Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina football held the 10th practice of its annual spring drills on Saturday as the squad conducted its second intrasquad scrimmage on the turf of E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.
Morning storms and showers that delayed the original schedule gave way to brilliant sunshine and mild temperatures with a strong, gusting breeze through the two-hour workout that opened with comments from former Catamount and former Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins who attended WCU's workout.
After working through periods of pre-practice walk-throughs, team stretch, and individual, unit, and special teams punt coverage periods, the offense and defense lined up for a scrimmage that spanned the better part of 90 minutes. The Catamount defense forced four stops with a pair of three-and-outs against the offense, while the offensive unit cashed in on three touchdowns and a pair of field goals on the day.
Three quarterbacks split the reps on Saturday as
Cole Gonzales,
Parish Metzger, and true freshman
Bennett Judy guided the offense. WCU was again limited at running back with just one rostered back –
Branson Adams – healthy and dressed on Saturday as the Catamounts turned to WR
Terrence Horne, WR A.J. Colombo, and TE
Ajay Belanger to fill the running back position, lining up in formation and receiving limited touches.
Saturday's scrimmage opened with the defense grabbing the upper hand, forcing a three-and-out with DE
Jayelin Davis recording a tag-off sack to halt the opening series. On the ensuing possession, Metzger found WR
Nate Abraham on a drive-extending third-down reception only to see an errant snap scooped and scored by freshman DB Antonio "Bo" Simpson.
With Gonzales at the helm, the Catamount offense got going in its third touch. Horne posted a first-down carry on the drive with Gonzales connecting with receivers
Censere Lee, David White, and
Branson Adams out of the backfield before hitting Belanger to move into the red zone. On a fourth-and-goal situation, Adams punched it in for six on the ground.
Judy then guided a scoring drive, hitting TE
Caleb Scott early in the drive. Linebacker
Giovanni Ricciardi forced a third-and-long scenario with a timely pass break-up over the middle, but Judy found Abraham to keep the drive alive. The defense wasn't done on the drive, though, as
Richard Garrett and
Justin Wallace combined with pressure and a sack to again force the offense into a long third-down conversion. Judy responded with close to a 40-yard pass to WR
Ryan Sims before he ultimately capped the drive with his first of two touchdown scrambles.
WCU's defense forced its second turnover of the scrimmage as
Rod Gattison jumped a route to deflect a Gonzales pass into the air with safety
Mateo Sudipo, who has been limited early in spring drills, coming down with the interception.
Gonzales moved the Catamounts in the red zone on his next possession with help from Horne out of the backfield and despite big hits delivered by linebacker Aiava "Va" Lealaimatafao and Garrett again getting through with pressure. On a fourth-and-goal play, Gonzales tried to force one into traffic over the middle with the ball falling incomplete with a big collision in the back of the endzone.
Working through end-of-half timed drills,
Bennett Judy worked the ball to both A.J. Colombo and
Ryan Sims with
Blue Monroe delivering a big hit and a pass break-up to hinder the drive. WCU settled for a 32-yard
Richard McCollum field goal. Then, in the final drive before the simulated halftime, Gonzales worked the sidelines on short passes to Sims multiple times with
Skylin Thomas delivering a big hit for the defense. The offense did find points, though, as
Paxton Robertson split the uprights on an impressive 53-yard field goal.
After the break, Judy managed a scoring drive he capped with his second scramble for the end zone. The drive was highlighted by a couple of receptions by
Nate Abraham who was impressive with shifty moves to avoid would-be tackles. On the final drive of the scrimmage,
Blue Monroe took over with a couple of big hits with
Malik Richardson providing pressure and an incompletion. A bad snap on the final play resulted in a sack by Ricciardi for the defensive stop.
The Catamounts are scheduled to practice just once more next week ahead of the Easter holiday, returning to the field on Monday, April 3, before resuming its schedule with three sessions – on April 11, 13, and 14. WCU's annual Spring Game is scheduled for Saturday, April 15 with a Noon start time.
All dates and practice times are subject to change.
Unless otherwise noted, each WCU spring football practice is open to the public. It is respectfully requested that spectators observe from the stadium seating area and avoid being either on the field or the sidelines.
Season tickets for the 2023 Catamount football season are on sale now through the WCU Athletics Ticket Office in the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 227-2401, and
online at CatamountSports.com. WCU is coming off a record year for football season ticket sales in tickets sold and revenue generated and looks to carry that momentum into 2023.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountsFB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts).
Gallery: (4-1-2023) Catamount Football Spring Practice #10
