Cullowhee, N.C. – Sparked by its defense early, Western Carolina shook off a sluggish start on Saturday afternoon to match a school record for points scored and set a program record with a balanced 766 yards of total offense in cruising to a 77-21 home-opening victory at Bob Waters Field / E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
 
Tied at seven early in the second quarter, the Catamounts exploded for six-straight touchdowns – three on the ground and three through the air – to break open Saturday's "White Out" game. WCU earned its first home-opening victory since 2018 and tallied the second home victory under Kerwin Bell who posted his 99th career win as a collegiate head coach.
 
WCU lit the scoreboard for 77 points, matching the program-record set back in 2004 in a home-opening win over West Virginia State (77-7), while the 766 offensive yards obliterated the 53-year-old benchmark of 711 amassed by the 1969 Catamounts against Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
Led by backup quarterback freshman Cole Gonzales who made his first collegiate start, five WCU underclassmen quarterbacks – two true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen – guided scoring drives in the winning effort. Gonzales finished 19-for-24 for a career-high 276 yards passing with three touchdowns and added 36 total rushing yards including a nine-yard touchdown scamper to lead WCU. Classmate Samuel Cornett was 4-for-4 for 64 yards and a score in his collegiate debut with redshirt freshmen Brody Palhegyi (2-for-3, 24 yards) and Parish Metzger (1-for-2, 18 yards) also tossing scoring strikes.
 
Kason Lincke also orchestrated a three-play scoring drive on the ground, capping the scoring with a 34-yard touchdown rush to provide the final tally.
 
Freshman tailback Desmond Reid, who also made his first collegiate start, ran for a career-best 175 yards and two touchdowns to highlight a strong ground game for the Catamounts. Classmate Corey Reddick scored twice with 71 rushing yards including a two-yard TD to open the game's scoring and added a 20-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.
 
Twelve different Catamounts caught passes in Saturday's win with five recording scores. Raphael Williams hauled in a team-best four catches for 73 yards with David White Jr. catching three for 67 yards including a 28-yard touchdown pass. Freshman De'Andre Tamarez had three receptions for 62 yards and two TDs, scoring his first career touchdown on his first career catch on an 18-yard pass from Metzger. Tamarez added a 36-yard score from Cornett. Terrence Horne Jr. scored his team-best third receiving touchdown with a six-yard tally, finishing with 55 yards on two catches, while tight end Ajay Belanger scored on a five-yard pass from Gonzales.
 
Forced to punt on its first two possessions, the Catamounts got rolling the third time it possessed the football with Gonzales capitalizing on a short field, connecting with Horne on a 49-yard strike to set up the Reddick two-yard touchdown stretch for the lead late in the first quarter. On the ensuing possession, Presbyterian marched 72 yards in just eight plays to even the game on a four-yard touchdown rush by QB Nate Hayden to tie the game on the third play of the second quarter.
 
However, Western Carolina started to seize control from there as the Catamount defense forced Presbyterian to punt on five of its next six possessions with one ended by the half. Of those five punts, three of the drives were three-and-outs for the Blue Hose. Conversely, the Catamounts scored on 10 consecutive possessions, taking the lead for good on a 21-yard touchdown rush by Reid midway through the second quarter.
 
WCU lead 28-7 at halftime before matching a program-record with 49 second-half points – 28 in the third quarter and 21 in the fourth – in cruising to the victory.
 
Western Carolina's defense recorded 11 tackles for loss including a season-best seven sacks, limiting the Blue Hose to just 288 total yards of offense – 100 on the ground and 188 through the air. Skylin Thomas was credited with a team-best and career-high six tackles to pace the Catamounts while Chris Morgan finished with a career-high tying five tackles including 3.5 sacks with a forced fumble. Andreas Keaton and Cameron McCutcheon both recorded four tackles apiece as 28 different players posted tackles in the victory.
 
Presbyterian's Nate Hayden threw for 188 yards and a touchdown, completing his first six passes in a 12-for-20 effort through the air. He added a score on the ground to pace the Blue Hose offense. Quante Jennings ran for 39 yards with backup QB Tyler Wesley finishing with 36 yards and a score on the ground as PC was limited to 100 total rushing yards in the loss. Jalen Jones caught four passes for 49 yards with Dominic Kibby catching a pair of passes including a 39-yard touchdown.
 
Western Carolina (2-1) plays its third road game of the season next Saturday (Sept. 24) as it opens Southern Conference play against the Samford Bulldogs (2-1) in Birmingham, Ala. Kickoff from Seibert Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT and can be seen on ESPN3 with coverage also through the Catamount Sports Network.
 
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). Catch "Catamount Football Weekly" every Monday night at 6 p.m. from Innovation-Cullowhee and an online Facebook LIVE stream through WCU Athletics' official Facebook page.