GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Tusculum’s Cam Ferguson rushed for a career-high 114 yards including his 15-yard game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter as the Pioneers posted a thrilling 27-22 South Atlantic Conference victory over Catawba Saturday night at Pioneer Field.
Tusculum (3-2, 2-1 SAC) jumped out to a 21-3 lead late in the first half, but Catawba’s (2-3, 1-2 SAC) special teams accounted for 19 straight points spanning the end of the first half and going into the fourth quarter to take a 22-21 lead. During that hectic run, Catawba blocked three kicks resulting in 16 points on special teams alone to rally the visitors.
Tusculum racked up 392 yards of total offense including 296 on the ground, while the TU defense limited Catawba to 206 total yards, recorded five sacks and came up with a pair of fourth quarter interceptions that were key as TU posted its first win over Catawba since Tribe’s last trip to Greeneville in 2023.
TU extended its lead to 21-3 late in the first half when quarterback Tedros Gleaton rushed up the middle, bounced off some blockers an alluded four tacklers and sprinted 22 yards for a touchdown with 1:07 left in the half.
But on the ensuing kickoff, Tusculum was whistled for an unnecessary roughness penalty and coupled with an unsportsmanlike penalty to boot as Catawba started the drive at the TU 39. The Tusculum defense held but on second down, the Pioneers would be flagged for roughing the passer as Catawba had the ball first and goal at the TU 9 with 12 seconds left. Two plays and a Catawba penalty had the ball at the TU 14. After a timeout with six seconds on the clock, Catawba quarterback went to the corner of the end zone for a quick slant as the ball went high and left one second on the scoreboard. Freshman kicker Francisco Garcia Rodriguez came on and drilled a 31-yard field goal as time expired as Tusculum led 21-6.
On the first play from scrimmage to start the second half, Gleaton’s pass was deflected in the air and intercepted by Luke Raykovicz and returned the pick 33 yards to the TU 6. The Tusculum defense limited Catawba to just one yard over the next four plays before turning the ball over on downs.
The Catawba defense stepped up and held TU to only three yards on its next series. Tusculum punter Nathan Holbrook‘s punt was blocked by Tareavion Mageo which went out of the back of the end zone for a safety as the Indians trailed 21-8 with 11:05 left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing free kick, Catawba started their possession at the CAT 42. Catawba moved into Tusculum territory, but Fortune would be sacked by Nathan Thomas on third down as the Indians would be forced to punt as Kylan Odean’s punt was downed at the TU 7.
Both teams would exchange punts as Tusculum took over at its own 13 with 2:52 left in the third quarter. TU would move into Catawba territory thanks for a 46-yard run by Ferguson. But the drive would stall at the CAT 32 as TU elected to go for a 50-yard field goal. But on Quinton Brandon‘s try, the kick was blocked by Jamari Broady and picked up by DeWayne Gissendanner as he scampered 53 yards to paydirt for the touchdown on the final play of the quarter. Rodriguez kick was good as the 18-point lead was whittled down to 21-15.
Heading into the final frame, all the momentum was on the side of the team from Salisbury. On the kickoff, Tusculum was flagged for an illegal block in the back and started the possession backed up again, this time at the TU 6. The Pioneers would be held to two incomplete passes and a two-yard run as TU would be forced to punt from their end zone again. It was Broady again coming through on special teams as he blocked his second straight kick which was picked up at the TU 4 by freshman Drew Searls and he would take it in for the touchdown to tie the game at 21-21. Rodriguez’s extra point gave Catawba is first lead of the game at 22-21 with 13:51 left in the contest.
Tusculum would advance into Catawba territory getting to the CAT 34. But a false start penalty moved the ball back to the 39 and would later have to punt with 6:35 remaining.
Tusculum forced a three-and-out and forced a Catawba punt. On the ensuing return, Ashton Hagans would take the kick and returned the punt 54 yards to the CAT 15 with 4:29 remaining. On the next play, Ferguson took a pick from Gleaton and ran in for a 15-yard touchdown to retake the lead with 4:22 to go. The two-point try was unsuccessful as TU led 27-22.
Two plays into the ensuing drive, Fortune was intercepted by Greg Williams at the CAT 45 as the Pioneers took over from there with 3:41 remaining.
But Tusculum would give it back two plays later as Jaylen Houston forced a fumble which was recovered by Raykovicz at the CAT 32.
Now it was Catawba’s turn to sieze the momentum back and got across midfield with less than two minutes remaining. But on third down from the TU 47, Fortune’s pass was picked off by Judah Knight and returned 10 yards to the TU 44 with 1:22 remaining.
Catawba had two timeouts remaining and used the them both after Tusculum’s first two plays which resulted in back-to-back two-yard gains. On third down and six, Ferguson was held to a one-yard run as the clock ticked down to 26 seconds before Tusculum called a timeout.
The drama grew as Catawba, who had already blocked two punts already, was looking to make it a third. On fourth down and a long five yards to go, Holbrook got the punt off and was ran into. The running into the kicker was called but the five-yard penalty was not long enough for the first down. After a timeout with 15 seconds left, facing fourth down and less than one-yard to go from the CAT 47, Gleaton called his own number and converted the first down with a two-yard keeper to end the game.
Tusculum’s Jimi Olardinde led all players with a career-high 11 tackles including a sack and a quarterback hurry. Brock Tankersley added eight stops with 1.5 for loss and a sack, while Kevin Jordan tallied seven hits and the duo of Justin Thomas and Greg Williams posted six tackles apiece.
The Tusculum defense recorded nine passes defended (7 pass break-ups, 2 interceptions) led by Zavien Bryant‘s career-high four break-ups, which are tied for the sixth-most in school history.
Gleaton accounted for three touchdowns as he rushed for two and passed for another. He got the scoring started with his four-yard TD run with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
After a Rodriguez 38-yard field goal on the ensuing drive to make it a 7-3 game with 10:57 left in the half, Tusculum answered 27 seconds later as Gleaton connected with Javon Richardson as he caught the ball at the CAT 33, made two moves and sprinted the rest of the way for the 65-yard touchdown. Max Turan‘s extra-point made it a 14-3 contest with 10:30 on the clock.
Ferguson finished the game with a career-high 208 all-purpose yards as he had a 20-yard reception to go along with 74 yards on his three kickoff returns.
Tusculum was penalized 11 times for 105 yards, while Catawba was flagged eight times for 64 yards. TU went 6-of-12 on third down conversions, while the Indians went 4-of-15 and turned the ball over on downs twice.
The blocked field goal return for a touchdown was the first surrendered by the Pioneers since Catawba’s Cory Reese returned one for 70 yards since Sep. 11, 1999 in Greeneville.
In the 30th all-time meeting between TU and Catawba, this marks the 13th time the game has been decided by eight points or less. Tusculum has also won the last three meetings with Catawba in Greeneville with the Indians’ last win at Pioneer Field coming in 2017.
The Pioneers return to action next week as they take on cross-mountain rival and undefeated Mars Hill next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium.
