Sept. 18, 2010

Final Stats |  Notes |   

Boiling Springs, N.C. - Western Carolina converted two of its six defensive takeaways into 14 points, while senior Marquel Pittman and Michael Johnson both added offensive scores as the Catamounts rebounded Saturday night to upend the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs, 28-14, at Spangler Stadium.

Junior defensive back Torez Jones intercepted a WCU school-record four passes and finished with a career-high 12 solo tackles including a sack to pace the Catamount defense which endured a combined 94 plays from the Gardner-Webb offense. Jones rewrote the 24-year old record for picks in a single game, erasing a previous four-way tie with three - most recently accomplished by Kenny Peeples against VMI in 1986.

Jones picked off a pass just before halftime that kept the Bulldogs off the board through the first 30 minutes of play. He capped his tremendous performance with a fourth pick at the WCU 12-yard line ending any thoughts of a home rally and allowing the Catamount offense to run out the clock in the "victory" formation.

In addition to Jones' career night, senior Mitchell Bell scored his second career touchdown giving the Catamounts a 7-0 lead it would never relinquish. Late in the first quarter, junior Trey Selby sacked GWU quarterback Chandler Browning, jarring the ball loose for WCU's first takeaway of the season. Bell scooped up the bouncing ball and scampered 45 yards for the score, ending the scoreless deadlock.

Bell nearly had his seventh career pick in the first half, but a defensive encroachment penalty erased his theft.

Leading 7-0 in the waning moments before halftime, senior Marquel Pittman - who was playing in his first game of the season - hauled in an inside screen pass from starting quarterback Zac Brindise. Pittman broke through several would-be tacklers before weaving his way 78 yards to the end zone to give the Catamounts a 14-0 lead at halftime. Pittman caught seven passes for 114 yards, adding 31 yards on punt returns for 145 all-purpose yards lead the Catamount offense which mustered 245 yards on 49 plays.

Brindise, who was making his first collegiate career start at quarterback, finished 12-of-22 for 141 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Overall, Pittman recorded his seventh-career, 100-yard receiving performance. His TD reception also moved him into a tie for sixth-place in the school's career record books for touchdowns in a career, three shy of fifth-place and Jerry Gaines (1970-74).

After a scoreless third quarter, Gardner-Webb capped an eight-play, 71-yard drive with a 21-yard pass from quarterback John Rock to Marquis Sanders to end the shutout at the outset of the fourth quarter and pull the Runnin' Bulldogs to within one score, 14-7.

WCU was forced to punt on its ensuing possession, but the defense again stepped up. Senior Adam Hearns recorded his first career interception, jumping an out-route and pranced 22-yards in for the score to make it 21-7 with 12 and a half minutes to play in regulation.

The Bulldogs responded with a 10-play, 60-yard drive capped by a Rock keeper off the left side for one-yard to again pull back with seven points, 21-14.

With a re-energized home stadium and scarlet and black-clad faithful, sophomore Michael Johnson broke open a career-long, 60-yard rush, racing to pay dirt to seal the deal for the Catamounts, which snapped a three-game slide dating back to last season.

In addition to Jones' career performance with 12 tackles, sophomore Rock Williams and Bell both added 10 tackles with Bell tallying the fumble recovery for a score and two pass breakups. Senior Angelo Brown finished with eight tackles including two solo stops while four different players -Jones, Ricky Schwarz, Selby and Brandon Vaught- each recording a sack.

For the Bulldogs, the two-quarterback rotation netted 303 passing yards including 249 by John Rock and 54 by Chandler Browning. Rock was accountable for four of the five interceptions for GWU while Browning tossed one INT. Wide receiver Marquis Sanders caught a game-high eight passes for 97 yards and a score for GWU

Western Carolina (1-2) will open Southern Conference play next Saturday night in Cullowhee as it welcomes Chattanooga (1-2) to E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. Kickoff on the Mountain Heritage Day celebration game is set for 6:00 pm. For ticket information log onto CatamountSports.com or call (800) 34-GOWCU.