Defense stuffs Catawba in OT to lead football win

SALISBURY, N.C. - On 3rd and 4th-and-1 from its own 2-yard line in overtime, Mars Hill's defense, led by Jasper Mason and Chad Prioleau, stuffed Catawba for no gain on back-to-back plays to lead the Lions to a 31-28 victory over the Catawba Indians in South Atlantic Conference football action on Saturday afternoon at Shuford Stadium and Kirkland Field. With Tusculum's 26-25 win over Lenoir-Rhyne, Mars Hill remains the only undefeated team in conference play. The Lions (No. 25 AFCA, No. 24 D2Football.com) improve to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the SAC, while the Catawba Indians fall to 2-5 and 1-3.

In overtime, Mars Hill converted a fourth-and-16 play on its first series and was able to get a 36-yard field goal from Michael Pinkerton to take the 31-28 lead. The Indians needed a half yard at the one for a first down on its possession, but quarterback Jake Charest got no gain on third down and Josh Wright came up a foot short of a first down on fourth down.

After a scoreless third quarter, Mars Hill grabbed a 28-21 lead on a 71-yard scoring run by Jonas Randolph. The senior finished with 331 yards on 46 carries. Both of those marks set new Mars Hill single game records. Jonas averaged 7.2 yards per carry. Catawba was able to answer back when Charest tossed a 13-yard pass to Bobby Morrison with 8:27 remaining. A 39-yard run by Charest set up the score.

Catawba scored on the game's opening play when Charest found his brother, Nate Charest for a 75 yard score. Mars Hill then scored three times to take a 21-7 edge. Jon Richt had touchdown passes to Patrick Park, Josh Crumpton and Dimitri Holmes to give the Lions its edge early in the second quarter. On his first touchdown pass of the day, Richt set a new Mars Hill career record for most passing touchdowns. The old record of 39 was held by Ashley Abernathy.

Catawba freshman Trey Mashore got the Indians back in it after the third Mars Hill score, taking a kickoff return from three yards deep in his end zone for a touchdown. The Indians got a fourth-down interception by Jumal Rolle to set up the tying score midway through the second quarter. Charest ran in from two yards away to tie the game at 21-all.

Mars Hill finished with 552 total yards, including 375 on the ground. Richt was 18-of-37 through the air for 177 yards and the three scores. Charest completed 10-of-16 passes for Catawba for 137 yards and two touchdowns. He added 54 on the ground. Wright led the Indian rushing attack with 85 yards.

Mason was in on 15 tackles for Mars Hill, including a sack. Prioleau added 10 tackles while Rudy Cabral recorded seven stops. He was in on the key third down stop in overtime. Corey Johnson and Lakeem Perry each had 14 tackles for Catawba.

Mars Hill hosts Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.