Cullowhee, N.C. – Amidst unseasonably cold temperatures and sporadic snow flurries, the Western Carolina football team concluded its annual spring drills on Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium by conducting its third intrasquad scrimmage with the Spring Football Showcase, presented by
the UltraStar Multi-tainment Center at Harrah's Cherokee.
Among the 20 drives and nearly 100 plays on Saturday, WCU's offense scored on six possessions with the defensive unit recording 14 combined stops including four turnovers coming on interceptions. Clad in purple jerseys over gold pants, the offense started the scrimmage fast with four-consecutive drives for points before the defense – dressed in the all-white Nike uniforms – asserted its strength in controlling the middle portion of the final spring scrimmage. WCU's offense closed the Spring Football Showcase with a touchdown in the two-minute drill.
Utilizing a special scoring system that awarded points in the traditional manner as well as for explosive plays on offense and tackles for loss on defense, the final tally finished with the defense ahead on the Whitmire Stadium scoreboard, 111-to-63.
Wearing the protected red jerseys, six different quarterbacks guided the Catamount offense against the defensive unit on Saturday.
Carlos Davis led the way on Saturday, finishing 19-of-28 for 172 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Davis tossed scoring strikes to TE
Clayton Bardall (5 yards), WR
Terrence Horne (4 yards), and
Raphael Williams (2 yards). QB
Kason Lincke finished 5-for-8 for 112 yards with a 31-yard touchdown pass to WR
Toler Keigley, who finished with three catches for 47 yards.
Returning QBs
Brody Palhegyi,
Bryson Grabowski, and
Parish Metzger also guided offensive series with freshman newcomer
Samuel Cornett seeing time in the Catamount in the backfield on Saturday.
Second-year wide receiver
Raphael Williams led the Catamount offense with 11 catches for 119 yards and the score from Davis, with
CJ Williams catching four passes for 120 yards and a 19-yard touchdown from Metzger in the second half. WR
David White also caught three passes for 42 yards on Saturday afternoon.
All told, 11 different players finished with at least one catch for WCU's offense.
Tailback
TJ Jones rushed nine times for 53 yards, scoring the lone touchdown on the ground on a nine-yard romp into the left corner of the endzone to lead the running backs.
Jaiden Bond ran for 33 yards on seven carries, adding three receptions for 25 yards out of the backfield, with
Quenten Zanders rushing for 62 yards on eight touches and
Troy Jefferson recording three rushes.
WCU's defense finished Saturday's scrimmage with four interceptions – two apiece by rising senior
Cameron McCutcheon and freshman
Samaurie Dukes. The unit combined for 16 total tackles for loss including eight sacks and was credited with six pass breakups – three by freshman
Jayion McMillan.
Defensive lineman KJ Milner finished with seven total tackles including three tackles for loss with a sack, while freshman DB Hayward McQueen was credited with seven tackles, one for loss. Hybrid defensive end
Micah Nelson posted three sacks, stripping Davis in the backfield in forcing a fumble on his third sack.
Skylin Thomas nearly came up with a pick-six, jumping a screen pass route with the offense backed up inside its 10-yard line to come away with a PBU.
WCU's special teams units worked out in a series of pre-scrimmage drills with punters
Brandon Dickerson and
Brady Elms splitting reps and placekickers
Richard McCollum and
Paxton Robertson handling the kicking duties. During the scrimmage, McCollum connected on four PATs with Robertson twice splitting the uprights, with Dickerson and Elms splitting the four punts forced by the defense.
With its 15-practice spring drills concluded, Western Carolina now turns its attention to finishing the semester strong in the classroom with additional strength and conditioning training leading into the summer. Fall camp ahead of the 2022 season commences in August with the Catamounts to open the schedule on Labor Day weekend in the South Carolina Lowcountry, visiting Charleston Southern in Ladson, S.C., on Saturday, Sept. 3.
Season tickets and game day parking for the 2022 Catamount football home schedule are on sale. Fans can purchase tickets through the WCU Athletics Ticket Office, located on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 227-2401, and
online at CatamountSports.com. Fans can purchase tickets and parking for each of WCU's five home dates through the 2022 regular season.
The deadline for current season ticket holders to renew is
June 1, 2022.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount Football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (FB.com/CatamountSports) and Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountsFB).
Gallery: (4-9-2022) WCU Football Holds 2022 Spring Showcase
