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Western Carolina nips PC to snap road losing streak
Andy Horn’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Marquel Pittman with 3:16 left in the game proved to be the difference as Western Carolina snapped a 14-game road losing streak with a 23-21 victory Saturday at Presbyterian.
The win wasn’t secure until Cam Miller hooked a field goal with a minute and a half to play disappointing a crowd of 4,876 at Bailey Memorial Stadium.
Quan Warley, who was named Southern Conference Freshman of the Week, rushed for 202 yards in 29 carries.
Horn completed 24 of 35 passes for 239 yards. Pittman and Adam Hearns both had seven receptions for 106 and 52 yards, respectively.
Western Carolina’s Marquel Pittman catches a 4-yard pass for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 23-21 victory at Presbyterian snapping a 15-game road losing streak. – Photo by Mark Haskett
S.J. Worrell led the Blue Hose with 76 yards in 19 carries.
Tim Webb completed 15 of 26 passes for 176 yards. Terrence Butler had six catches for 62 yards.
Horn’s pass to Pittman completed a 70-yard drive in 10 plays. They teamed up earlier in the march for a 39-yard gain.
Butler’s 45-yard run on the first play after the kickoff was followed one play later by his 11-yard gain. The drive stalled at the 4, and Miller was wide left on a 23-yard field goal with 1:33 on the clock.
Trailing 14-6, the Catamounts (2-2) threatened by driving to the PC 18 following the second-half kickoff before they were stopped on downs.
WCU’s next possession ended when a bad snap resulted in PC’s Chris Bowman recovering a fumble at the Cat 46.
The Blue Hose gave the ball right back when Webb fumbled with Jeff Bradley recovering at the 46.
Horn’s 11-yard pass to Pittman helped set up Blake Bostic’s 39-yard field goal cutting the gap to 14-9 with 1:25 to go in the third period.
Western forced a punt and marched 97 yards in eight plays. Warley had runs of 16, 25 and 12 yards, and Horn completed passes of 11 yards to Pittman and 15 yards to Donald James. Horn found James from 8 yards out for a touchdown and passed to Pittman for the conversion and a 17-14 lead with 12:30 left in the game.
Adam McKinney recovered Jayson Williams’ fumble at the WCU 40 setting the stage for PC to regain the lead. Webb’s 19-yard pass to Butler was the key play leading to a 4-yard TD pass from Webb to Brandon Clark. Miller’s PAT made it 21-17 with 7:19 on the clock.
Western missed a scoring opportunity in its first possession of the day by turning the ball over on downs at the Blue Hose 29.
Bostic’s 36-yard field goal with 12:54 to play in the half put the Cats up 3-0. It was preceded by Horn’s 15-yard pass to Pittman and Warley’s 33-yard run.
Chetyuane Reeder fumbled on the first play after the kickoff with John Julien recovering at the 28. The Cats came up empty when Justin Bethel blocked Bostic’s 45-yard field goal.
PC then went 65 yards in 10 plays for the game’s first TD. Worrell had an 18-yard run, and Webb completed a 13-yard pass to Butler leading to Webb scoring from a yard out. Miller’s PAT made it 7-3 with seven minutes on the clock.
Bostic’s 32-yard field goal cut the deficit to 7-6 at the 2:54 mark.
The Blue Hose moved 77 yards in seven plays following the kickoff. Reeder had a 12-yard run, and Webb completed passes of 21 yards to Worrell and 36 yards to Reeder. Worrell’s 1-yard run and Miller’s PAT put PC up 14-6 with 43 seconds on the clock.
Chris Collins led WCU in tackles with seven, including six solos.
Antwan Thomas and Anthony McKnight topped the Blue Hose with 14 and 12 tackles, respectively.
WCU PC
28 First Downs 14
52-244 Rushes-Yds. 30-127
24-35-0 Passing 15-27-0
239 Passing Yds. 176
0-0 Punts-Avg. 5-43.2
2-2 Fumbles-Lost 3-2
5-38 Penalties-Yds. 5-40
WCU 0 6 3 14 23
PC 0 14 0 7 21
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