Sept. 10, 2011

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Cullowhee, N.C. - True freshman running back Shaun Warren rushed for a career-best 203 yards and four touchdowns as Western Carolina opened the home portion of its 2011 schedule with a 52-31 victory over the Mars Hill Lions Saturday night at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.

WCU (1-1) put a school-record 45 points on the board in the opening half to lead 45-17 at halftime en route to snapping a pair of seven-game winless droughts. The Catamounts picked up their first home victory since 2009, while also halting a seven-game slide that dated back to October of last season.

"It's a victory, and we need to be happy about that," said WCU coach Dennis Wagner during a post-game interview. "We did some good things on offense in the first half. I'm frustrated with the defense. We missed some tackles and had too many penalties. But it's a win, and we needed a win. We're a better football team, but there are still a lot of things we have to tighten up."

Wagner added, "I told them in the locker room that if this team wants to take another step forward they need to be able to play four quarters. We played two quarters of good football on offense. "On defense, I'm not sure how good we were all evening. We've got to get better there."

Warren headlined a Catamount rushing attack that amassed 328 yards on the ground, the most rushing offense in a single-game for WCU since racking 372 rushing yards in a home win over West Virginia State back in 2004. Junior Michael Vaughn joined Warren over the century mark, gaining positive yards on each of his 19 carries to finish with a career-best 104 yards to give the Catamounts two backs over 100 yards in the same game for the first time since 1996.

All told, the Catamounts recorded 663 yards of total offense, adding 322 yards through the air including a career-best 322 by sophomore quarterback Brandon Pechloff. The Glen Ellyn, Ill., native completed 17-of-29 passes with a pair of touchdown second quarter strikes including a 75 yard pass-and-run with junior Jacoby Mitchell as a part of his team-high 96 yards and a 46-yard hook-up with redshirt sophomore Deja Alexander, who led the team with seven receptions and 89 yards. Redshirt senior Josh Cockrell hauled in four passes for 34 yards.

The two long pass plays for scores came within a minute and 20 seconds of each other and both were one-play scoring drives.

For WCU, another true freshman - local product, Garrett Brown - also got in on the rushing attack. Making his collegiate debut on the opening kickoff, the Asheville, N.C., native and former high school quarterback was later called on for a pair of running plays. He rushed for two yards on a fourth-and-one near midfield in a drive that was capped by a 32-yard Clark Sechrest field goal, and later tallied his first collegiate touchdown on a three-yard run just before halftime.

Mars Hill (1-1) got on the board first after forcing a three-and-out on the Catamounts opening possession. Then, one-play later, Jonas Randolph broke free for a 56-yard touchdown run to hand the Lions a 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Pechloff orchestrated an 11-play, 80-yard drive capped by the first of Warren's four rushing scores, scampering in from 11-yards out to knot the game at seven only to see Mars Hill reclaim the lead with Randolph's second rushing score, 14-7.

As the see-saw affair in the early going continued, Warren and the Catamount offense were able to again tie the score on a 62-yard drive culminating with a 30-yard touchdown romp by the China Grove, N.C., native.

With the game knotted at 14, Western Carolina got the first big break of the game. Taking over after a short kickoff, Mars Hill moved 40 yards in three plays before tailback Jonas Randolph put the ball on the carpet after being hit by WCU's Brian Johnson with Ace Clark pouncing on the loose football for the game's first turnover. The Catamounts then moved 77 yards in nine plays on a drive that featured pass plays of 19 yards from Pechloff to Andrew Rogers and a 32-yard connection with George Richardson with Warren putting Western Carolina ahead for good, 21-14.

The Lions would add a 42-yard Michael Pinkerton field goal early in the second quarter, but WCU's pistol offense exploded for four-touchdowns and a field goal over the final 8:35 of the second quarter and into the third.

Mars Hill quarterback Jon Richt - the son of Georgia Bulldog head coach Mark Richt - threw for 105 yards on 11-of-33 passing. Randolph paced the Lions' offense with 174 yards rushing on 25 carries, ripping scoring rushes of 56 and 20 yards in the opening five and a half minutes of the first quarter.

Western Carolina enters its bye week, returning to action in its Southern Conference opener at Georgia Southern on Sat., Sept. 24. Kickoff from Statesboro, Ga., is scheduled for 6:00 pm.