WISE – The Highland Cavalier football team will hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to Catawba for a South Atlantic Conference matchup with the Catawba Indians Saturday evening.
UVA Wise (0-2, 0-0 SAC) will enter the contest in search of their first win of the season, while Catawba is 1-1 and 0-1 in conference play with a win over Ferrum and a loss last week at Emory and Henry.
Catawba will be seeking revenge for last year's 31-28 loss to the Cavs in Wise, while Coach
Gary Bass will be going for the second straight win against his alma mater. The Cavs lead the overall series 3-0 dating back to 2019.
Links to the game broadcast, live stats, and tickets can be found on the upper right.
GETTING WISE
- The Cavs are out-rushing their opponent thus far by a 406-98 yards margin. That is partly due to a strong rushing defense (first in the SAC and eighth in Division II) which limited Newberry to a SAC-low 20 attempts for 75 yards last week and held Concord to only 23 yards two weeks ago. And partly due to a strong rushing attack led by
Daniel Thomas, who ran for 161 yards and two TDs last week.
Andon Rogers and
Jake Corkren have also rushed twelve times apiece.
- The Cavs are also having success in passing this season and currently rank fifth in the SAC in pass offense.
Jake Corkren is fifth in the SAC in passing average a game as he has gone 289-510-12 for 2,660 yards and 14 touchdowns.
- Catching those passes are
DJ Powell (11 receptions for 107 yards),
Peyton McClanahan (8-89),
Tre'mell Washington (5-39), and
Kahlil Jones (4-72) amongst others.
- Defensively,
Jimmie Simmons leads the team and ranks eleventh in the SAC in tackles with 15. He also has 2.5 tackles for loss for a total of 4 yards. Matthew Strong has eleven tackles, an interception, and a pass breakup.
Simeon John Jr and
DaCorian Jones-Montgomery have nine tackles apiece.
ABOUT CATAWBA
- Catawba has a 38-30 margin in first downs this season, have out-rushed opponents 453-306, and out-passed the opposition 346-283. Those totals are slightly skewed by their 45-13 win over Ferrum as against E&H last week they were held to 160 rushing and 144 passing yards.
- Preston Brown is the main quarterback and has gone 23-35-0 for 346 yards and four TDs this season. He ranks second in the SAC in passing efficiency.
- Bennett Galloway has rushed 29 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns, while Kevin Lalin has 135 yards from 15 carries for 132 yards. Quece Williams has 14 carries for 57 yards as well.
- It's a bit of a "reception by committee" game for the Catawba Indians as they have used eight receivers this season. Bo Pryor has five catches for 112 yards and two TDs, while Amari McArthur has four receptions for 58 yards. Two other receivers have four catches apiece.
- Evan Simons leads the team and is fifth in the SAC in tackles with 17. He also has four tackles for a loss of twelve yards and a sack. Jaylen Hinton has thirteen tackles, while Nigel Gay has twelve.
UP NEXT
UVA Wise will return home to host Wingate in South Atlantic Conference action on Sept. 20. Kickoff for that game is set for 6 p.m.
