Box Score Sept. 1, 2005
Final Stats
Cullowhee, N.C. -
Western Carolina junior quarterback Justin Clark tossed two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one to John Bush and one to Nick Miller, as the Catamounts pulled out a 21-7 season-opening victory over Mars Hill Thursday night at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field.
While Clark's scores provided the margin of victory, Western's defense forced six turnovers, including four interceptions. Francis Brown, who was granted a fifth-year of eligibility by the NCAA this past summer, took advantage of his situation by leading the Catamounts with nine tackles, two interceptions and a pass breakup.
Western Carolina got on the board early, scoring on its second possession of the game. Lamont Reid, who finished with 59 yards on nine carries, capped a seven-play, 54-yard scoring drive with a one-yard touchdown. Stephen Brown tacked on the extra point, but that is the last time the Cats would score until the start of the fourth quarter.
Over its next eight possessions, Western had six punts, a fumble and an interception.
Mars Hill moved the ball, but had little to show for it. On their first three possessions, the Lions punted and threw two interceptions. However, with Mars Hill facing fourth-and-12 on Western's 38, quarterback Brandon Sims completed a 14-yard pass to Ben Pierson to keep the drive alive. After back-to-back completions by Sims to the WCU five, he made it three straight with a five-yard score to Antoine Jones to tie the game at 7-7, a score which would hold up until the break.
Western's defense set the tone in the second half for the eventual victory. Again, Mars Hill's offense was able to have some success. However, on the Lions' nine second half possessions, they had drives end with a fumble, punt, fumble, interceptions, punt, interception, punt, downs and punt, respectively.
The Cats struggled through the third quarter, but scored on its first possession of the fourth. After a short punt, Clark found Bush for five-yard score with 11:53 left in the game. Two plays later, Western came away with its fourth and final interception. On the next snap, Clark found a streaking Nick Miller for a 48-yard score to provide the final margin.
Mars Hill held the upper hand in most of the offensive categories, getting 19 first downs compared to WCU's 10 and gaining 275 yards of total offense compared to Western's 227. The Lions also held the ball for 34:11 compared to 25:49 for the Cats. However, Western only committed two turnovers and held the Lions to just 105 yards of offense in the second half.
Clark finished the night completing 9-of-20 for 94 yards with two TDs and an interception.
J.C. Brown led the receiving corps with three catches. For the Lions, Sims was 13-of-23 for 108 yards with a TD and four INTs. George Washington led the Mars Hill rushing attack with 74 yards on nine carries (8.2 yards per carry), while Jones was Sims top target with four receptions for 21 yards. Jeremy Stewart paced the Lions on defense with seven tackles.
Western Carolina will host defending Southern Conference champion Furman, who is a consensus top two team in the national polls. Game time is set for 6:00 pm and will be telecast locally on WBSC. The game will also be broadcast on the Catamount sports network, which includes free internet streaming on www.wwcufm.com and www.supertalk1350.com.
