Catawba Dominates Mars Hill 24-7

Jamelle Cuthbertson's 67-yard burst on a critical third and two early in the fourth quarter not only moved the chains for Catawba during their convincing 24-7 bruising of Mars Hill, but gave the Tribe three shots towards the endzone from the Lion five-yard line.

Backup quarterback Pat Dennis checked into the game with ice water in his veins after George Bell failed to reach pay dirt on a rush and attempted catch from Brian Terwilliger. Jamelle Cuthbertson's 67-yard burst on a critical third and two early in the fourth quarter not only moved the chains for Catawba during their convincing 24-7 bruising of Mars Hill, but gave the Tribe three shots towards the endzone from the Lion five-yard line.

Backup quarterback Pat Dennis checked into the game with ice water in his veins after George Bell failed to reach pay dirt on a rush and attempted catch from Brian Terwilliger.

Dennis, who tied a ars Hischool record with five touchdown tosses two weeks ago against Livingstone, threw a low spiral to sophomore wide out Brandon Bunn for his third receiving touchdown of the season.

More importantly, Catawba capped the scoring at 24-7 with Dennis' superb effort.

The Voice of the Indians, Buddy Poole, had many "Krispy Kremes of the Game" to hand out after the Indians smash-mouth victory in their league opener.

Defensive end Marqus Davis and defensive tackle Brandon Sutton had tremendous success in pressuring Mars Hill senior quarterback Ricky Spradling all day long, but really put the clamps down on the Lion's feared rushing game.

Running back George Washington has been a thorn in Coach Chip Hester's side for the past three years, but the Tribe's head man stacked the box and dared Spradling to beat the Indians with his arm.

Washington was limited to just 11 yards on seven carries, while Louisville transfer George Stripling managed only 50 yards on the afternoon to lead Mars Hill on the ground.

Besides recording a sack against Stripling late in the third quarter, Sutton swayed momentum in Catawba's favor for good after a 38-yard interception return on first down.

"The pick was definitely a momentum shifter, as we have been talking all year about the defensive line taking control of the game," said sophomore defensive end Brandon Sutton minutes after Catawba's big win. "Getting the interception was not only a huge credit to me, but really to the defensive ends Arthur Cromartie and Marqus Davis."

Catawba had ice water in their veins on the last possession of the first half. Took multiple shots in the endzone before bringing out Thomas Trexler to attempt a 34-yard kick with four seconds left in the second quarter.

The hold by Darnell was a thing of beauty, while the kick itself had a lot of distance on it when Catawba went into the locker room with a 17-7 lead.

"That kick by Trexler would have been good from 55," laughed Chip Hester. "He is making plays with his leg and that is a good thing for us, because we as a team have been struggling with consistency on special teams."

Hester said at halftime that the team that was going to come out of Meares Stadium with a win was the team that would continue to establish thee run.

He was right.

The Indians rushed collectively 42 times for 183 yards, and they were not afraid to spice things up with wide out Brian Terwilliger in the shotgun.

Terwilliger connected on two of four passes for 37 yards, while rushing on seven occasions to keep the Mars Hill front seven on their heels.

Starting quarterback Howard Williamson threw the game's first touchdown pass on a 13-yard strike to redshirt-freshman Eric Morman, a real gem to the Indian's in the air.

Memories 1280 agreed that Catawba's depth in the second half allowed the Indians pull away from the Lions when injuries plagued Mars Hill from their physical play.

"I am proud of our team's effort, because they played relentless football all afternoon, " said Hester. "Our effort level was really high and if we play like that every Saturday, we can play against anybody."

"Every week out in this conference is just a tough battle, but we are going to enjoy this one on the way back to Salisbury."

'Once we get back, we will be thinking Newberry."

Not a bad idea as Newberry stopped the Earth's rotation moments after defeating Carson-Newman in a wild 27-21 overtime escapade.