Football Loses at Western Carolina

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Lions' football team lost their season opener at Western Carolina University, 42-14 in front of 12,348 fans Saturday night at E.J. Whitmire Stadium. It was the season opening game for the Catamounts as well.

Matt Layman and Austin Brown split action at quarterback for the Lions. Layman completed 16-25 passes for 167 yards and one score while Brown was 7-12 for 107 yards and a touchdown completion. Gilbert Johnson caught six passes for 144 yards while Keshaun Taylor pulled in nine passes for 81 yards and one touchdown. Shaikel Davis rushed for 59 yards and caught four passes for 23 yards and one score. Trey Clark led the Lions' defense with 16 tackles followed by Chris Reeder, Christiaan Davis and Martay Mattox who recorded seven stops apiece. MHU tallied 373 total yards in the game, 274 in the air.

Troy Mitchel led WCU with 298 yards passing and 62 yards rushing. He completed 29-43 passes with a touchdown and an interception. Steffon Hill caught eight passes for 58 yards. Trey Morgan and Daniel Riddle led the Catamount defense with seven tackles each. WCU recorded 583 yards of total offense; 383 passing yards.

On the Catamounts first play from scrimmage, running back Detrez Newsome took the pitch on a sweep to the right side and hit Spearman Robinson on a 75-yard touchdown pass to give WCU a 7-0 lead with 14:44 on the clock. Mars Hill ran a trick play of their own midway through the first quarter that would have scored a Lion touchdown but the play was called back due to a false start penalty.

An 11-yard scoring rush by Newsome with 12 seconds left in the first quarter, capped off a 9-play, 71 yard drive that consumed 2:44.

A 36-yard punt return by C.J. Goodman that gave WCU the ball on the Mars Hill 16 yard line setup the Catamounts third score of the game. Five plays later, Darius Ramsey dove in from a yard out with 12:24 remaining in the first half to give WCU a 20-0 advantage. The Catamounts missed the ensuing PAT kick attempt. An interception stifled the Lions next drive. Mars Hill's defense held strong and WCU was forced to punt. After the Catamounts downed the punt on the Lions' 1-yard line, MHU drove 99-yards in 13 plays to cut the deficit to 20-7 with 3:31 left in the opening half. The drive consumed 4:13.

WCU closed out the first half of play trying to get into the endzone instead of opting for a field goal. The Lions' defense held strong once again and the teams went into the locker room with the Lions trailing 20-7. Mars Hill recorded 208 total yards in the first half, 149 in the air. Layman completed 9-15 passes for 127 yards to pace MHU in the first half. Taylor and Johnson had 68 and 67 receiving yards in the first half, respectively. WCU tallied 345 total yards, 263 of those were passing yards. Robinson was on the receiving end of 128 of those yards.

Troy Mitchell hit Karnorris Benson on a 44-yard touchdown pass with 4:16 left in the third frame. The Catamount's 2-point PAT pass was successful and Mars Hill trailed 7-28. It was a 2-play, 47-yard drive that consumed 0:36. Ramsey later dove in from a yard out with 13:32 left in the fourth quarter to give WCU a 35-7 lead.

On the Lions' next possession Austin Brown's pass was deflected by a Catamount defender but Shaikel Davis picked the loose ball out of the air and scampered 15 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 35-14 with 12:56 on the clock in the final period. It was a 3-play, 70-yard drive that took 30 seconds off the clock.

Corey Holloway ended the scoring in the contest with 11:10 left in regulation when he crossed the goal line after a six-yard run to make the final tally 42-14 in favor of the hosts. The last scoring drive was five plays that covered 55 yards in 1:38.

Mars Hill will play at Chattanooga on Saturday, September 12. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.