Box Score

Nov. 5, 2005

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina had a punt blocked on its first offensive possession, giving Wofford the ball on the WCU 27. However, the Catamount defense forced a Terrier field goal, which was wide left and set the stage for Western's 24-0 victory Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field. The game marked just the fourth time Western has recorded a shutout versus a league opponent since joining the Southern Conference in 1977 and was Wofford's first time being shutout in a conference game since joining the league in 1997.

Also, Western held Wofford to just 182 yards of total offense (163 rushing), while generating 336 yards of total offense on its own. The Terriers came into the game ranking fourth in the nation in rushing offense, rolling up an average of 296.13 yards per game.

After the missed Wofford field goal, Western (5-3, 4-2 SoCon) had perhaps its best of offensive drive of the season, using 13 plays and 6:33 on the clock. Tailback Lamont Reid got things started with a 23-yard pass completion to J.C. Brown. Quarterback Justin Clark, who was 4-of-4 on the drive, also had completions of 15 yards and 22 yards to Michael Hines. Reid capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

The teams traded punts over the four series until Western's Corey Ellison caused a fumble, which was recovered by Randy Birch. With 4:29 left before break, Western used 3:51 off the clock before Jonathan Parsons connected on a 34-yard field goal. Wofford got a good return on the ensuing kickoff and would get to the WCU 34. The Terriers would attempt a 51-yard field goal on the final play of the half, but Western's Felipe Foster blocked the kick to leave the score 10-0 at the half.

The third quarter featured a defensive battle, with a combined four punts and WCU turning the ball over on downs. On final drive of the third quarter, with the Terriers starting on Western's 48 thanks to a 31-yard punt return, Wofford got down to Western's 19 before being forced to kick a field goal. However, the Terriers' third kicker of the game missed Wofford's third field goal attempt of the contest, sailing wide left.

Rico Reese and Mitchell Dukes are shown making a tackle versus Wofford. The WCU pitched a shutout in a SoCon for just the fourth time since joining the league in 1997. It was also the firt time Wofford had been shutout in a SoCon game since it joined the league.

With Wofford (5-4, 3-3 SoCon) facing fourth-and-four on its own 44 to start the fourth period, Western's Rico Reese sacked Terrier quarterback Josh Collier to give the Cats the ball on downs. Clark came out and hit J.C. Brown on a 23-yard pass on the first play, followed by an 11-yard Reid touchdown run to give WCU a 17-0 cushion.

Western, after forcing punts on Wofford's next two possessions, started its final offensive drive of the game with 5:19 remaining. Darius Fudge, who rushed for 97 yards, got 36 of those yards on one run, getting to the Terrier two. After two plays without scoring, the Cats got a lucky break on third and goal. Clark fumbled at the line of scrimmage. The ball bounced around, ended up in the Catamount endzone and was recovered by Reid for his third score of the game.

The Terriers had 3:13 left in the game to get on the board. Starting on its own 25, Wofford got to Western's 30 yard line before time ran out, giving the Cats the shutout.

Individually for Western, Clark was 16-of-23 for 162 yards and completed his first nine passes of the game. For the third consecutive game, Fudge flirted with a 100-yard game, getting 97 on 16 carries for an average of 6.1 yards. At Chattanooga, Fudge had 95 yards, while he tallied 99 last week in a win over Elon. Reid had 52 yards on 11 carries, completing a 23-yard pass on his only attempt on the day. Hines hauled in five passes for 51 yards, while J.C. Brown had 79 yards on four catches. Defensively, Western was led by Primus Glover's eight stops, followed by seven each from Reese and James Conklin.

For Wofford, Collier had 69 rushing yards on 14 attempts, while completing just 1-of-10 passes for two yards. Adrian Young had 21 rushes for 64 yards. Ben Widmyer completed 1-of-2 passes for 17 yards. Justin Franklin had a game-high 11 tackles, while Jim Thurman added seven.

Western Carolina will wrap up the regular season next Saturday (Nov. 12), facing rival Appalachian State in the annual "Battle for the Old Mountain Jug." Kickoff in Boone is set for 3:30 and the game will be telecast on Comcast-Charter Sports Southeast.