September 19, 2015

Catawba blocks Carson-Newman with 14-7 win

JEFFERSON CITY – Catawba (2-1, 1-0 SAC) used a balanced attack and two timely blocked field goals to stiff arm Carson-Newman (2-1, 0-1 SAC) 14-7 Saturday afternoon at Burke-Tarr Stadium.

Catawba

2-1

Carson-Newman

2-1

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Catawba (2-1)	7	0	0	7	14
Carson-Newman (2-1)	0	7	0	0	7

VIDEO: Ken Sparks postgame Interview

VIDEO: Derek Evans postgame Interview

VIDEO: Xavier McFadden Interview

VIDEO: Sha'Heem Stupart Interview

VIDEO: Highlights

JEFFERSON CITY – Catawba (2-1, 1-0 SAC) used a balanced attack and two timely blocked field goals to stiff arm Carson-Newman (2-1, 0-1 SAC) 14-7 Saturday afternoon at Burke-Tarr Stadium.

"We had some guys who had some pretty major letdowns in some places but not because of their heart or they are not trying but because we may be asking some guys to do what they can't do," Carson-Newman head coach Ken Sparks said. "Catawba did a good job and had a good game plan against us. Now is the test and now is when we find out what we are made of."

The closeness of the game should surprise no one as nine of the previous 16 games had been decided by a touchdown or less. Saturday was another close game as Catawba finished the contest with 340 total yards on 69 plays and the Eagles had 315 yards on 61 plays. Catawba held the ball for over 35 minutes in the game.

Indians' quarterback Mike Sheehan was 19-of-24 for 163 yards and a score and ran for 39 yards and another score. The Tribe defense was anchored by Jonathan Jean who had 12 tackles and a sack.

Damian Baker (Columbus, Miss.) led the Eagles' ground attack as he totted the rock 21 times for 117 net yards and a score. De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.) was seven-of-16 for 130 yards with his favorite target being TraShaun Ward (Miami, Fla.) who had 91 yards. Sha'heem Stupart (Taylors, S.C.) once again had a stellar game defensively as he finished the game with 11 tackles. Xavier McFadden (Rock Hill, S.C.) added 10 for Carson-Newman.

The two teams swapped positions three times before the Indians finally got on the board at the 6:07 mark of the first quarter. Catawba took over at their own 26 yard line and moved down the field on the efficient passes of Sheehan who had completions of 15, 13, and another 15 yarder to get the Indians to the seven yard line. He capped the drive with a seven-yard keeper and after Chad Hollandsworth's extra point, Catawba held a 7-0 lead.

The Eagles responded with a quick 82-yard drive of their own. After a Hollandsworth punt pinned the Eagles deep at their own 18 yard line, Thomas connected with Ward for a 75-yard bomb to put C-N in business.

The 75-yard pass play was Carson-Newman's first since 2008, when Justin Long snagged a 75-yard bomb in a route of Concord from Alex Good.

On the next play, Baker ran in from one yard out for the score. Carson Wise (Blacksburg, Va.) booted through the extra point to tie the score at 7-7.

That would be the way things stood at the half as both team's defense made life hard on the other's offense. The Eagles had a chance to take the lead near the end of the first half but Catawba made a big stop. The Indians were at midfield to start a drive but pushed the ball to the C-N 25 on a 25-yard run by Carlos Tarrats. Back-to-back sacks resulted in a loss of 22 yards and Catawba was forced to punt.

Baker ran 19 yards and added another 29 on the next successful draw as the Eagles called timeout with three seconds remaining in the half. Carson-Newman lined up for a 39-yard field goal by Wise but it was blocked by Kyle Kitchens as time expired.

The third quarter was a punt-fest for both teams. The Eagles' vaunted offense just could not get anything going as only once in the quarter did C-N have a play of more than 10 yards, that being a 14-yard rush by Antonio Wimbush late in the quarter.

That drive led over into the fourth quarter where the Eagles seemed to be in position to finally claim the lead. C-N pushed the ball to the 17 yard line and lined up for another field goal, this time a 34-yard attempt but history repeated itself as once again the Indians blocked the kick to thwart the Eagles' scoring threat. This time it was Jeremy Addison who got a paw on the ball.

"I've never seen a time when two missed field goals played such a big role in a ballgame," Sparks said. "That is the first issue we have to get fixed. For about three years now, we have struggled with point after and field goal protection. For 33 years before that we didn't so there is something wrong with that system and we have to get that one figured out."

The momentum switched to the Indians from that point on and they took advantage. Sheehan connected with Brandon Brown for a 57-yard pass and catch to drive the Tribe to the C-N 13. Two plays later, Sheehan hooked up with Gary Williams for an eight-yard score along the right side of the end zone. The extra point made it 14-7 early in the fourth.

One last time the Eagles had a chance to get into position to score but things didn't work out as planned. After Hollandsworth missed a 49-yard field goal, Carson-Newman got the ball at its own 32 with 3:08 remaining. Thomas had a loss on the first play, an incomplete pass on the next and after a costly delay of game penalty and was sacked for a loss of nine yards by Kitchens on third down. The Eagles had no choice but to go for it facing a fourth-and-29 to go at their own 13 yard line. Montavious Taylor caught a pass from Thomas for 12 yards but it was not enough and the Indians took over on downs.

Catawba had a chance to add more points late in the game when they were successful on a 32-yard field goal but the Eagles were flagged for being offsides. Since C-N was out of timeouts and the penalty gave Catawba a first down, the points were taken off the board and the Indians were able to kneel in the victory formation.

Carson-Newman freshman punter Christian Ramirez (Carrolton, Ga.) booted seven times in the game, tied for the second most punts ever for the Eagles in a single game. He averaged 44.3 yards a kick, including a 65-yarder. His 310 punting yards are the second most ever by an Eagle punter in a single game.

Carson-Newman produced just 315 yards of total offense and were outgained by Catawba's 340. Combined with the Eagles' 295 yards of total offense from the Shorter win last week, the Eagles' have failed to match their week one offensive output with the last two week's offensive efforts combined. Carson-Newman's gained 610 yards of total offense the last two weeks. The Eagles gained 646 yards in week one.

The Eagles hit the road for the first time in 2015 in week four. The Eagles will make the trek up the mountain to face Mars Hill for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Coverage will be available on the Eagle Sports Network with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Tailgate Show beginning at noon on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.