Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina exploded for 35 points in a decisive second quarter including three touchdowns within the final three minutes of the opening half as the Catamounts kept their postseason hopes alive with a 58-28 victory over the Virginia Military Institute in front of 13,022 fans at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.
 
The Catamounts came away with three interceptions and a pair of fumbles between defense and special defense as WCU played complimentary football in avenging last year's three-point loss in Lexington, Va., that ended last year's playoff hopes.
 
WCU's victory combined with league losses by both ETSU and Chattanooga allowed the Catamounts to climb into second-place at the end of Saturday's Southern Conference play entering the final week of the regular season.
 
Trailing 7-6 at the end of the first quarter after converting two long drives into a pair of Christian Lowery field goals, WCU's offense erupted for four touchdowns with the defense lighting the scoreboard with a pick-six as the Catamounts carried a commanding 41-7 lead into the halftime locker room. Quarterback Taron Dickens bookended the scoring streak with TD tosses of four yards to both freshman WR Isaiah Johnson at the 13:54 mark and sophomore WR Zion Booker who wrestled away a TD pass with six seconds remaining before the break. In between, tailback Jalynn Williams plunged in for a pair of one-yard scores and Ken Moore Jr. returned an interception 34 yards to paydirt.
 
Dickens finished a very efficient 30-for-37 (81.1%) passing for 294 yards and two touchdowns as the first of three Catamount QBs to see action in the winning effort. A combined 10 different players caught passes with TE Jake Young leading the way with six catches for 74 yards. Malik Knight, AJ Colombo, and Branson Adams each hauled in four apiece for 34, 29, and 19 yards, respectively. Booker scored on one of his three receptions with Johnson catching a pair of passes, one going for six.
 
On the ground, converted RB Patrick Boyd Jr. rushed for a career-best 59 yards on just six touches, averaging 9.8 yards per carry aided by a 28-yard touchdown romp. Williams powered in from a yard out twice, once going over the top of the pile the second stiff-arming his way to the score. Backup QB Jefferson Boaz capped a scoring drive of his own with a one-yard rush on the 12th play of a 76-yard scoring march.
 
Defensively, linebacker Antarron Turner led the Catamounts credited with seven tackles with half a tackle for loss and a PBU. LB Wesley Scott finished with six tackles including one for loss while adding one of WCU's three interceptions. Scott was joined by Mateo Sudipo and Ken Moore Jr., both with interceptions, Moore carrying his to the house for the score. Kenyon Partridge forced a fumble on WCU's lone sack of the afternoon, jarring the football loose before Hayward McQueen Jr. gathered the bouncing ball in for the takeaway.
 
With the Catamounts ahead 41-7 at intermission, VMI (1-10, 1-6 SoCon) posted three second-half scores including a pair of touchdown runs by Hunter Rice, who ranks second in the Keydets' record book with 30 career rushing scores. Rice capped a quick three-play drive to open the third quarter with a 59-yard-scoring scamper and ended all scoring with a three-yard rush on VMI's 13-play drive late in the fourth quarter. Along the way, the Catamounts saw Lowery split the sticks for his third field goal of the day with Boaz and Boyd Jr. adding rushing scores of a yard and 28 yards in the fourth quarter.
 
Two quarterbacks combined for 14-of-27 passing with 170 yards and two touchdowns for VMI. Starter Chandler Wilson was 5-of-12 for 32 yards including a 16-yard score to Morgan McPhaul but tossed three first-half interceptions including one that went for a pick-six. JoJo Crump threw for 138 yards on 9-of-14 passing with a 40-yard score to Destin Moore. RB Hunter Rice eclipsed the century mark with 109 positive yards on the ground without a loss coming on 13 carries.
 
WR Julio DaSilva paced VMI in receiving with four catches for 45 yards with Morgan McPhaul and Destin Moore both scoring for the visitors.
 
VMI linebacker Eric Rankin paced all defenders with 17 total tackles, one of three Keydets with double-digit stops. Rankin had 14 solo stops with half a sack and was joined in double figures by Steven Riveros (13 tackles) and Jason Johnson (10 tackles). Amaje Parker came away with a fumble recovery in WCU's lone turnover.
 
Second-place Western Carolina (6-5, 5-2 SoCon) wraps up the regular season on Saturday (Nov. 23) when it travels to Birmingham, Ala., for a 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT kickoff against the Samford Bulldogs. The Catamounts have the chance to win six SoCon games for the first time since joining the league back in 1976 and a chance of halting a 41-year hiatus from the NCAA FCS postseason. WCU last made the playoffs back in 1983 when it became the first SoCon team to play for a football national championship.