Football Falls at Western Carolina

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Mars Hill's football team lost on the road at NCAA Division I rival Western Carolina University, 42-14 Saturday night in front of 7,094 fans at E.J. Whitmire Stadium. It was both teams season opener.

Shaikel Davis led MHC with 111 yards on 18 carries averaging 6.2 yards per rush. Quarterback Jon Richt completed 10-37 passes for 120 yards and one touchdown strike. Dimitri Holmes caught five passes for 71 yards and one score. Jasper Mason led the Lion defense with 16 tackles, followed by Rudy Cabral with 14. Troy Harris tallied 10 tackles along with a team high two sacks in the loss.

Troy Mitchell threw for 149 yards and rushed for 40 yards to lead the Catamount offense. Darius Ramsey rushed for 120 yards. Rock Williams led the Catamount defense with 10 tackles followed by Courtland Carson with six stops and 2.5 tackles-for-loss.

The Lions held WCU on their first drive as Richard Sigmon missed a 37 yard field goal. The first quarter remained scoreless.

WCU put the first points on the board at the 13:51 mark of the second quarter after Troy Mitchell dove in from three yards out. Sigmon's PAT kick capped off a 12-play, 71-yard drive that consumed 3:12. After a Lion punt, WCU drove 44 yards on 11 plays to take a 10-0 advantage after Sigmon hit a 25-yard field goal with 8:08 left in the first half. MHC lost a fumble on their next possession at their own 28 yard line that set up the Catamount's third score of the game. WCU found the end zone three plays later to extend their lead to 17-0 at the 6:06 mark of the second quarter. Michael Johnson ran in from five yards out to end the scoring drive. The teams would carry that score into the locker room at the intermission.

After an 18-yard kickoff return by Deunta Jennings, MHC started the third quarter on their own 24 yard line. On the first play of the drive, the Lions lost a fumble after a 15-yard rushing loss that was picked up by WCU's Trevor Taylor who scampered nine yards for a Catamount touchdown. After Sigmon hit the PAT kick, WCU led 24-0 with 14:48 left in the third frame.

Jon Richt found Dimitri Holmes on a 17-yard touchdown strike with 9:56 left in the third quarter to put the Lions on the board. The scoring drive was five plays, for 46 yards that consumed 2:10. The Lions' defense forced a Catamount punt at the 6:02 mark and Jon Richt led a 10-play, 65-yard drive, capped off by his own 1-yard scoring rush to trim the deficit to 24-14 with 1:25 left in the third quarter.

MHC was able to hold the Catamounts to a field goal on their next possession. Sigmon hit his second field goal of the night, a 31-yard attempt with 12:53 left in the contest to put WCU ahead, 27-14.

The Lions turned the ball over on downs on their ensuing possession and Michael Johnson sealed the win for the Catamounts with a 38-yard touchdown run with 8:40 left in regulation to make the score 34-14 in favor of the hosts. Troy Mitchell scored with 3:15 left in the game on a seven-yard touchdown rush to make the final tally 42-14.

Mars Hill will travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., Sept. 8, to face Southeast Missouri. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.