Post by The Cats on Aug 21, 2024 5:18:57 GMT -5
It's now 8 days until the kickoff of Catamount Football on Thursday, August 29, 2024, against NC State Wolfpack in Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC
To help pass those long summer days, and hopefully get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season, and knowledgeable of the team members, we'll continue the football countdown each day until kickoff day.
Today we will highlight two players that wear #8, one on offense and one of defense::
#8 Taron Dickens
Position: Quarterback
Height: 5-11
Weight: 180
Class: Redshirt Freshman
Hometown: Miami, Fla.
High School: Northwestern HS
2023 (Freshman): Played in two games as a reserve at quarterback as a true freshman … Finished 4-for-6 passing for 127 yards and a touchdown … Made his collegiate debut in the home win over Charleston Southern (Sept. 23) … Completed 3-of-4 passes for a career-high 91 yards through the air including a long pass of 65 yards and his first career touchdown pass of 17 yards to Ca’Lique Cunningham … Rushed six times against the Buccaneers … Completed 1-of-2 passes against ETSU (Nov. 11) for 36 yards … In WCU’s annual Spring Game, completed 4-of-10 passes for 54 yards with an interception.
Prior to Western Carolina: In 10 games, completed 137-of-212 passes (64.6%) for 2,233 yards and 22 touchdowns with just four interceptions, according to MaxPreps … Added 424 rushing yards with five touchdowns on the ground … Selected as the Florida 6A Player of the Year and the top-rated passer in Florida … Over his final two years as a prep, passed for 5,976 yards with 64 touchdowns and 12 INTs, adding a total of 911 rushing yards and 14 scores … Listed as a three-star recruit by 247Sports and a two-star recruit by Rivals.
Personal: Full name is Taron Tyger Dickens.
#8 Jaquarius Guinn
Position: Defensive Line
Height: 6-2
Weight: 290
Class: Senior
Hometown: Clover, S.C.
High School: Clover HS
2023 (Junior): Saw action in all 11 games on the year with nine starts along the defensive line … Credited with 26 total tackles including eight solo stops … Recorded 2.5 total for loss with two sacks on the year … Charted one quarterback hurry … Posted tackles in all but one of the games on the year … Recorded three tackles twice including a half a sack against Samford (Sept. 9) and a full sack at The Citadel (Sept. 30) … Finished with four tackles three times with four assists including a half sack against Charleston Southern (Sept. 23) and at Wofford (Nov. 4) with four tackle assists against Mercer (Oct. 28).
2022 (Sophomore): Played in all 11 of the team’s games with 10 starts along the defensive front … Recorded 21 tackles on the year with seven solo stops with three tackles for loss including a pair of quarterback sacks … Posted tackles in nine of the 11 games on the season … Recovered a fumble and returned it 18 yards in the season-opener at Charleston Southern (Sept. 3) … Recorded sacks at Samford (Sept. 24) and at home against VMI (Oct. 1) … Matched his career-high with five tackles twice, at Furman (Oct. 15) and in the home win over nationally-ranked Chattanooga (Nov. 19).
2021 (Freshman*): Played in nine games with seven starts on the defensive line ... Credited with 14 total tackles including seven solo stops and one tackle for loss ... Had at least one tackle in each game he played ... Posted two tackles including one for a three-yard loss in the season-opener against Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 4) ... Recorded a season-high three tackles at the road win at Wofford (Oct. 30), adding a second-quarter fumble recovery that led to a WCU offensive touchdown.
2020-21 (Freshman): Played in all nine of the team’s seasonal games with four starts along the defensive line … Finished the year with 21 tackles including 19 coming in Southern Conference play in the spring semester with half a tackle for loss … Credited with a pair of quarterback hurries … Made his WCU debut in the season-opener at Liberty (Nov. 14), recording a solo tackle … Posted two tackles including half a tackle for loss at Samford (Feb. 27) … Recorded a career-best five tackles at Mercer (March 20) … Named to the Southern Conference All-Freshman team.
Prior to Western Carolina: Named South Carolina (SCFCA) 5-A All-State along the defensive line and was selected to the North team in the South Carolina 2019 North-South game … Garnered Defensive Lineman of the Week honors from the The Herald in Rock Hill after tallying six tackles, a sack, and a pass deflection on the game-sealing interception … Listed as a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com and a two-star recruit by Rivals.com … High school coach was Brian Lane.
Personal: Full name is Jaquarius Jerome Guinn ... Goes by "JQ" … Is the son of David Guinn and Gracie Kirkpatrick.
