By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
Brad Roach broke the single-season record for touchdown throws by a Catawba quarterback in Saturday’s 45-0 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne in the regular season finale. The win gave the Indians a share of the South Atlantic Conference championship.
Roach threw three TD strikes to give him 24 for the season. The senior was 17-of-24 for 243 yards.
Roach had touchdown throws of 30 and 9 yards in the second quarter and 33 yards in the third.
For the season, Roach is 187-of-310 (60.3 percent) for 2,704 yards. He’s thrown 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
On the ground, the former Williamston High School standout has rushed for 91 yards and three scores on 32 carries.
Roach is close to two other passing records, completion percentage (60.7 percent) and passing yards in a season (2,785), both held by Luke Samples.
The Indians (10-1, 6-1 South Atlantic) earned a No. 4 seed in the Southeast Region of the NCAA II playoffs and will play host to No. 5 seed Albany State (8-2) on Saturday.
The winner will play at top-seeded Valdosta State (9-1) on Nov. 24.
HAYWOOD, WHITNEY, RODGERS
Bryan Haywood, Davelle Whitney and Nigel Rodgers helped lead the N.C. Wesleyan Bishops to an undisputed USA South Conference championship. The three local products helped lead the Bishops to a 55-14 win over Greensboro in Saturday’s regular season finale, which capped off a perfect USA-South run.
It’s the first time in league history a team has gone undefeated in conference play.
Haywood led all rushers with 143 yards on 10 carries, including a long of 53 yards. He also had one kickoff return for 27 yards.
For the year, Haywood, a former standout at Southside High School, has 93 carries for a team-leading 769 yards (8.3 average) and eight touchdowns, 10 receptions for 103 yards and a score, and 13 kickoff returns for 265 yards (20.4 average). Haywood’s 1,137 all-purpose yards leads the Bishops.
Whitney was credited with three tackles in the game while Rodgers didn’t record any stats.
Whitney, a former teammate of Haywood’s at Southside, has a total of 27.5 tackles, two interceptions and a sack on the year.
Rodgers, a former standout at Washington High School, has 10 tackles and one fumble recovery this season.
The Bishops (8-2, 7-0 USA South), who have won eight straight, earned their first-ever Division III playoff bid. N.C. Wesleyan, a No. 8 seed, will play on the road in a noon game against Pennsylvania’s Washington &Jefferson College Presidents (10-0), the top seed.
The winner of Saturday’s game will take on the survivor between Trinity and UMHB on Nov. 24 in the second round.
WILSON
C.J. Wilson, a defensive end for the East Carolina Pirates, had three tackles and one quarterback hurry in Saturday’s 26-7 loss to Marshall.
For the season, Wilson, a former standout at Northside High School, has 34 tackles. Wilson has six sacks for 42 yards in loss, 11 quarterback hurries, one forced fumble, one blocked field goal and one blocked PAT.
The Pirates (6-5, 5-2 C-USA), off next week, close the regular season Nov. 24 in a 1 p.m. home game against Tulane.
GODDARD, MOORE
Trimane Goddard, a starting safety for the North Carolina Tar Heels, had seven tackles in a 31-27 loss to N.C. State on Saturday.
For the season, Goddard, a safety and former standout at Roanoke High School, has 54 tackles, two interceptions, one sack and two forced fumbles.
Jock Moore, a fullback and former standout at Washington High School, has not compiled any stats to date.
The Heels (3-7, 2-4 ACC) play at Georgia Tech in a noon game next Saturday.
CLEMMONS
Jamaine Clemmons, a defensive lineman for the N.C. State Wolfpack, didn’t record any stats in Saturday’s 31-27 win over North Carolina.
Clemmons, a former standout at Williamston High School, has three tackles and one quarterback pressure this season.
The Wolfpack (5-5, 3-3 ACC) plays at Wake Forest in a 4 p.m. game next Saturday.
PALMER
Greg Palmer, a linebacker for the Chowan Hawks, had one tackle in Saturday’s 61-55 four-overtime victory over Newport News Apprentice in the regular season finale.
For the season, Palmer, a former standout at Northside High School, finished with 26 tackles, one sack, one pass deflection and two quarterback hurries.
The Hawks finished 2-9 this year.