Buies Creek, N.C. – Taron Dickens threw for 427 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Catamount offense, but it took a toss by a former prep QB to ensure the road victory.
 
Wide receiver James Tyre hit Painter Richards-Baker on a 61-yard pitch-and-catch that handed Western Carolina a two-score advantage with under five minutes to play as the Catamounts held off a late Campbell rally for a 42-35 win over the Camels on Saturday afternoon in front of 4,060 fans at Barker-Lane Stadium.
 
Tyre caught six passes for a career-high 101 receiving yards, adding a pair of punt returns for 47 yards to give him a game-best 148 all-purpose yards. But it was his 61-yard fourth-quarter strike to Richards-Baker, who finished with five catches for a career-high 99 receiving yards, that helped Tyre to Saturday's most valuable performance.
 
Dickens finished 26-of-40 for 427 yards, with touchdown passes of 17, 32, 9, and 10 yards to tight ends Brayden Blackmon and David Hulbert, with receiver Marcus Striggles and tailback Patrick Boyd Jr., who each hauled in scores. The redshirt sophomore quarterback connected with 11 different receivers, adding 35 rushing yards in the winning effort.
 
Additionally, for the Catamount offense, true freshman Michael Rossin caught three passes for 88 yards, while Malik Knight had four receptions for 76 yards. Following a four-score performance a week ago, RB Camury Reid punched in his seventh touchdown of the season on a one-yard plunge to open scoring, finishing with 43 yards on the ground.
 
For Campbell (1-4), quarterback Kamden Sixkiller finished 18-of-45 for 205 yards and a touchdown and an interception, adding a pair of rushing scores and a team-best 55 yards. Multipurpose back Mike Chandler II threw for 79 yards on a pair of completions, adding 19 total rushing yards and a score. Trayjen Llanas-Wilcox led the Camel offense with 124 receiving yards on five touches. Campbell placekicker Alex Crabb went 2-for-3 on field goals, connecting from 32 and 21 yards out, while missing a 41-yard attempt.
 
Western Carolina (2-3) won its second-straight game in securing the victory in its regular-season nonconference finale, which also represented WCU's first victory in the series with Campbell.
 
The Catamounts dashed out to a 28-3 first-half lead and carried a 28-10 lead into the halftime locker room. An early second-half TD pushed the Purple & Gold ahead 35-10, before three consecutive scores by the Camels returned it to a one-score game, 35-28.
 
Tyre then took over on the ensuing possession, returning the two-score lead in just 39 seconds. The Suwanee, Ga., product caught a 14-yard pass from Dickens on the first down play. Then, on the second play of the drive, Tyre took the end-around reverse toss and threw downfield to a wide-open Richards-Baker, who did the rest. The Dartmouth transfer weaved through the Camel secondary and won the footrace to the endzone for the score to pull ahead, 42-28.
 
Sixkiller orchestrated a 65-yard scoring drive to make it a one-score game again with under three minutes remaining in the game.
 
Richards-Baker recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt with WCU, with Tyre again putting his stamp on the game. With Campbell desperately trying to get the ball back, Dickens found Tyre on a fourth-down conversion to extend the drive and allowed the Catamounts to run out the game clock to secure the victory.
 
Jordan Thompson paced the Catamount defense with 11 total tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. It matched his WCU career-best, marking his second double-digit tackle effort. Hayward McQueen Jr. was credited with six stops and a pass break-up, while Caleb Fisher had four tackles, including two for loss with a sack-fumble.
 
Following a turnover on downs on its first possession, Western Carolina benefited from a Hasaan Sykes interception at the 12-yard line on Campbell's first opportunity, setting up the Reid touchdown rush for the early lead and the only first-quarter touchdown.
 
Campbell missed a 41-yard field goal attempt, and the Catamounts capitalized as Dickens found Brayden Blackmon for a 17-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter for the 14-0 lead.
 
The Camels got on the board with an Alex Crabb 32-yard field goal with 11:46 to play before the break, but WCU answered with Dickens' second passing touchdown on a 32-yard strike to Marcus Striggles in the back of the endzone for the 21-3 with 8:36 left.
 
WCU added a nine-yard passing touchdown from Dickens to David Hulbert for the 28-3 halftime advantage. Campbell QB Kamden Sixkiller scampered for a 12-yard score on a drive aided by multiple Catamount penalties to cap the first half, providing the 28-10 score.
 
Aided by a 47-yard punt return by James Tyre, the Catamounts started an early third-quarter drive at the Campbell 34-yard line. Patrick Boyd Jr. caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Dickens for a 25-point, 35-10 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the third quarter. However, Mike Chandler II answered for the Camels with a 10-yard rush and a successful two-point try to make the score 35-18 with just over seven minutes left that capped third-quarter scoring.
 
Crabb booted a 21-yard field goal with 13:12 remaining to trim the WCU deficit to 14, 35-21, before Sixkiller and the Camels made it a one-possession game, 35-28, after a 26-yard touchdown pass to Stevie Keener with 4:58 to play, setting up Tyre's heroics on the first passing TD of his collegiate career.
 
Western Carolina remains on the road with a return to Southern Conference play next Saturday, leaving the state of North Carolina for the first time this season with a jaunt to Spartanburg, S.C., to face the Wofford Terriers (0-4, 0-1 SoCon). Kickoff from Gibbs Stadium is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.