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Marlon Alexander - at ETSU
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Football

Postgame Notes - at ETSU (Blue Ridge Border Battle)

Postgame Notes
Western Carolina 20, ETSU 17
William B. Greene Stadium
Johnson City, Tenn. | Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022
Att: 7,244
 
With the Win…
  • Western Carolina halts a two-game slide in the head-to-head series with rival ETSU with its first win in the series since 2019 … the win was also WCU's first victory in Johnson City, Tenn., since 2003 – though the series did sit dormant from 2004-2015;
  • Represents just the second Catamount victory in the Blue Ridge Border Battle, taking possession of "the Rock" traveling trophy that was first introduced in the 2018 season for just the second time;
  • Western Carolina takes a slim 26-25-1 series lead over ETSU … Four of the last five series meetings have been decided in one-possession games with WCU's last to series wins coming by three points – 20-17 in 2022 and 23-20 in overtime in 2019;
  • Ended a four-game seasonal road losing skid with WCU's second victory away from Cullowhee this season – the first since the season-opening road win over another set of Buccaneers at Charleston Southern back on Sept. 3;
  • Gave Western Carolina its fifth victory of the season, evening the team's record at 5-5 on the year and represents the most seasonal wins for a Catamount football team since winning seven back in 2017 (7-5).
 
Post-Game Notes
  • Western Carolina scored a touchdown on its opening possession on Saturday as freshman QB Cole Gonzales found classmate Censere Lee on a five yard strike … the score marked WCU's first opening-drive touchdown since the Georgia Tech game when Carlos Davis hit Terrence Horne on a 49-yard touchdown pass;
  • Richard McCollum hit two field goals in the road win at ETSU with a 40-yard and the game-winning 33-yard kick … McCollum improved to 5-for-5 on field goals from 40-to-49 yards this season … All told, McCollum improved to 16-of-18 (88.9%) on the year with his 16 made field goals ranking him tied for sixth in WCU single-season history, matching Joshua Gibson (16 in 2017) … For his career, McCollum is now 33-of-39 (84.6%) in his career with his 33 field goals ranking him fourth in school history – just two made field goals shy of third-place Ken Hinsley (35, 1995-98);
  • McCollum scored eight points in the road victory on Saturday giving him 201 career points, sixth in program history … Entering the season finale, McCollum is just 11 points shy of fifth-place RB Otis McIntosh (212, 1969-71);
  • Freshman WR Censere Lee caught a career-high nine passes eclipsing his previous career-best of five receptions recorded at Furman … Lee tallied his second career 100-yard receiving game with a game-high 107 receiving yards with a first-quarter touchdown to give him a team-high tying six on the season … Redshirt sophomore WR Raphael Williams caught three passes for 57 yards, matching Lee with his team-high sixth receiving score of the season coming on a 29-yard catch early in the fourth quarter;
  • SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate, RB Desmond Reid recorded a team-best 134 all-purpose yards including 72 rushing yards and 62 receiving yards … Reid saw his streak of consecutive 100-yard rushing games come to a close after eclipsing the century mark in consecutive games, vs. The Citadel and Wofford;
  • Reid has rushed for a team-best 766 yards this season, playing in nine of the team's 10 games this season … His current stats rank him second in WCU's freshman record book for rushing yards by a true freshman, second only to Darrell Lipford's 983 rushing yards in 1974 … Reid is averaging 7.0 yards per carry (766 yards on 110 carries), the most by a WCU freshman back all-time;
  • As a team, Western Carolina rushed for 207 yards in the road win at ETSU … It was the fourth time this season the Catamounts eclipsed the 200-yard mark in a game;
  • Western Carolina finished with 475 yards of total offense in the game against ETSU, the seventh time this season WCU had eclipsed the 400-yard mark … WCU's is averaging 502.3 yards of total offense per game this year;
  • WCU's defense recorded three sacks against ETSU giving the Catamounts 29 seasonal sacks on the year … WCU finished the game with six tackles for loss including the three sacks;
  • After running for a program-record 266 yards and three touchdowns against WCU last season, the Catamounts limited ETSU tailback Jacob Saylors to a total of 172 yards – but, 115 of those yards came in the first half as WCU corralled him and limited the strong tailback to just 57 yards on the ground in the second half with just one TD;
  • Catamount freshmen defenders Samaurie Dukes and Lee Campbell combined on WCU's lone takeaway … Combined, WCU was a minus-2 in the turnover department on Saturday, losing the football on a pair of interceptions in the endzone and a lost fumble early in the second quarter.
 
Miscellaneous Notes:
  • WCU's captains for Saturday's game were senior DB #1 Cameron McCutcheon … senior CB #10 Taurus Dotson Jr. … senior P #38 Brandon Dickerson … and senior LS #55 Kevin Thompson
  • ETSU won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half … WCU received the opening kickoff.
  • Honoring the Veterans Day weekend, junior TE #86 Clayton Bardall carried the USA flag during the pregame team run-out.
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Players Mentioned

Clayton Bardall

#86 Clayton Bardall

TE
6' 3"
Junior
Carlos Davis

#5 Carlos Davis

QB
6' 3"
Junior
Brandon Dickerson

#38 Brandon Dickerson

P
5' 11"
Senior
Terrence Horne

#6 Terrence Horne

WR
5' 8"
Junior
Richard McCollum

#89 Richard McCollum

K
5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
Cameron McCutcheon

#1 Cameron McCutcheon

CB
6' 3"
Fifth Year
Kevin Thompson

#55 Kevin Thompson

LS
5' 10"
Junior
Raphael Williams

#2 Raphael Williams

WR
5' 10"
Sophomore
Samaurie Dukes

#24 Samaurie Dukes

CB
5' 10"
Freshman
Lee Campbell

#37 Lee Campbell

S
6' 0"
Freshman
Desmond Reid

#1 Desmond Reid

RB
5' 8"
Freshman
Censere Lee

#10 Censere Lee

WR
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Clayton Bardall

#86 Clayton Bardall

6' 3"
Junior
TE
Carlos Davis

#5 Carlos Davis

6' 3"
Junior
QB
Brandon Dickerson

#38 Brandon Dickerson

5' 11"
Senior
P
Terrence Horne

#6 Terrence Horne

5' 8"
Junior
WR
Richard McCollum

#89 Richard McCollum

5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
K
Cameron McCutcheon

#1 Cameron McCutcheon

6' 3"
Fifth Year
CB
Kevin Thompson

#55 Kevin Thompson

5' 10"
Junior
LS
Raphael Williams

#2 Raphael Williams

5' 10"
Sophomore
WR
Samaurie Dukes

#24 Samaurie Dukes

5' 10"
Freshman
CB
Lee Campbell

#37 Lee Campbell

6' 0"
Freshman
S
Desmond Reid

#1 Desmond Reid

5' 8"
Freshman
RB
Censere Lee

#10 Censere Lee

5' 11"
Freshman
WR