Salisbury
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Nestled just north of Charlotte North Carolina is Catawba College, home of the Indians in Salisbury North Carolina. The Indians kicked off their 2010 season Saturday night against the Saint Augustine's College Falcons.
Don't come to Salisbury North Carolina and Catawba College if you are used to huge stadiums, giant bands and tons of cheerleaders this isn't that type of football. The Catawba College Indians are members of the Division II and are members of the South Atlantic Conference. Their stadium has a seating capacity of 4,000 but can accommodate up to 5,000 and the field was named after Gordon Kirkland, the former Indians' coach.
The Catawba Band opened up the season with the National Anthem, and a new fight song for the school. The school is not represented by a huge band, but a small but talented 28 members.
The Indians got the ball to start the game but found themselves going three and out in their first possession. Once on defense Brandon Sutton of the Indians broke free and recorded the first sack of the year for the Indians forcing the Falcons to kick on fourth and long.
From the home side of the field spectators were in the shade on a mid-70's evening, breaking the 90+ degree heat the Carolinas had been experiencing the last few weeks. The home stands also provide a view of the campus rising on the hill behind the stadium, two classically designed brick buildings.
Located just 30 minutes north of Charlotte, NC the Catawba College Indians call Salisbury home.
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This opening Saturday Charlotte sports show host, Mark Packard and his "Southern Fried Football" Tour made a visit to what he categorized as a family friendly facility. Tickets for adults are $10 for general admission and $15 for reserved seats, and children under-five get in free. There is no huge scoreboard with a jumbo-tron just a simple score, downs, time, yardage and timeouts. The scoreboard is flanked by Cheerwine and F&M Bank advertisements.
There are no seats in the end-zone and no designated student section. Fans are allowed to set up folding chairs in the end-zone to watch the game. There was even an ice cream cart on the home-side along the track for the fans on the field.
The first quarter ended with a zero-zero tie in this the third meeting between the two teams. Each team has a victory each. This is the third year in the row the two teams opened the season facing each other. Each team had a victory on the other's field.
Located just 30 minutes north of Charlotte, NC the Catawba College Indians call Salisbury home.
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Halftime of the game featured the Catawba Spirit Band and a tribute to Michael McDonald. The game was 7-6 at halftime favoring home team Catawba. By the time halftime rolled in the sun had set and the lantern style street lights of the campus illuminated the sidewalk and the stadium lights darkened the view of the campus behind.
The stands remained full of families with children of all ages, while the visitors' stands never really got more than about a third full. The lack of a replay screen repeatedly brought about cheers and boos from the home fans as they were forced to rely on what they saw just one time.
Into the darkness of night children were still tossing the footballs and tackling each other behind the end-zone. Others were chasing each other as well as running up the hill to the brick wall and signaling "touchdown" as they ran back down. There seemed to be as much activity off the field as there was on the field.
Located just 30 minutes north of Charlotte, NC the Catawba College Indians call Salisbury home.
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At the 11 minute mark the Indians jumped ahead to a 10-6 on a 43 yard field goal by Thomas Trexler, who had just hit the right upright before halftime. The Falcons then answered right back marching down field as quarterback Joaquin Green hit Jamain Smith for a 25 yard strike and then converted the two-point conversion to take a 14-10 lead.
The third quarter ended and the stands hadn't thinned out at all with a 14-10 game in favor of the Saint Augustine's College Falcons. As the fourth quarter opened with Saint Augustine's marching but facing a fourth and 2, the Indians held and got the ball back on downs.
Located just 30 minutes north of Charlotte, NC the Catawba College Indians call Salisbury home.
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For each injured player on the field, and there were only two players shaken up, the players on both sides removed their helmets and took a knee out of respect and care for each other. Fortunately in both cases the players were able to leave the field under their own power, being just shaken up.
With 10:31 left in the fourth quarter the Indians were feeling like the game was on the line and went for it on a long fourth and nine but failed to convert giving the ball to the Falcons on their own 31. Very easily the mood in the press-box was that the entire game might have just hinged on that one play trailing 14-10. Still, there were no "boos" from the crowd on the failed fourth down play. The fans, while quieted greatly still were cheering and pulling for their Indians.
Located just 30 minutes north of Charlotte, NC the Catawba College Indians call Salisbury home.
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At the 7:35 mark in the fourth quarter the Indians got the ball back after holding against the Falcons and began marching until two penalties walked them back 25 yards and left them at first and 35 from their own 20 yard line. After a completion to Josh Wright the Indians were facing third and 27 as the Patrick Dennis pass was caught out-of-bounds with just 5:21 left in the game as the night air had cooled way down and the fans who had been holding out hope when the Indians took back over suddenly seemed deflated.
Just as the Falcons seemed to be on the move again, a holding penalty and a deflected pass got the crowd up again stomping their feet and cheering. Giving the them third and seven and suddenly the less than 4,000 sounds like 40,000 until Joaquin Green hit Jone' Harris for 25 yards and moved the ball to the 32 of the Indians.
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With just over two-minutes to play the Falcons found themselves with a fourth and a long one in order to keep their drive alive and keep the Indians' offense on the sidelines. From there Walter Sanders the tailback of the Falcons sealed the game with a 23 yard run increasing the Falcons' lead to 20-10 and for the second time in three years the Falcons handed the Indians their first lose of the season.
After Sanders' score Indian fans started heading for the gates as the silent and stunned crowd slowly filed out of Shuford Stadium. For the remaining fans in attendance the Indians tried to make it interesting as they had first and goal from the nine-yard line and then scored with just 13.9 seconds left in the game.
The ensuing on-sides kick was recovered by the Falcons which left just a knee to end the game as players shook hands and the coaches met at midfield with the Falcons winning 20-17 and an unfortunate end to peaceful Salisbury evening.
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