Purple Squad Rallies to Win WCU’s Annual Spring Game, 31

Football 4/11/2026 11:45:00 PM Daniel Hooker, Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations

Purple Squad Rallies to Win WCU’s Annual Spring Game, 31-27

White squad led 24-7, Purple team closed 24-3 in the comeback

Cullowhee, N.C. – Sprung by a lead block from his quarterback, Isaac Lee, wide receiver Jai Boyd raced 25 yards for a rushing touchdown on a reverse to guide the White squad to a 24-7 lead midway through the second quarter of Saturday's annual Spring Game.

However, on the ensuing play, running back Josh Perry raced 70 yards for a touchdown to ignite a rally for the Purple team. The unit wearing all Purple scored the final 17 points of the first half as part of outscoring the White squad 24-3 collectively, rallying for the 31-27 victory as Western Carolina closed its annual spring drills on the turf at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.

The two squads combined for 21 total drives on Saturday, 12 won by the defense and nine resulting in offensive scores – six touchdowns and three field goals. WCU's defense on either side combined to force five punts, four turnovers on downs or end of halves, a missed field goal, and forced three turnovers with two interceptions and a fumble.

"What you like to see as a coach is a well-rounded football team where they all play and compete, and you don't have one team dominate the other. Today, we split up the team, and like it's been all spring, it was very competitive, and the score proves that today," said WCU head football coach Kerwin Bell after Saturday's scrimmage. "I thought we executed at a really high level, especially with the team split into two as we had."

He added, "We've got some competitors. They fought, they played hard, both sides wanted to win, and it came right down to the end like it does a lot of times. I just love the competitiveness of this football team. They come to work every day."

Four quarterbacks split reps in Saturday's scrimmage, with returning redshirt Jordan Martin-Durham not dressed for precautionary reasons. Lex Thomas saw eight drives with Isaac Lee in the backfield for six in the first half. Returning redshirt Ian Grissom had four cracks at the defense in the second half for the White team, while true freshman Patrick Harding orchestrated three drives after the break.

Lee led the White squad in the first half, finishing 10-for-17 for 69 yards with a trio of scoring drives, two coming on rushing scores. He added 39 rushing yards on six carries, despite wearing the protected red jersey. Grissom threw for 93 yards on 11-of-20 passing after the break, adding 12 rushing yards. For the Purple team, Thomas threw for a scrimmage-high 198 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-24 passing, adding 31 rushing yards. Harding was 7-of-10 for 66 yards, tossing the eventual game-winning touchdown pass from six yards out to Ellis Chappell.

Gallery: (4-11-2026) Catamount Football 2026 Spring Game

Four drives into Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage, the White squad lit the soon-to-be-replaced scoreboard at Whitmire Stadium as Bryan McCollum split the uprights on a 33-yard field goal to cap a 37-yard drive led by Isaac Lee. On the ensuing possession with the Purple team driving, Jayden Cornelius jumped a Lex Thomas pass and scampered up the sideline to the endzone for a touchdown as Team White jumped in front, 10-0.

Thomas exacted some revenge on his next possession, though, tossing a high pass to the right side where WR Michael Rossin outleaped the defense, landed, and raced 74 yards for the Purple team's first points and a 10-7 game. Rossin led all receivers with four catches for 104 yards on the day.

Lee then drove the White team back into scoring position with RB Noah Best finding pay-dirt on a left-side toss sweep from three yards out to reclaim the 10-point cushion, 17-7. Lee also factored into his squad's third TD of the first half, serving as a lead blocker to help spring Boyd on the 25-yard end-around and the commanding, 24-7 lead.

Utilizing a similar – if not the same – play call on the very next play from scrimmage, RB Josh Perry took the handoff and faked the reverse pitch, found the edge, and turned on the afterburners for a one-play, 70-yard drive for the rushing score and a 24-14 score before the break.

The Purple defense got in on the act on the next possession as Trey Berry III forced and recovered a fumble after a short completion. Thomas cashed in the takeaway by finding Kha'leal Sterling for a touchdown pass to again make it a one-score game. After forcing a three-and-out, Thomas pushed his offense down the field in the two-minute drill, closing the first half with a 24-yard Marcus Trout field goal to send the teams to intermission deadlocked at 24.

Grissom led a solid drive to start the second half before it stalled, and a 43-yard field goal just missed to preserve the tie. Two possessions later, Grissom again moved the offense into scoring position with McCollum nailing a 30-yard field goal to put the White unit up, 27-24. Harding then orchestrated the eventual game-winning drive, hitting Chappell for the go-ahead score to provide the final tally, 31-27.

