After last week’s 54-0 victory, the Colonels prepare for Saturday’s game again North Carolina, which is still on despite the cancellation of Family Day.Last season, the Colonels traveled to Cullowhee, N.C., undefeated, and came home with a 28-7 loss to the Catamounts. The Colonels look to play the role of spoiler this season as Western Carolina comes into Guidry Stadium nationally ranked.

“It’s going to take our best effort so far this year,” head football coach, Jay Thomas, said. “It’s going to come down to every phase. We’re looking to play solid football and give them a good game.”

Going into the game, the Catamounts are ranked No. 18 in the Division I-AA polls with a record of 2-1. One of the wins includes a week-two victory over the then No. 1 ranked Furman University.

“We’ll be ready,” junior offensive lineman Jacob Bender said. “We played a level down last week, but we’ve been getting after it this week, and we’re going to be ready.”

The key to beating the Catamounts is holding onto the football, something that the Colonels have struggled with in their first two games.

“We want to get better at holding onto the football,” Thomas said. “We’re going to concentrate on getting it done. It comes down to focusing and making sure we protect the ball.”

Offensive leaders for the Colonels are freshman running back Dwayne Jones, with 16 carries for 139 yards and one touchdown, and sophomore fullback Broderick Cole, who has 138 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries. Junior Joseph Tobias, freshman Zach Morgan and senior Anthony Harris also have more than 100 yards rushing and at least one touchdown.

The leading rusher for the Catamounts, junior Darius Fudge, has 38 carries for 233 yards and one touchdown. Junior quarterback Justin Smith will be the starting quarterback. Smith is 45-86 for 433 yards and two touchdowns but has thrown five interceptions.

Stopping the Catamounts’ offense is a challenge. Defensive coordinator Charles Kelly said the Colonels have to play a sound game.

“They are good at every position,” Kelly said. “Last year there were three big plays that we gave up defensively. We can’t give up big play and play for 60 minutes.”

Defensively, the Catamounts are led by preseason All-Southern Conference selection senior defensive end Rico Reese. Reese has 16 tackles, two sacks and one interception so far this season.

The Catamounts provide quality opposition from a conference similar to the Southland.

“This game will get us ready for conference,” Thomas said. “It’s a quality opponent, and it’ll get us ready for down the road.