Western Carolina blasts Liberty as offense rolls up 63 points, 618 yards

Western Carolina's Jason Jones (right) celebrates with Lamont Seward after Seward's touchdown reception in Saturday's 63-0 rout of Liberty. - Photo by Mark Haskett

The Catamounts (6-3) set stadium records for points and victory margin while holding the Flames to 156 offensive yards and seven first downs. The 63 points were the most WCU has ever scored against a Division I-AA opponent.

Fred Boateng carried 23 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

Brian Gaither completed 17 of 26 passes for 286 yards and two scores.

Lamont Seward had seven catches for 103 yards. Brendon Roy added five receptions for 91 yards, and Michael Banks' four catches totaled 61 yards.

At one point, the Cats scored on seven of eight possessions.

Liberty's Samkon Gado picked up 83 yards in 22 carries.

After an exchange of punts to open the game, Western scored the next three times it had the ball. Manny Deshauteurs' 12-yard run put the Cats on the board with 8:12 left in the first quarter. Chris Vought kicked the first of his nine extra points for a 7-0 lead.

The Cats found themselves backed up to the 3 following a punt, and they covered the 97 yards to paydirt in 16 plays. Gaither completed passes of 12 yards to Boateng, 14 yards to Roy and 15 yards to Seward in the drive. It culminated in a 15-yard run by Deshauteurs for a 21-0 lead with 10:06 to go in the half.

A 36-yard pass from Gaither to Banks extended the margin to 28-0 at the 2:10 mark.

The Cats weren't through as they marched 84 yards in just 48 seconds for a 35-0 lead at intermission. The payoff was a 15-yard pass from Gaither to Seward with 11 seconds on the clock. The score was set up by Gaither passes of 28 yards to Boateng and 17 yards to Roy and a 24-yard run by Boateng.

Western picked up right where it left off by scoring on its first possession of the second half. Gaither completed passes of 12 yards to Seward and 29 yards to Roy before Seward's 9-yard run completed the 54-yard drive in five plays. With 10:46 remaining in the third stanza, the Cats led 42-0.

Less than a minute later, WCU was on the board again Boateng raced 60 yards for a score on the first play following a punt for a 49-0 lead at the 9:54 mark.

Western's next possession ended when Tim Ayer picked off Gaither's pass and brought the ball back 4 yards to the Flame 47.

The Cats got the ball back on the next play as Teddy Burgis intercepted J.K. Scott's pass at the WCU 24.

Western didn't take advantage of that turnover, but Mitch Miller picked off a Scott aerial and returned it 4 yards to the Liberty 46 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Three plays later, reserve quarterback Pat Cilento hit Roy on a 23-yard scoring strike for a 56-0 lead with 14:09 left in the game. Cilento had a 16-yard run on the play before the TD.

On the first play after the kickoff, Miller again intercepted Scott's pass, and his 14-yard return put the ball at the Flame 26. Deshauteurs' 19-yard run three plays later concluded the scoring with 12:41 on the clock.

7

35-110

8-26-3

46

10-40.9

1-0

6-45

First Downs

Rushes-Yds.

Passing

Passing Yds.

Punts-Avg.

Fumbles-Lost

Penalties-Yds.

32

52-291

20-32-2

327

5-43.4

3-0

8-50

Back to Sports: 11/08/01.