Macon, Ga. – Cole Gonzales threw for 395 yards and accounted for three touchdowns including scoring strikes to AJ Colombo and Zion Booker while rushing for a third as No. 24 Western Carolina raced out to a 24-7 first-half lead at No. 17/14 Mercer on Saturday afternoon. However, the Bears rallied back with 27-straight points between the second and third quarters and then held on for a 44-34 victory over the Catamounts in Southern Conference action at Five Star Stadium.
 
Gonzales finished 25-of-47 through the air with his 395 yards representing his second-best, single-game performance after last week's 620-yard explosion. Adding in the team's second-most rushing yards at 53, the Ocala, Fla., product accounted for 448 total yards on Saturday. His two aerial TDs give him 51 in his WCU career to move him into second all-time in program history, usurping Troy Mitchell (2012-15, 50 TD passes).
 
Booker caught seven passes for 78 yards with Colombo returning to the lineup after missing the Furman game with five receptions and 66 yards, both finding the endzone. Tailback Branson Adams amassed 128 all-purpose yards, rushing for a team-high 89 yards with three catches for 39 receiving yards. Paxton Robertson nailed a pair of field goals of 31 and 44 yards for the Catamounts.
 
Defensively, linebackers Antarron Turner and Hayward McQueen Jr. both finished with a team-best eight total hits to lead the Catamounts.
 
Mercer (7-1, 4-1 SoCon) used a strong ground attack to rush its way past the Catamounts as Dwayne McGee ran for 223 yards and two TDs. Freshman backup QB Whitt Newbauer made his first career start and threw for 234 yards on just 10 completions including a six-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Smith finished with 20 rushing yards. Kelin Parsons caught four passes for a team-best 102 years for the Bears while Brayden Manley helped lead their defense with nine tackles including 2.5 sacks.
 
All told on Saturday, the two nationally-ranked FCS teams combined for 78 points and 1,130 total yards of offense – WCU with 582 yards on 85 plays with Mercer recording 548 yards on 63 plays from scrimmage.
 
With WCU trailing by six inside the final six minutes of the fourth quarter, Gonzales pulled the ball down and scampered 12 yards to the goal line where he was helicopter-flipped into the endzone reminiscent of his score in the road win at Elon. The rush seemingly pulled the Catamounts even at 36 with the ensuing PAT looking to propel the Catamounts back in front. However, the play was negated by a holding penalty that erased the score and pushed WCU behind the chains.
 
The Catamounts settled for a Paxton Robertson season-long 44-yard field goal with just under six minutes to play to pull to within three, 37-34. Mercer, however, ground out the win with CJ Miller icing it on a 31-yard touchdown run inside the final two minutes.
 
Utilizing a pair of methodical scoring drives of 10 and 12 plays, respectively, Western Carolina grabbed the early lead midway through the opening quarter on Saturday at 14-0 with a two-yard ground score by Williams and through the air to Colombo from 17 yards away. The Bears then marched 75 yards in a 12-play drive of their own to cut the margin in half.
Robertson's first field goal and a 12-yard scamper to the end zone by Gonzales handed WCU a 24-7 lead just four and a half minutes before intermission. But that's when the Bears started their march back.
 
Deferring to the second half at the opening coin toss, Mercer closed the opening frame with a pair of rushing touchdowns – 64 yards by McGee and two yards by QB Newbauer – to make it 24-21 at halftime. Out of the locker room, Mercer got a second long McGee scoring romp from 59 yards away followed by a pair of field goals from 30 and 23 yards out that handed the home squad its largest lead of 10, 34-24, late in the third quarter.
 
Midway through the final frame, WCU's scoring drought was ended when Booker caught a three-yard pass from Gonzales to cap a 10-play, 80-yard drive and make the margin three, 34-31. A third Griffith field goal pushed the margin back out to six, setting up the go-ahead touchdown that was called back and Miller ultimately ended the game with his 31-yard TD jaunt.
 
Western Carolina (4-4, 3-1 SoCon) returns home next Saturday, Nov. 2, for its annual Homecoming game as the Catamounts welcome nationally-ranked Chattanooga to E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live streaming audio from the Catamount Sports Network beginning at 1:30 p.m.
 
WCU head coach Kerwin Bell will be live on location for the next installment of "Catamount Football Weekly," presented by Stanberry Insurance at Rodgers Brothers & Speedy's Pizza on Monday, Oct. 28. The show begins at 6 p.m. and is open to the public or can be seen on the WCU Athletics official Facebook page (fb.com/catamountsports).
 
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).