Western Carolina’s High-Octane Offense Too Much for Campbell in CAA Shootout
By Tiffany Williams –
Western Carolina nearly coughed it up, but when it mattered most, the Catamounts leaned on a relentless passing attack and one clutch fourth-down conversion to silence Campbell’s furious rally in a wild 42-35 shootout at Barker-Lane Stadium.
This one looked over early. Taron Dickens was carving up the Camels’ secondary like a practice squad, tossing three touchdown passes before the second quarter was halfway done. By the time WCU went up 28-3, Campbell looked dead in the water. But the Camels, stubborn and sloppy all at once, clawed back. Kamden Sixkiller’s 12-yard scoring scamper just before halftime gave the home side a heartbeat, and his relentless legs would keep them hanging around the rest of the way.
The Catamounts kept pushing. Dickens’ fourth touchdown strike stretched it back out, and when Mike Chandler II punched in a score and Alex Crabb drilled a field goal, Campbell had slashed it to 35-21 early in the fourth. Suddenly Barker-Lane came alive. A freshman, Stevie Keener, snatched his first career touchdown grab—a 26-yarder—to cut it to 35-28 with under five minutes left.
That’s when Western Carolina ripped their guts out. Jame Tyre, already torching Campbell’s corners, threw a trick-shot 61-yard touchdown pass on a gadget play to Painter Richards-Baker just 39 seconds later. Ballgame? Not quite. Sixkiller, who threw for 205 yards and ran for two more scores, barreled in again to cut it back to seven with 2:11 left. But Campbell’s defense couldn’t finish the job—Western Carolina muscled out a fourth-and-one near the 38, and that was that.
Dickens finished with a monster stat line—427 yards and four touchdowns on 26-of-40 passing—as the Catamounts piled up 564 yards of offense. Tyre (101 yards) and Richards-Baker (99 yards, TD) led the receiving corps, while Malik Knight and Michael Rossin combined for 164 more. Defensively, Jordan Thompson anchored the WCU front with 11 tackles and 2.5 for loss, part of nine stops behind the line.
Campbell left with bruises and questions. Sixkiller showed guts—two rushing scores, one passing—but misfired all day, going just 18-for-45 through the air. Trayjen Llanas-Wilcox was the lone bright spot, exploding for 124 receiving yards. The Camels even forced a pair of fumbles in the second half, but wasted every chance.
For Western Carolina, it’s two straight wins and proof their offense can bail them out even when the defense bends. For Campbell, it’s another brutal reminder: moral victories don’t change the standings.
