Staff report
SALISBURY — Catawba won Saturday’s South Atlantic Conference game against Tusculum about as easily as a South Atlantic Conference football game ever will be won.
It was 28-3 by the time Catawba celebrated with homecoming festivities. The final was 38-3.
The SAC’s weakest team, Tusculum (1-6, 0-6) doesn’t like to throw and the Indians shut down the Pioneers’ running game in front of 1,851 happy fans, so that settled things.
Tusculum’s only score — a 44-yard field goal — was immediately answered by a 97-yard kickoff return TD by Catawba’s Avery Fields III.
Catawba was down to its third running back, but Marquece Williams put the ball in the end zone on a run and a reception.
Catawba (6-2, 4-2) put up 433 yards of offense. Quarterback Preston Brown had 239 passing yards. He threw two TD passes and ran for a score. The Indians were 9-for-13 on third-down conversions, and if you can do that every week, you’ll go undefeated.
Bo Pryor had three catches for 83 yards. Linebacker Jaylen Hinton made nine tackles.
Catawba is 5-0 at home, including two easy non-conference victories. The losses haver been on the road at Emory & Henry and Wingate. Catawba owns a huge road win at league-leader Newberry.
A tough road game is next for Catawba at Carson-Newman next Saturday afternoon. The Eagles have won eight straight home games.
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SALISBURY — Virginia University of at Lynchburg hung with Livingstone for a half, but the Blue Bears dominated the third quarter on Senior Day and took a 44-22 victory.
It was 14-all at the break, as the VUL Dragons answered a rushing TD and a passing TD by LC quarterback Elijah Alexander with two TDs of their own.
But Livingstone (4-4) had a 21-0 edge in a decisive third quarter. The key moment was a defensive TD on a 3-yard fumble return by Jayden Reeder. That play gave the Blue Bears a two-TD lead in front of 1,020 fans, and they finally had control of the game.
Livingstone had over 400 yards of offense and held the Dragons (2-6) to 15 net rushing yards.
Next for Livingstone is the homecoming game with Shaw.
