Box Score |  Notes

Macon, Ga. - Spearman Robinson hauled in three of Western Carolina's four receiving touchdowns on Saturday afternoon as the Catamounts remained perfect in Southern Conference play with a 35-21 road victory over the Mercer Bears at the Mercer University Stadium.

Robinson finished with seven catches for 108 yards including scoring strikes of 33, three and 42 yards, all from quarterback Troy Mitchell. Redshirt junior Karnorris Benson tallied his first receiving touchdown of the season on a double-pass from fellow receiver Terryon Robinson as WCU improved to 5-2 overall, 3-0 in league play.

Mitchell finished the game 13-of-18 passing for 194 yards with the career-high tying three touchdown passes. He also added 62 yards rushing, second just to freshman tailback Detrez Newsome who carried the ball 16 times for 76 of his 115 all-purpose yards. Benson tallied 63 receiving yards and 37 on kickoff returns.

Mercer (5-3, 1-3 SoCon) opened the second half with a five-play scoring drive, but was limited to a 44-yard field goal by WCU's defense that trimmed the Catamount advantage to eight, 21-13. It would be as close as the home squad - dressed in all black - would get.

On the ensuing possession, the Catamount offense was sparked by a 10-yard completion from Mitchell to Robinson on a third and long and later spurred by a 52-yard catch-and-run by sophomore Willie Police. WCU moved 78 yards in seven plays to respond, capping the drive with Robinson's three-yard score to stretch the margin to 28-13.

Robinson would later put the finishing touches on an eight-play, 77-yard drive to open the fourth quarter. The Greenwood, S.C., product out-leaped a Bear cornerback on a deep ball down the near sideline before high-stepping his way into the end zone on a 42-yard strike, his third receiving score of the game.

Mercer added a late 26-yard passing touchdown to provide the final tally, 35-21.

WCU's defense opened the game's scoring, recording points in its second-consecutive game. With Mercer backed up against own goal line, Sertonuse Harris first hit running back Alex Lakes before safety Ace Clark finished the job, jarring the football loose on a rush to the right where corner back Jaleel Lorquet scooped and scored from the 10-yard line to give the Catamounts an early, 7-0, lead.

Harris finished with a game-high 14 total tackles including 12 solo stops and three tackles for loss including a sack. Clark added eight tackles including half a TFL to the forced fumble.

Robinson put WCU on the board with its first offensive touchdown later in the opening frame on a 33-yard scoring strike from Mitchell. The Bears got on the board late in the first quarter with the first of two field goals, the first by Jagger Lieb.

Western Carolina went deep into its playbook late in the second quarter to stretch its advantage to 21-3 over the Bears. Mitchell slung a lateral into the left flat to Terryon Robinson who turned up field before uncorking a 39-yard pass to Benson who made an athletic, over-the-shoulder grab for the score.

Mercer rookie tailback Alex Lakes finished with 125 rushing yards on 21 carries and a second quarter rushing touchdown that made it 21-10 at intermission. Quarterback John Russ finished 13-for-25 with one touchdown, but was picked off by WCU's Trey Morgan - his team-leading fourth interception of the season.

In addition to the strong outing by Harris at linebacker, Christon Gill recorded nine stops with two sacks while Lorquet added eight tackles in addition to his two fumble recoveries including the one returned for a score.

Western Carolina returns home for the first of back-to-back home games next Saturday, Oct. 25, as it hosts The Citadel Bulldogs (2-5, 0-2 SoCon) at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field for Homecoming Weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 pm.

Get your Catamount football tickets for Homecoming, 2014 in advance! Stop by the Catamount Athletic Ticket Office on the first floor of the Ramsey Center ... Call 800-34-GOWCU or (828) 227-2401 ... or log onto CatamountSports.com where you can order and print your own tickets for the WCU - Citadel game!