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Catamounts to play Eagles on Saturday
Mountain Heritage Day is expected to draw thousands to the Western Carolina campus Saturday with the final gathering being at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field where the Catamounts will play Georgia Southern in a 6 p.m. Southern Conference football game.
The Eagles, a perennial Division I-AA power, are off to an uncharacteristic 1-2 start under Brian VanGorder, who is in his first year as coach. They were upset Saturday 28-27 by Chattanooga in the league opener.
“They’ve played good football,” WCU Coach Kent Briggs said. “They’ve just had trouble in a series here and there. They could be 3-0 very easily.”
The Eagle offense has relied heaving on the running of Chris Covington and Lamar Lewis, who are averaging 144.3 and 129 yards rushing, respectively.
Quarterback Travis Clark directs the GSU offense. His favorite receiver thus far has been Raja Andrews.
The Catamounts are ranked 24th among I-AA teams in the Sports Network poll. Georgia Southern is rated 25th by the College Sports Network.
Western opened the year with two wins before losing 42-7 Saturday at Furman. The Cats lost four defensive linemen to injury in that game and already had one defensive tackle hurt.
“That’s tough,” Briggs said. “We’re having to move some people from other positions to get through the next couple of weeks.”
Western has scored just one offensive touchdown in each of its last two games.
“We just need to make plays,” Briggs said. “We’re uptight starting off. As the game goes on, we’re playing better.”
During halftime Saturday, the #14 jersey of kicker Kirk Roach, WCU’s all-time leading scorer, will be retired. Roach was a four-time all-conference selection and three-time All-American from 1984-87. He was inducted into the WCU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.
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