Daniel Hooker
Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations
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Western Carolina football returned to the practice field on Saturday evening for its second scrimmage of preseason fall camp and one of its first sessions that finished under the lights at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. The Catamounts worked out for two and a half hours, putting together 18 combined drives for over 120 plays in the scrimmage, finishing with an overtime scenario from the 25-yard line.
WCU’s offense recorded nine touchdowns – six through the air and three coming on the ground – while the defensive unit posted seven stops with one 3-and-out and one takeaway on an interception by freshman safety Andreas Keaton.
“Things really hit close to home this week,” reflected WCU head coach Kerwin Bell following Saturday’s second scrimmage of preseason camp. “Coach Peacock was a really good person, a great young man who died too soon.”
He continued, “I thanked our guys for the way they handled things this week, through all of the tough situations. We told them, ‘that’s what JP would want – Coach Peacock would want us to grind.’ That’s who he was, he was the ultimate grinder. And I want our team to develop that kind of personality this year, to be a grinder. When we’re in the game and something happens, just put your head down and grind, and I thought that they showed a little bit of that today.”
Bell said that his squad again stacked a penny on the “championship side” with Saturday’s scrimmage.
“We were better today than we were last week, and that’s all that we could ask for,” said Bell. “We’ve gotten more detailed, we’ve gotten more refined. We’re missing a lot of players, but I really thought we improved in our execution. We’ve still got a long way to go, we’ve got a lot of work to do. But overall, I really like where we’re at.”
Six different quarterbacks saw action in Saturday’s scrimmage with graduate transfer Rogan Wells and returners Carlos Davis and Kason Lincke seeing the bulk of the action. Wells completed 74-percent of his attempts – 14-of-19 – in the scrimmage for 204 yards and three touchdowns. Davis finished 15-of-26 for 148 yards with a TD and an interception, adding a three-yard scoring romp. Lincke was 5-of-10 for 113 and a score, while true freshman Brody Palhegyi finished 9-of-12 for 74 yards and a score.
True freshman QBs Meziah Scott and Parrish Metzger also guided the offense for series with Scott scrambling for a 10-yard touchdown rush late in the scrimmage.
Transfer WR Raphael Williams led six receivers with 40-or-more receiving yards on the day as 15 different Catamounts combined for 45 receptions. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., product caught six passes for 149 and two touchdowns of 41 and 28 yards. Redshirt freshman Kendall Alford paced the squad with seven catches for 79 yards and a score, while Alabama transfer C.J. Williams hauled in four passes for 71 yards. Fifth-year senior Daquan Patten wowed the 200+ spectators with a leaping snare in the back of the Ramsey Center end zone for a score among his four receptions for 60 total yards.
On the ground, second-year freshman Tyree Nelson led four running backs with carries, rushing seven times for 46 yards. The Atlanta, Ga., product also caught four passes out of the backfield for 55 yards including a 37-yard touchdown for a total of 101 total yards. Mikai Stanley punched in a one-yard touchdown rush among his 10 carries for 29 yards while Kenny Benjamin rushed five times for 27 yards and Quenten Zanders recorded nine rushes.
Among WCU’s defensive highlights were the play of second-year freshman linebacker Demorian Smith who led the squad with nine tackles including one for loss, adding a pair of hurries. Defensive end Darrius Bell had five total stops including four tackle for loss with three sacks and two pass breakups. Nickelback Skylin Thomas was credited with eight tackles including two for loss with a sack, while both Tre Jolly and Curtis Roach tallied six tackles, Jolly posting two sacks among his tally.
Keaton added five tackles to accompany his drive-stopping interception with the defense ending the scrimmage with a stop in the overtime scenario from the 25-yard line.
All told, WCU’s defense saw 31 players record stops while the unit combined for 18 tackles for loss including eight sacks while also recording nine pass breakups.
In the special teams, second-year freshman Paxton Robertson split the uprights on a 46-yard field goal and converted two PATs while redshirt sophomore Richard McCollum chipped in a 23-yard field goal and three PATS. Punters Brandon Dickerson and Brady Elms split the reps between the special teams period and the scrimmage. Elms punted four times with at 45.3-yard average and two downed inside the 20-yard line while Dickerson punted five times with a 36.6-yard average.
Preseason fall camp closes on Sunday as classes in Cullowhee start on Monday, Aug. 23 with the Catamounts moving into their seasonal practice routine.
Western Carolina opens the 2021 season on Labor Day weekend, hosting the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field on Saturday, Sept. 4. The game has been picked up as a part of the Southern Conference's Ingles/Nexstar television package with a simulcast through ESPN+ with kickoff scheduled for 6 pm. WCU looks to #WhiteOutWhitmire with all fans encouraged to wear white to the game as the Catamounts wear their new white Nike uniforms for the first time.
Pregame will include the return of the annual Freshmen Run featuring incoming freshmen from both the fall of 2020 and 2021. Following the game, stick around for an encore presentation by the "Pride of the Mountains" Marching band and postgamefireworks presented by Ingles and iHeartRadio partners 99.9 FM Kiss Country and Star 104.3.