Box Score Sept. 6, 2014

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Cullowhee, N.C. - Junior tailback Darius Ramsey rushed for three touchdowns while his freshman counterpart Detrez Newsome scored twice on the ground as Western Carolina pulled away from Brevard College for a 45-21 home-opening victory in nonconference action on Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.

Senior tailback Shaun Warren added a sixth rushing score in the fourth quarter as WCU snapped a four-game slide that dated back to last season. The Catamounts also got a 19-yard field goal from senior Richard Sigmon to provide the final tally.

"I'm really proud of our offense. Our backs ran extremely hard," said WCU head coach Mark Speir during post-game comments. "I thought Troy (Mitchell) managed the game well. Our offense has been scoring points by sustaining drives and not having to rely on big plays. Defensively, we played solid and did what we needed to do to win."

He added, "Compliments to Brevard, they played a whale of a ballgame. Coach (Paul) Hamilton really knows how to run that option offense. But tonight, it was a great team win for us. Both sides stepped up when they had to."

Newsome accounted for a game-high 207 yards in the win, rushing for a career-best 88 yards on seven catches with 99 yards in kickoff return yardage. Ramsey also charted 88 yards rushing with three of his eight rushing attempts finishing in the end zone.

Junior quarterback Troy Mitchell had another solid offensive performance, completing all but two of his 15 pass attempts (13-for-15) for 142 yards. The Houston, Texas, product added 84 rushing yards and was not sacked in the win. Senior QB Garrett Brown saw action in the backfield, orchestrating WCU's final scoring drive, rushing once for four yards.

Sophomore wide receiver Willie Police led the Catamounts with five catches for 27 yards while second-year wide out Terryon Robinson led the team with 61 receiving yards on three catches.

Ramsey handed WCU an early two touchdown lead in the first quarter with rushing scores of one and five yards. Brevard pulled back to within a score as quarterback Tanner Wright capped a 12-play drive with a three-yard TD to make it 14-7 on the second play of the second quarter.

Newsome pushed WCU back ahead with his first career rushing score, making it 21-7 in the second quarter. On the drive, the Raeford, N.C., native rushed for 37 of WCU's 50 yards on the drive. Ramsey would later add his third TD on the ground right before the half to make it 28-14 at intermission.

Brevard's run-oriented option attack consumed over 11 minutes of the third quarter clock with Wright capping the 18-play drive with his second rushing score of the contest to pull the Tornados back to within seven points, 28-21. However, the Catamounts finished the game with 17-unanswered points including a 33-yard rumble by Newsome, Sigmon's field goal and Warren's two-yard plunge to secure the victory.

For Brevard, running back Jordan Ollis rushed for 105 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown while Wright scored twice with 99 yards rushing. Michael Gruber finished with 10 tackles to lead the Tornados defensive unit.

Three defenders posted double-digit tackles led by redshirt senior captain Ace Clark. The Germantown, Md., product finished with a game-high 15 tackles including one for loss. His classmate Christon Gill recorded 12 stops with a TFL and sophomore linebacker Tyson Dickson finished with a career-high 10 stops.

Western Carolina plays the backend of a two-game home stand next Saturday, Sept. 13 as the Catamounts host Catawba at Whitmire Stadium / Waters Field. WCU will celebrate its annual Family Weekend when it hosts the Indians with kickoff at 3:30 pm.