Winston-Salem, N.C. – Returning from an injury that sidelined him early in last week's season opener, Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns as the Demon Deacons downed FCS No. 25 Western Carolina 42-10 on a weather-hampered Saturday at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium.
Wake Forest (2-0) scored three first-quarter touchdowns on lengthy runs of 41, 33, and 27 yards – two by Claiborne – and added a safety to negate a pair of failed two-point try attempts.
Christian Lowery capped WCU's mammoth 17-play, nine-minute drive with a 26-yard field goal to put the Catamounts on the board in the second quarter.
Claiborne capped his triumphant return with an 85-yard rush early in the third quarter, with the Deacons taking to the air for their final two scores and a 42-3 lead. Western Carolina backup quarterback
Isaac Lee guided a scoring drive that was capped by
Markel Townsend's one-yard score, with freshman
Marcus Trout scoring his first collegiate point on the PAT to provide the final tally.
Lee finished 4-of-5 for 24 yards and finished as WCU's top rusher with 30 yards coming on three carries as the Catamounts were limited to just 20 yards on 29 carries. Starting for the second-straight week,
Bennett Judy finished 18-of-32 for 155 yards, tossing an interception, and was sacked four times as Wake Forest presented a strong front-line defense.
In addition to Claiborne, quarterback Robby Ashford threw for 193 yards and three scores, with WR Chris Barnes catching six passes for 149 through the air for the ACC's Deacs.
Lengthy weather delays marred Saturday's game, the first coming just three minutes into the contest after the Catamount defense snuffed out the first Wake Forest offensive drive. Back after a 2-hour, 18-minute delay – and peppered by rain showers for the remainder of the evening – the Deacs built a 21-3 halftime lead.
The game then endured a 42-minute pause that lengthened what was slated to be a shortened intermission. Wake then outscored WCU 21-7 in the second half in recording the victory.
Samaurie Dukes led the Catamount defense with five tackles, 2.5 going for loss, with
Darian Anderson Jr.,
Hank Bodine, and
Hayward McQueen Jr., each posting three stops apiece. McQueen forced a fumble, with
Justin Wallace and
Jordan Thompson both falling on loose footballs for defensive takeaways. Transfer DB
Cam'Ron Dabney recorded WCU's second interception of the season in the loss. WCU's defense finished with eight tackles for loss in the defeat.
Western Carolina (0-2) returns to NCAA FCS play next Saturday, Sept. 13, opening back-to-back home dates by hosting former league foe Elon in Cullowhee. Next Saturday's game is "White Out Whitmire," with fans encouraged to wear white to the game. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Fifth-year head coac
Kerwin Bell will be live-on-location at Catamount Jaxe in Cullowhee on Monday (Sept. 8) 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.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (FB.com/CatamountSports; FB.com/catamountsportsnetwork) and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountsFB).
