Mired in the bottom tier of the South Atlantic Conference for most of the last decade, Catawba College football is suddenly one of the feel-good stories of the 2025 season. The Indians improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in SAC play Saturday night with a 42-28 win over previously unbeaten Mars Hill, marking their fourth straight victory and their best start since 2017.
The latest win also earned Catawba NC Football News’ College Team of the Week honors, capping another statement performance for a program that’s been steadily climbing toward conference contender status under coach Tyler Haines.
🔥 Saturday Statement: Balanced, Physical, Confident
Catawba imposed its will on both sides of the ball on Saturday night at Shuford Stadium.
The Indians piled up 425 total yards, including 218 rushing, and held Mars Hill to just 59 yards on the ground. Running back Kevin Lalin took the lead in the Catawba ground game, rushing for 173 yards and a touchdown while also catching a 13-yard scoring pass. Fellow back Bennett Galloway, the state’s leader in rushing touchdowns at any level, added his 11th of the year on a one-yard plunge.
Quarterback Preston Brown continued his bounce-back campaign, throwing for 207 yards and three touchdowns and adding another on the ground. He completed 17 of 27 passes, connecting with Bo Pryor seven times for 72 yards.
Defensively, senior linebacker Evan Simons turned in one of the state’s best performances of the weekend — 12 tackles, 3 tackles for loss (31 yards), 2 sacks, and an interception that set up Catawba’s first score.
⏩ How It Happened
After Simons’ early interception set up a short field, Galloway powered in from a yard out for the game’s first points. Mars Hill answered with a 62-yard strike from quarterback J.R. Martin to Edward Louis Jr., but Catawba responded behind a pair of touchdowns from Brown — one rushing, one through the air to Lalin — to take a 21-7 lead.
Mars Hill rallied before halftime to tie it 21-21, but Catawba controlled the second half. Brown hit Marquece Williams on a 26-yard score to retake the lead, then found Jalen Brown for an 18-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Lalin’s 26-yard dash in the final minutes provided to cushion to seal it.
Catawba converted 8 of 13 third downs, dominated time of possession by nearly nine minutes, and closed with three sacks and two fourth-down stops in the fourth quarter. Mars Hill had been unbeaten in SAC play.
📈 A Program on the Rise
It’s been a winding road back for Catawba, which hasn’t won a SAC championship since 2015 and endured a 1-10 season as recently as 2019. The program cycled through mostly sub-.500 records for nearly a decade before head coach Tyler Haines took over in 2023.
Haines immediately brought credibility and structure. His first team (5-6) showed flashes of potential, his 2024 squad fought through injuries to produce an All-American running back (LJ Turner), and now his 2025 team looks poised to contend for a title in a field crowded with front-runners.
“The message is already out there that Catawba is different,” Haines said in his post-game presser after Mars Hill. “It’s a good football team with a bunch of senior leadership … Our mindset is right and our execution is pretty high … I think we’ve got everybody’s attention now.”
🧩 The Numbers Tell the Story
- Points per game: 37.0
- Total offense: 377.0 yards per game
- Turnaround: From 2-9 (2022) → 5-6 (2023) → 3–8 (2024) → 5–1 (2025)
- Offensive leaders: Prestong Brown (1,365 passing yards, 12 TDs, 2 INTs), Kevin Lalin (609 rushing yards, 2 TDs), Bennett Galloway (569 rushing yards, 11 TDs)
- Defensive leader: Evan Simons (42 tackles, 9.0 TFL, 4.0 sacks, 1 INT)
Catawba’s only blemish this season came in a close loss to Emory & Henry, which currently leads the SAC at 4-1. The Indians now sit in a crowded pack that also includes Newberry and Mars Hill with one conference loss. Wingate and Anderson each have two SAC losses.
🏆 Looking Ahead
Catawba will travel to defending SAC champion Wingate next Saturday (6 p.m., FloCollege), a chance to further solidify its standing as one of the league’s most improved programs. Wingate has lost its last two games, though both came down to the wire.
No matter the outcome, the Indians have already proven that 2025 is a different kind of season — one built on steady progress, veteran leadership and a coach who’s brought belief back to Salisbury.
🏈 D2 Game Day Recap: Read more about Saturday’s Division II college football action from across the state. All 13 of our state’s D2 teams were in action
