Cullowhee, N.C. – Making his season debut in the Catamount backfield, redshirt sophomore quarterback Taron Dickens threw for a career-high 582 yards and matched the school record with six passing touchdowns as Western Carolina rode a 29-point third quarter to a 50-35 victory over Samford in its Southern Conference opener Saturday at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.
 
A  match-up between the top two quarterbacks in the SoCon, based on preseason voting by the league's head coaches, did not fail to produce on Saturday. The two squads combined for 85 points and 1,309 yards of offense, passing for 1,038 and rushing for 271.
 
Dickens posted the best passing performance in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to date this year with the second-most passing yards in both school and league history, tying former Samford QB Liam Welch for the latter. (see more WCU analysis in the post-game notes). Current Bulldog quarterback Quincy Crittendon threw for a career-best 456 yards and three touchdowns in the defeat.
 
Trailing Samford 20-14 late in the second quarter after the second of three receiving touchdowns by WCU transfer WR Calvin Jones, the Catamounts scored 36 of the game's next 42 points, taking the lead for good inside the final two minutes before the break as Dickens found TE Josiah Thomas for his first career score. WCU carried a 21-20 lead into the locker room before exploding for 29 points in the third quarter, scoring four TDs, three by tailback Camury Reid, and tacked on a two-point conversion to lead 50-26.
 
Samford (0-4, 0-2 SoCon) managed a 32-yard Chris Evans touchdown rush and the third field goal by Jake Garner to cap the only scoring in the fourth quarter.
 
Dickens was 35-of-46 passing for a career-best 582 yards and tossed six touchdown passes to guide the Catamounts. Painter Richards-Baker and Malik Knight led 10 different players to record receptions, both finishing with six catches apiece, with Richards-Baker going for 85 yards and a score, while Knight had 67 receiving yards. Thomas, along with James Tyre, scored a receiving TD.
 
Reid caught four passes for a career-high 107 yards and three receiving touchdowns, adding 39 rushing yards and a fourth score in the winning effort. Markel Townsend carried the load in the fourth quarter, finishing with 13 carries for a game-high tying 56 yards.
 
Quincy Crittendon was 35-of-54 passing for a career-best 456 yards and threw each of his three touchdown passes to Calvin Jones, a Western Carolina graduate transfer who finished with seven catches for 108 yards. Jaden Gibson had nine receptions for a game-high 122 yards, while C.J. Evans had a 32-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for Samford.

WCU's defense held Samford to a pair of field goals on its first two offensive drives, while its offense managed a pair of TDs on a 14-yard pass from Dickens to Reid and James Tyre with a six-yard score.
 
The two teams traded a turnover apiece as Samford recovered a fumble and Samaurie Dukes intercepted Crittendon in the end zone to thwart a Bulldog scoring opportunity to accompany five tackles.
 
Defensively for the home squad, Hasaan Sykes posted a career-high 11 tackles, while linebacker Jordan Thompson was credited with eight stops with half a tackle for loss. Lineman Sean Morris recorded a pair of sacks for the second-straight week with his two solo tackles, both going for loss. Caleb Fisher posted 1.5 tackles for loss, and Kenyon Partridge had three tackles, including a sack, and was credited with seven QB hurries.
 
Western Carolina (1-3, 1-0 SoCon) steps out of conference one final time in the regular season next Saturday, Sept. 27, traveling to Buies Creek for the first time in the football program's history for a meeting with the Campbell Camels, who also earned their first seasonal win on Saturday with a double-overtime victory over Bryant. Kickoff of Campbell's third-straight home game at Barker-Lane Stadium is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
 
Fifth-year head coach Kerwin Bell will be live on location at Catamount Jaxe in Cullowhee on Monday (Sept. 22) for "Catamount Football Weekly," presented by Stanberry Insurance. The weekly coaches show airs at 6 p.m. on the Catamount Athletics YouTube Channel and official Facebook page.

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