W. Carolina 52, Mars Hill 31

Published Sep. 11, 2011 12:06 a.m. ET

foxsports

Brandon Pechloff threw two touchdown passes in the second quarter as Western Carolina broke open a close game and went on to beat Mars Hill 52-31 on Saturday night.

Pechloff connected with Jacoby Mitchell for a 75-yard score that put the Catamounts (1-1) ahead 31-17. After a three-and-out by the Lions (1-1), a Division II team, Pechloff struck again on Western Carolina's next play, finding Deja Alexander for a 46-yard score to make it 38-17.

Western Carolina's Shaun Warren and Mars Hill's Jonas Randolph put on a ground-game duel in the first quarter, which ended with the Catamounts ahead 21-14. Warren scored on runs of 11, 30 and 10 yards, and Randolph scored from 56 and 20 yards.

Warren finished with 203 yards on 21 carries, and Randolph had 174 yards on 25 carries.

Mars Hill's Jon Richt, the son of Georgia coach Mark Richt, was 11-for-33 for 105 yards.