CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Samford senior quarterback Quincy Crittendon passed for a career-high 456 yards, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs dropped a 50-35 decision at Western Carolina Saturday evening at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
 
The start of the game was delayed for three hours due to lightning. With the loss, Samford fell to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina improved to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in league game.
 
"I thought the first half was the best football we've played all year long in all three phases," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "We played a really good team, and they got their quarterback back and he is a good player. We knew he was going to be explosive, but we played really well and then in the third quarter, things spiraled out of control. We made a couple of silly mistakes. But, we have a good group of guys on the team, they're very hurt because we put a lot of emphasis on this game."
 
Crittendon completed 35-of-53 passes for 456 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Crittendon also rushed 18 times for 53 yards. Jaden Gibson caught nine passes for a career-high 122 yards on the day. Calvin Jones, who transferred to Samford from Western Carolina, caught seven passes for 108 yards and three touchdowns. C.J. Evans rushed 15 times for 56 yards and one touchdown.
 
Defensively for Samford, Jaden Mosley had nine tackles on the night. LaShon Young had eight tackles, while Malik Gaither had seven.
 
For Western Carolina, Taron Dickens completed 35-of-46 passes for 582 yards and six touchdowns. Camury Reid caught four passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns. The WCU defense was led by Hasaan Sykes with 11 tackles.
 
On the opening drive of the game, Samford drove to the Western Carolina 11-yard line and Jake Garner kicked a 28-yard field goal for a 3-0 Samford lead with 11:07 to go in the first quarter. The Catamounts answered on their first drive when Dickens hit Reid for a 14-yard touchdown to give WCU a 7-3 lead at the 8:26 mark in the first quarter.
 
Garner booted a 29-yard field goal to cut the WCU lead to 7-6 with 3:17 to go in the first quarter. Dickens hit James Tyre for a six-yard touchdown to push the Catamounts' lead to 14-6 with 1:06 left in the opening period.
 
Crittendon hit Jones for a 28-yard touchdown to close to within one point again at 14-13 with 13:12 remaining in the second quarter. Samford's KeShawn Washington recovered a Western Carolina fumble at the Samford 34-yard line with 11:26 left in the second quarter. On that drive, Crittendon hit Jones for an 11-yard touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 20-14 lead with 9:36 left in the second quarter.
 
Dickens hit Josiah Thomas for a two-yard touchdown pass to give the Catamounts a 21-20 lead with 1:32 left before halftime. The teams went to the locker room with WCU leading, 21-20.
 
On the opening drive of the third quarter, Dickens hit Painter Richards-Baker for a 20-yard touchdown to push the lead to 28-20 with 13:42 to go in the period. Samford answered on the ensuing drive when Crittendon hit Jones for a 12-yard touchdown pass, but the extra point was blocked, cutting the WCU lead to 28-26 with 11:08 to go in the third quarter.
 
Dickens connected with Reid for a 24-yard touchdown and the two-point conversion was good to make the score 36-26 with 8:22 left in the third period. Reid score on a two-yard run to make it 43-26 with 3:08 to go in the third quarter. With 1:12 left in the third, Dickens hit Reid for a 62-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 50-26.
 
Samford's Evans scored on a 32-yard run to cut the lead to 50-32 after the two-point conversion failed with 8:50 left in the game. Garner added a 33-yard field goal with 1:56 left to make the final score 50-35.
 
Samford will return home to play host to Furman on Saturday, Sept. 27. The game is set for a 2:30 p.m. start from Pete Hanna Stadium.


 
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