HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Rakeem Cato threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns, helping Marshall build a sizable early lead in an easy 52-24 win over Western Carolina on Saturday night.
Cato was 32 of 42 passing for the Thundering Herd (1-1) before giving way to freshman backup Blake Frohnapfel, who was a perfect 4 of 4 passing for 53 yards with one touchdown.
Marshall's quarterback spread it around in the second quarter, throwing TD passes of 1 yard to Gator Hoskins, 2 yards to Aaron Dobson and 12 yards to Demetrius Evans for a 24-0 Marshall lead. Richard Sigmon's 40-yard field goal at the halftime whistle finally opened the scoring for the Catamounts (1-1).
Devin Arrington returned an interception 18 yards for a score to push the Thundering Herd's advantage to 45-10.
The Thundering Herd outgained the Catamounts 615-335, including a 430-191 yard margin through the air.
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| Scoring Summary |
| MRSHL | Justin Haig 24 yd FG |
| MRSHL | Gator Hoskins 1 yd pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Aaron Dobson 2 yd pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Demetrius Evans 12 yd pass from Rakeem Cato (Justin Haig kick) |
| WCAR | Richard Sigmon 40 yd FG |
| WCAR | Jacoby Mitchell 5 yd pass from Eddie Sullivan (Richard Sigmon kick) |
| MRSHL | Steward Butler 8 yd run (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Remi Watson 3 yd run (Justin Haig kick) |
| MRSHL | Devin Arrington 18 yd interception return (Justin Haig kick) |
| WCAR | Eddie Sullivan 1 yd run (Richard Sigmon kick) |
| MRSHL | Eric Frohnapfel 29 yd pass from Blake Frohnapfel (Justin Haig kick) |
| WCAR | Eddie Sullivan 8 yd run (Richard Sigmon kick) |
| Team Stats | ||
| WCAR | MRSHL | |
| First Downs | 21 | 37 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 6-15 | 8-14 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 75-335 | 94-615 |
| Rushes-Yds | 35-144 | 48-185 |
| Passing Yds | 191 | 430 |
| Kick Return Yds | 108 | 94 |
| Punt Return Yds | 0 | 2 |
| Passes | 19-40-1 | 36-46-0 |
| Punts | 7-285 | 1-37 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-Yds | 9-75 | 9-80 |
| Time of Poss. | 29:39 | 30:21 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| WCAR: Eddie Sullivan 10-50, Michael Johnson 5-30, Shaun Warren 5-26, Darius Ramsey 10-24, Michael Vaughn 5-14 |
| MRSHL: Steward Butler 8-60, Kevin Grooms 12-42, Travon Van 10-40, Remi Watson 6-32, Essray Taliaferro 7-29, Blake Frohnapfel 2-9, Rakeem Cato 2--5, Team 1--22 |
| PASSING |
| WCAR: Eddie Sullivan 19-40-191-1 |
| MRSHL: Rakeem Cato 32-42-377-0, Blake Frohnapfel 4-4-53-0 |
| RECEIVING |
| WCAR: Jacoby Mitchell 9-84, Darius Ramsey 4-32, Garrett Brown 2-18, Conner Orr 1-36, Karnorris Benson 1-10, Spearman Robinson 1-8, Michael Vaughn 1-3 |
| MRSHL: Aaron Dobson 9-81, Antavious Wilson 6-98, Tommy Shuler 6-79, Jazz King 4-41, Andre Snipes-Booker 2-39, Eric Frohnapfel 2-35, Demetrius Evans 2-22, Kevin Grooms 1-20, Jermaine Kelson 1-6, Dameon Garrett 1-5, Travon Van 1-3, Gator Hoskins 1-1 |
