SALISBURY, N.C. --- Marquece Williams and Kevon Rivera rushed for 150 and 106 yards respectively while Catawba scored a pair of defensive touchdowns to lead the Catawba Indians to a 47-15 win over visiting Tusculum Saturday night at Shuford Stadium. It was the season-finale for both teams.
Catawba (3-8) snaps a five-game losing streak while the Pioneers end its season with a 1-9 record.
The Tribe amassed 372 yards offensively including 279 on the ground while Tusculum finished the game with 283 yards and committed three turnovers.
Catawba quarterback Mason Fortune went 11-of-23 for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Williams' posted 20 carries on his 150-yard performance including his 35-yard touchdown to get the scoring started. Rivera got his 106-yard outing on 16 rush attempts including his 12-yard TD run in the final moments of the game.
Tusculum quarterback Richard Hunter came off the bench and went 11-of-19 for 162 yards with an interception. He took over for senior Matthew Palazzo who was under center in TU's three possessions in the first quarter.
Jojo Restall ran for 45 yards on six carries including a two-yard TD run in the third quarter or his team-leading fifth rushing score of the season. Jalen Hunt accounted for Tusculum's other score with his two-yard TD run, his third of 2024. TU senior Corey Moraux led all players with his four receptions for 50 yards, while graduate student added three grabs for 47 yards in this final game in the Black & Orange.
Defensively, Daryl Smith led all players with his 10 tackles including seven solo hits. Ian Hubbert added eight stops, while Malachi Jim-Lawson and Rashad Watson tallied six tackles apiece.
Jaylen Hinton was Catawba's top defender with his eight tackles, while Denoris Wardlow finished with five passes defended including a 44-yard interception return for a touchdown. Catawba's Rickey Jones returned a fumble for a 54-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter for the hosts.
Tusculum punter Stefaan Forbes capped a phenomenal season for the Pioneers as he averaged 46.0 yards per punt including a 70-yarder which is tied for seventh-longest in program history. Forbes established a new TU single-season record his 45.40 punting average, shattering the previous school mark of 43.55 set by Dick Schultz during the 1941 campaign.
Catawba jumped out to a 13-0 lead thanks to Williams' 35-yard TD run and back-to-back field goals from Wade Robins covering 43 and 27 yards.
Tusculum got on the board in the second period when Hunt found the end zone to cap a nine-play, 88-yard drive. John Aiden Pittman's kick made it a 13-7 with 10:54 left in the first half.
After surrendering scores on Catawba's first three possessions, the Tusculum defense held on the fourth drive and forced a punt. But three plays later, Hunter was picked off by Wardlow who returned the interception for the 44-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 20-7 with 3:01 left in the half. It was the fifth pick-6 surrendered by Tusculum this season.
The Pioneers got to midfield but a costly offensive holding penalty and later followed by a sack stopped the drive as TU was forced to punt as Catawba took the 13-point lead (20-7) into the locker room.
Catawba took the opening possession of the third quarter but a holding penalty, followed by a sack from TU linebacker TJ Jingozian but the Indians behind the sticks and were forced to punt.
Tusculum got across midfield and were faced with fourth-down and two yards to go at the CAT 47. But Jy Favor came up with sack in the backfield to stop the drive and took over at the TU 44 at the 9:24 mark of the quarter.
Catawba faced fourth-down and two yards to go at the TU 36, but Rivera converted it with his four-yard run up the middle. Two plays later, Fortune connected with Joshua Grant on a 29-yard touchdown pass to increase the lead to 26-7. The two-point try would fail.
The teams would exchange punts on their next possessions. Tusculum would convert on third-down twice, including a 25-yard completion from Richard Hunter to his brother, tight end Reginald Hunter to get to the CAT 24. Restall followed with a 22-yard run up the middle to get to the CAT 2. Restall would punch it in from there. The Hunter brothers connected on the two-point conversion pass play as Tusculum got to within 26-15 with four seconds left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Mike Geter posted a 40-yard return to put the Catawba Indians in great field position at the TU 49 on the final play of the quarter. Catawba would take the short field and take eight plays before Fortune completed a 10-yard TD pass to Jaylin Linder for the score to extend the lead to 33-15 with 10:40 left.
With Tusculum driving into Catawba territory, Richard Hunter was sacked by Evan Simons as the ball was dislodged and Jones picked up the football and scampered for a 54-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach.
Tusculum senior linebacker Earnest Johnson III finished the game with five tackles, giving him 212 stops for his career which rank 19th in program history.
Saturday marked the final Tusculum game for 26 seniors.