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Taliaferro, Evans propel Samford by Catamounts
Dustin Taliaferro’s pinpoint passing and the running of Chris Evans were too much to overcome as Samford handed Western Carolina a 21-6 Southern Conference loss Saturday at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field.
A homecoming crowd of 9,174 saw the Catamounts (2-4, 0-2) lose their 17th straight league game against the conference’s newest member.
Taliaferro completed 14 of 16 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns.
Evans carried 34 times for 166 yards and a TD.
Western Carolina’s John Julien comes up with a fumble recovery in Saturday’s 21-6 loss to Samford. – Photo by Mark Haskett
Jonathan Lowery caught five passes for 69 yards, and Riley Hawkins’ three receptions totaled 63 yards.
Quan Warley was WCU’s leading rusher with 47 yards in 16 carries. The Cats were limited to 67 net yards on the ground.
Andy Horn completed eight of 14 passes for 90 yards, and Zack Jaynes came off the bench to hit on 20 of 33 for 162 yards.
Donald James’ eight receptions totaled 82 yards.
As it turned out, the Bulldogs had all the points they needed to win less than two minutes into the contest. Alex Barnett’s 30-yard kickoff return gave his team the ball at its 45, and Samford scored five plays later. Taliaferro completed passes of 16 yards to Hawkins and 29 yards to Lowery setting up Evans’ 10-yard scoring run. J.P. Fraites kicked the first of his three extra points for a 7-0 lead with 13:01 on the clock.
On Western’s second play, Bryce Smith intercepted Horn’s pass at midfield, but the Bulldogs couldn’t take advantage of the turnover.
Each team punted on its next two possessions before a series of miscues took place.
John Julien recovered Taliaferro’s fumble at the Samford 34.
The Bulldogs got the ball back on the next play when Quinton Smith recovered Adam Hearns’ fumble at the 17.
Runs of 12 and 13 yards to Evans and Barnett’s 12-yard gain resulted in a first-and-goal at the 4. Samford came up empty when Gene Singletary recovered Hawkins’ fumble at the 7.
The Cats put together their best drive of the day by moving 67 yards in 17 plays. Horn completed a 15-yard pass to James, and Jaynes hit Andrew Rogers for 13 yards. When the march stalled, Blake Bostic booted a 43-yard field goal cutting the gap to 7-3 with 3:17 to play in the half.
Western had a chance to take the lead when a fumbled snap was recovered by Justin Collins at the Samford 39.
Jaynes tried to throw deep on the next play, but Kyle Morton intercepted his pass at the 5.
Horn completed passes of 13 yards to Marquel Pittman and 29 yards to Hearns following the second half kickoff leading to Bostic’s 35-yard field goal making it 7-6 with 11:58 to go in the third period.
Taliaferro’s 22-yard pass to Lowery built the lead to 14-6 with 6:50 left in the third quarter. It came on the first play following Richie Fordham’s 38-yard punt return.
Two plays after another WCU punt, Taliaferro completed a 38-yard TD pass to a wide open Hawkins upping the margin to 21-6 with 4:59 to play in the third stanza.
Western had two drives into Bulldog territory in the fourth quarter but yielded possession on downs both times. The Cats reached the 30 and the 15 on those marches.
Adrian McLeod and Collins paced the WCU defense with 14 and 11 tackles, respectively.
Andy Davis led Samford with nine.
Samford WCU
17 First Downs 17
44-180 Rushes-Yds. 28-67
14-16-0 Passing 28-47-2
154 Passing Yds. 252
6-44.3 Punts-Avg. 6-42.8
3-3 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
7-84 Penalties-Yds. 3-15
Samford 7 0 13 0 21
WCU 0 3 3 0 6
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