PEMBROKE – The Catawba football team scored 21 points off of four UNC Pembroke turnovers and held the Braves to just 96 yards of total offense on the way to a 41-9 victory over the Braves on Saturday evening at Grace P. Johnson Stadium.
 
The setback marked the second-straight home loss for the Braves (1-2) who will continue a short two-game home stand next weekend against Tusculum (1-2) at Grace P. Johnson Stadium. It was the second-straight road victory for the Indians (3-0) who upended NCAA Division I FCS foe VMI last weekend.
 
Lumberton native Josh Sheridan rushed for 48 yards and a first quarter touchdown on six carries to provide a majority of the offensive highlights for the hosts. Newcomer Shammond Hicks led the receiving corps with 31 yards on four receptions.
 
Four different players logged a game-best six tackles for Code Black, including Bikembe Kearney who registered four solo stops. Shawn Everett grabbed an interception and a pass break-up for the Braves as well.

Patrick O'Brien's 27-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Rose helped the Indians stake claim to a 10-0 advantage midway through the opening quarter, but the Braves came storming back and used a pair of costly turnovers to eventually pull to within a point, 10-9, on Alex Alvarado's 28-yard field goal with 2:20 left in the first. The Indians scored twice more in the second quarter to lug a 24-9 advantage into the halftime break.
 
Josh Smith's 64-yard interception return for a score with six minutes left in the third quarter pushed the lead out to 31-9, and the Indians capped the scoring on the night just less than four minutes into the fourth on O'Brien's short scoring pass to Jourdan Osinskie.
 
Saturday's matchup with the Pioneers is slated for 7 p.m.