GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Catawba College Indians clinched a share of the South Atlantic Conference football championship with Saturday's 24-6 win at Tusculum College.
The Catawba Indians (8-2, 5-1 SAC) capture the program's seventh SAC title overall and first since 2007.
Catawba will host Lenoir-Rhyne University next Saturday at Shuford Stadium against the four-time defending league champions. Tusculum will make the 50-mile trek to Jefferson City to face arch-rival Carson-Newman University for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Burke-Tarr Stadium.
Catawba's Cary Littlejohn rushed for 100 yards on 21 carries, while quarterback Mike Sheehan went 14-of-24 for 234 passing yards and two touchdowns.
The Catawba defense limited the Pioneers (4-6, 2-4 SAC) to a pair of Will Tommie field goals as TC failed to score a touchdown for the first time since 2012 (14-6 loss at Catawba).
Offensively, the Pioneers were led by freshman running back Josh Jackson as he ran for a season-high 79 yards on 15 carries. Sophomore teammate Isaac Robinson ran for 50 yards on nine attempts, sophomore signal caller Luke Lancaster passed for 173 yards, going 18-for-34 through the air with zero interceptions, but was sacked a season-high three times.
On defense, TC's Brandyn Bartlett led all tacklers with 12 stops, including one for loss and forced a fumble, while Matt Simon tallied a career-high 10 stops, including one for loss and a fumble recovery.
Tusculum got on the scoreboard first as Tommie connected on a season-long 46-yard field goal to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead at the 4:26 mark of the first quarter.
Catawba answered early in the second quarter as Sheehan completed a 39-yard strike to Carlos Tarrats to the TC 7. Two plays later, Sheehan punched it into the end zone with a two-yard scamper. Chad Hollandsworth's kick gave the Indians a 7-3 lead with 12:21 left before halftime.
The Indians scored again on its next possession, this time on a 25-yard shuffle pass from Sheehan to David Burgess as he broke through three tackles and plunged into the end zone for a 14-3 lead with 4:00 left before the intermission.
Catawba took the opening possession of the second half and went 75 yards in eight plays, capped off by a 35-yard TD toss from Sheehan to Brandon Brown at the 11:20 mark of the third quarter as the Indians led 21-3.
Tusculum trimmed the deficit to 21-6 as Tommie connected on his second field goal of the afternoon, this time for 24 yards out at the 3:23 mark of the third period.
Catawba added to their lead early in the fourth quarter as Hollandsworth booted a 22-yard field through the goal posts and a 24-6 advantage with 11:28 left in the contest.
Tusculum would turn the ball over on downs on its next two possessions and Lancaster was sacked on the final play of the game.
Tarrats was the game's leading receiver with 85 yards on five catches, while Brown and Burgess finished with 44 and 38 receiving yards respectively, including a TD catch apiece.
Tusculum senior Justin Houston made seven grabs for 48 yards in his final game at Pioneer Field. Senior teammate Ken Funnye added 50 yards on three catches as he is just six yards shy to join become the eighth TC receiver with over 2,000 career receiving yards.
Catawba's Trey Evans and Jonathan Jean finished with nine tackles each, while CJ Barksdale and Michael Peppers finished with eight hits apiece.
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