Senior Day/Hall of Fame Day.
