Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina overcame a pair of first-half turnovers with big plays in both the passing game and on special teams on Saturday afternoon to head to the halftime locker room even with No. 11/12 East Tennessee State in the home finale at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. However, the high-octane Catamounts were held off the scoreboard in the second half as the Buccaneers ground out a 56-35 win to retain the traveling trophy in the "Blue Ridge Border Battle."
 
Buccaneer tailback Jacob Saylors eclipsed the ETSU single-game rushing record with 266 yards and three touchdowns, while backfield counterpart Quay Holmes – who previously held the benchmark – added 212 yards and three scores on the ground as ETSU (9-1, 6-1 SoCon) amassed 461 of its 536 yards in the run game to snap WCU's three-game seasonal win streak.
 
Catamount quarterback Rogan Wells accounted for 460 yards of total offense in the home defeat, passing for 385 yards on 29-of-42 passing with four touchdowns. He rushed for 50 yards on 12 attempts and added a 25-yard reception on a throwback pass by tailback TJ Jones, nearly finding the endzone on the play. Second-year freshman Calvin Jones recorded 305 all-purpose yards for the Catamounts, coming on a career-high tying seven catches for a career-best 92 yards and five kickoff returns for 213 yards, taking one back 95 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
 
Raphael Williams, the SoCon's leader in receptions and receiving yards, caught five passes for a game-high 138 yards – his fifth, 100-yard receiving performance this year.
 
The two teams traded first-quarter touchdowns on a brisk Saturday afternoon, with Saylors opening scoring from 35 yards out and Holmes adding TD rushes of six and two yards. WCU got scoring passes by Wells of 51 yards to Jakobe Quillen for his first career touchdown and an eight-yard score by RB TJ Jones, who finished with 62 rushing yards and six catches for 40 yards. On the ensuing kickoff following the second score by Holmes, Calvin Jones gave WCU its first kickoff return for a TD since 2016, sprinting 95 yards to ignite the crowd and tie the game at 21 after one.
 
Early in the second quarter, Wells found a familiar target as he connected with Williams for a 54-yard hook-up for WCU's first lead, 28-21. However, ETSU responded on its next possession as Tyler Riddell recorded his best pass of the contest on a 28-yarder to Jawan Martin. Riddell finished 6-of-16 for 75 yards with the score.
 
Wells pushed WCU back in front with a 15-yard strike to senior TE Owen Cosenke midway through the second quarter, but a 14-yard rush by Saylors in the final minutes of the opening half sent the teams to the locker room tied at 35.
 
After halftime, the Buccaneer defense tightened in keeping the Catamounts out of the end zone, with Riddell plunging in from a yard out at the 4:42 mark of the third quarter to provide the go-ahead and eventual game-winning score. Saylors and Holmes added rushing scores in the fourth quarter to provide insurance and the final tally.
 
WCU's offense, which had efficiently scored 41-or-more points in each of its three wins during the recent streak, was forced to punt three times, missed a long field goal, and was twice turned away inside the five-yard line with an interception in the end zone and a turnover on downs in the second half.
 
Senior linebacker Kareem Taylor posted his seventh double-digit tackle performance of the season with 12 stops, matching Jacob Harris, who was credited with double-figure stops for a second-consecutive week. Fifth-year senior Ty Harris, second all-time in program history for career tackles, finished with eight stops while K.J. Milner tallied six stops, including a strip-sack, forcing a fumble.
 
For ETSU, Donovan Manuel had 15 tackles, including 1.5 TFLs, and forced a fumble for the Bucs, while Jared Folks tallied nine stops with two TFLs.
 
Western Carolina concludes the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 20, as the Catamounts travel to Lexington, Va., to face the nationally-ranked VMI Keydets at Foster Stadium / Alumni Memorial Field. VMI (6-4, 4-3 SoCon) has suffered back-to-back losses as its comeback bid at Furman fell short on Saturday, 37-31. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 pm.
 
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