BOX SCORE (PDF)

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Samford football team used big plays in all three phases to earn a 31-13 win at Western Carolina Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 5-6 overall and 4-4 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina falls to 3-8 overall and 2-6 in league games.
 
Quarterback Liam Welch rushed 20 times for a career-high 105 yards and a touchdown. He also passed for 115 yards and a touchdown. Montrell Washington had one punt return that went for a 59-yard touchdown. Armond Lloyd and Jaleel Laguins had a fumble recovery each for the defense.
 
"Defensively, we played well all night," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "There were some times that we bent, but we came up with some big stops in the second half. They played awesome and that is the type of defense we're looking to see. Offensively, we struggled throwing the ball, but we ran the ball extremely well behind our offensive line, and I'm proud of them. And then in special teams, we had a big kick return, and then what really got us going was Montrell's punt return for a touchdown."


 
For Western Carolina, Tyrie Adams completed 13-of-29 passes for 181 yards and one touchdown. Trevor Childers and Ty Harris had 17 tackles each for the WCU defense.
 
Western Carolina's Caleb Ferguson returned the opening kickoff 72 yards to the Samford 25-yard line. On the Catamounts' first play from scrimmage, Adams hit Donnavan Spencer for a 25-yard touchdown to give WCU a 7-0 lead with 14:45 left in the first quarter.
 
Both of Samford's first two offensive drives ended in fumbles. Following the second drive, Western Carolina's Julian Pletz kicked a 44-yard field goal to push WCU's lead to 10-0 with 3:00 left in the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Samford's Antione Sims returned the kick 65 yards to the WCU 25-yard line. Three plays later, Mitchell Fineran's 34-yard field goal attempt went wide, ending the scoring threat.
 
Samford put its first points on the board when Washington returned a WCU punt 59 yards for a touchdown to cut the WCU lead to 10-7 with 27 seconds left in the first quarter. Western's Pletz kicked a 44-yard field goal to make the score 13-7 with 10:08 left in the second quarter.
 
Samford's Welch scored on a one-yard run on fourth down to give the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead with 5:45 left in the second quarter. Fineran kicked a 39-yard field goal to push Samford's lead to 17-13 with 21 seconds left before halftime.
 
On Samford's first drive of the third quarter, Welch connected with Michael Vice for a two-yard touchdown pass to push Samford's lead to 24-13 with 8:58 left in the third period. Jay Stanton scored on a 12-yard run to increase Samford's lead to 31-13 with 12:42 left in the fourth quarter.
 
Samford will wrap up its season with a game at Auburn next Saturday, Nov. 23. The game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start from Jordan-Hare Stadium.