Staff report
WINGATE — Catawba football fans wondering if Wingate has a punter are still waiting to find out.
The Bulldogs smashed Catawba for 527 yards of offense on Saturday night (281 rushing, 246 passing), racked up 26 first downs and never were forced to punt.
The Bulldogs won 41-28 in the South Atlantic Conference contest, but it wasn’t as close as it sounds. Wingate jumped on the Indians 21-0 and were in control all the way. Catawba got a score with eight seconds left to make the final tally look more respectable.
Catawba (5-2, 3-2) had won four in a row to move into the thick of the SAC race, but the Bulldogs weren’t impressed with that winning streak and beat Catawba for the ninth time in a row. The Indians last won in the series in 2016. Yu have to go back to 2010 to find another victory by the Indians in the long-running series.
Wingate (4-2, 2-2) was a desperate team after a loss to Carson-Newman followed by a crazy 43-42 overtime setback against Newberry, but Catawba brought out the best in the Bulldogs one more time.
Both teams are still in the SAC race, as no one in the league is undefeated. The frontrunners are Emory & Henry (Catawba lost to the Wasps) and Newberry (Catawba beat the Wolves) with one loss each. All the two-loss teams in the league are still very much alive. Emory & Henry plays Wingate next week and Newberry the week after that.
Catawba’s defense was missing leader Evan Simons, who was the reigning SAC Defensive Player of the Week, for the showdown at Irwin Belk Stadium, and it showed. Wingate’s offense did whatever it wanted to and averaged 8 yards per play.
Xavier Pugh carried 20 times for 164 yards and three TDs for the Bulldogs. QB Elijah Homes passed for 246, rushed for 64 and accounted for two scores. Jaylen Hines had seven catches for 105 yards.
Both teams turned it over once.
Catawba’s Preston Brown threw for 232 yards, but Wingate’s defense was able to stifle Catawba’s normally potent running game.
Wingate set the tone early with a Catawba three-and-out that was followed by a 74-yard scoring drive by the Bulldogs. Then Holmes broke a 33-yard run for a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.
After Wingate’s defense got another stop, the Bulldogs drove 88 yards to make it 21-0.
Catawba was able to get on the board late in the first half on Brown’s 16-yard TD pass to former North Rowan star Amari McArthur.
After Wingate took the second-half kickoff and rolled for 93 yards for a 28-7 edge, the Bulldogs were right back in command.
Brown threw a 17-yard TD pass to Jalen Brown with two seconds left in the third quarter for 28-14, but the Bulldogs bumped the lead to 35-14 in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
Preston Brown’s 15-yard scoring run and his TD pass to Jalen Brown in the waning moments left finished the scoring for the Indians.
Wingate’s big game at Emory & Henry is next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Catawba will be off next Saturday and will host Tusculum on Oct. 25. Tusculum is 1-5 in the league.