Redshirt freshman AJ Mintze helped preserve the win and allowed the Purple squad to melt some of the running second-half clock with an interception just inside midfield. The White squad didn't go away, forcing a punt to give Grissom one last chance inside the final minute of the scrimmage. Moving into positive territory inside the final 10 seconds, Grissom hit tailback Anthony Benjamin over the middle, but the Fort Myers, Fla., couldn't get out of bounds before the clock expired as the Purple squad celebrated the victory.

Behind Rossin (4-for-104 yds) for the Purple team, tight end Cole Craddock caught four passes, finishing with 26 yards, while tailback Josh Perry also had 26 yards coming on a pair of receptions. Chappell caught two passes for 24 total yards, including the game-winning TD. Sterling had three catches for 23 yards and Richard Holls caught two for 22 yards.

On the other side, Anthony Benjamin had six catches and WR Austin Cunningham hauled in five for a team-best 60 yards. TE Bode Burns had two catches for 36 receiving yards, as nine receivers had catches.

Benjamin also had a team-high eight rushes, one more than Noah Best, who ran for 35 total yards and a score for the White squad. The Purple team saw 13 carries by transfer RB Elijah Hadley, running for 50 yards on 13 touches. Josh Perry had seven rushes, including the long TD run.

Defensively for the victorious Purple squad, newcomer Terrell Poyser was credited with seven tackles, with linebacker Joshua Collins and safety Na'Koma Simpson Nealy both with six stops apiece. Collins had two tackles for loss, Simpson-Nealy with one. Braeden Barger and Vanier Baptiste III had five stops apiece, with Barger recording a TFL and Baptiste posting two sacks and a pair of QB hurries. Trey Berry III forced and recovered a fumble to go along with a pair of tackles, and AJ Mintze had an interception with three stops.

For the White squad, Ja'Torian Mack posted six tackles, with Nassor Ashenafi credited with six stops, including one for loss, with a pair of pass breakups. Bryce Hart had five tackles, and Hank Bodine was credited with four. Jayden Cornelius had the big defensive play of the day with the pick-six interception.

On special teams, Bryan McCollum finished 2-for-3 on field goals from 30 and 33 yards out, adding three PATs. Marcus Trout was 1-for-1 on field goal tries with a 24-yarder, tacking on four made point-after tries. In addition to holding on all the place kicks, Thomas Guerrero punted five times for an average of 35.0 yards per kick, downing two short pooch punts inside the 20-yard line.

Western Carolina concludes its 15 days of spring practice, turning its attention to the classroom to finish the semester, as well as the weight room for off-season conditioning. The facility improvements now take center stage in the shadows of the Western Skybox construction, as the turf playing surface will be replaced beginning on Monday, April 13. That project will be followed by the upgrade to the videoboard at Whitmire Stadium and a modern Musco stadium lighting system to be installed ahead of next season.

Season tickets for the 2026 home schedule are on sale now through the Catamount Athletics ticket office, by phone at (828) 227-2401, and online at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets. Ticket options include General Admission and Reserved Bleacher seating on the East Side of the stadium, as well as a select number of covered reserve tickets underneath the old press box. West Side stadium seating includes bleachers, bench-backs, and chair-back box seats. WCU is also offering a Family Zone four-pack of tickets in section FF on the East Side of the stadium.

WCU faculty and staff are also eligible for special season ticket pricing in the general admission, east and west reserved bleacher, and chairback reserved ticket sections by showing their CatCard ID at the time of purchase.

Additional seating options available for Catamount Club members include Paws Porch, Catamount Corner, End Zone Suites, and the Chancellor's Club. Each area has a minimum contribution requirement to the Catamount Club, and availability is limited. Previous ticket holders in these areas will get first right to renew until May 29. Beginning on May 30, Catamount Club staff will begin reaching out to those who have added their name to an interest list for the 2026 season. Contact Brittany Kicklighter in the Catamount Club for more information.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountsFB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts).

Players Mentioned

#14 Vanier Baptiste III

DT

6' 3"

Redshirt Freshman

#15 Jai Boyd

WR

6' 2"

Redshirt Sophomore

#19 Bode Burns

TE

6' 4"

Redshirt Freshman

#34 Joshua Collins

LB

6' 1"

Redshirt Freshman

#83 Austin Cunningham

WR

6' 0"

Redshirt Freshman

#11 Isaac Lee

QB

6' 4"

Redshirt Freshman

#24 Anthony Benjamin

RB

5' 10"

Redshirt Sophomore

#18 Jordan Martin-Durham

QB

6' 3"

Freshman

#25 Nassor Ashenafi

N

5' 9"

Freshman

#35 Trey Berry III

LB

6' 1"

Freshman

#27 Jayden Cornelius

CB

5' 10"

Freshman

#49 Bryce Hart

LB

6' 2"

Freshman

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