Paladins fall to Alabama in Timmons 2.0 debut

Furman takes on Alabama in an exhibition game Sunday,
the first game at the refurbished Timmons Arena.

It might have been listed as an exhibition Sunday at Furman, but it sure didn't feel like it. A sellout crowd of 2,750 packed into the incredibly renovated Timmons Arena for the building's first basketball game in 604 days. That's how long it had been since the Paladins' 2023-24 regular season finale on March 2, 2024.

Sunday felt a lot more like another March game than one in October. Facing an SEC power that's ranked 15th in the country in Alabama in essentially a new arena neither team had played in before, it was like Furman was back in another 4/13 March Madness matchup. The atmosphere was electric. Coaches' arguments with officials were in midseason form. Both teams fought hard and got banged up hitting the floor for loose balls.

There was no miraculous buzzer-beater this time around for the Paladins though. Alabama rallied from an nine-point deficit to take a 12-point lead into halftime and the Crimson Tide rolled on to a 96-71 victory.

"What an unbelievable arena atmosphere. It's something you really couldn't have imagined a decade ago. ... It felt like a big-time environment and that's that vision for what we want in this program," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "I was proud of our guys' effort. I thought we competed and stayed in the fight.

"It's pretty tough to have your point guard foul out in 14 minutes. It's hard to think you're going to play a guy for 30 minutes and have your backup point guards out there for 10, but then it flips."

A loud crowd - that included a raucous student section - at tip-off got even louder when the Paladins came roaring out the gate. The first 10 minutes of the game was essentially Furman Offense 101. After Cooper Bowser won the opening tip, true freshman point guard Alex Wilkins got the ball down low to Ben Vander Wal. Vander Wal kicked it back out to Wilkins for a three from the right wing and the Paladins led 3-0 less than 10 seconds in.

On the next trip down, the same action happened on the other side. Bowser kicked it out to Clemson transfer Asa Thomas for a three from the left wing. Furman made it 9-0 just 71 seconds in when Charles Johnston drilled a three off an assist from Thomas.

"They (Furman) came out of the gate obviously, ready to go and we weren't as ready to go as we needed to be. After they got up nine-zip, we answered the bell pretty well," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "Give these guys at Furman a lot of credit. They've got a really good roster. I thought they played really hard and forced us into 15 turnovers. They're going to be a good team this year."

After Alabama got on the board, Furman answered when Bowser dunked an alleyoop pass from Wilkins to make it 11-2 three minutes in. The Paladins' next bucket came when Bowser made a beautiful bounce pass in the paint to Johnston for a dunk. That pushed Furman's lead to 13-7 at the 15:47 point of the first half.

The Tide rallied over the next five minutes as the lead changed a couple of times. After each of Furman's first six field goals were assisted, the first that wasn't was totally worth it to see a glimpse of Wilkins' talent. Being closely guarded by Aden Holloway, one of three McDonald's High School All-Americans on Alabama's roster, Wilkins dribbled from one end of the court to about six feet from the Furman basket. As Wilkins stopped, Holloway fell backwards. While Oats argued for a push-off, Wilkins sank the suddenly open short jumper to give Furman a 17-16 lead.

With 11:27 left in the first half, Bowser laid it in off a lob pass from Thomas to give the Paladins a 20-19 lead. Unfortunately for Furman, that was its last lead of the day. A little over a minute later, Holloway made a layup and that started a 14-2 run for Alabama over the next four minutes. A key play in that run was Wilkins picking up his third foul, which sidelined him for the final 9:31 of the first half.

A Thomas three-pointer cut Alabama's lead to 44-36 with 1:49 but the Crimson Tide took a 48-36 lead into halftime. The Paladins could never get the lead under 12 the rest of the way and didn't do themselves any favors at the foul line as they made just 10-of-25 (40 percent) free throws. After returning to the court to start the second half, Wilkins picked up his fourth foul with 13:15 left and then fouled out 52 seconds later.

Wilkins finished with 10 points and was one of two Paladins to finish in the positive in plus-minus as Furman outscored Alabama by five when he was on the court. The Paladins outscored the Tide by two during fellow freshman Collin O'Neal's 12:29 of playing time.

"(Wilkins) earned the starting job. We didn't go into the summer and fall anticipating starting a freshman point (guard), but it became pretty clear about a month ago that he earned the job," Richey said. "He's got a real presence about him. He's got a unique confidence to him and when you combine it with his ability to play with really good pace and to have really good vision, ... he's been a treat.

"Collin O'Neal played his absolute guts out today. ... One of the big observations today is that we had some young guys play harder than some old guys. As proud as I am of our collective effort ... we can't have freshmen playing harder than old guys. We've got to all go out there with the same approach and play to the standard." 

After getting outrebound 29-15 in the first half, Furman closed the gap to 50-38 for the game. Half of the Paladins' rebounds came on the offensive end. The effort on the boards in the second half was led by Johnston, while finished with 14 points and a game-high 12 boards. Bowser had the most complete line of the night as he finished with 14 points (on 6-of-7 shooting), seven rebounds, a game-high six assists, two blocks, two steals, just one turnover and just one foul.

"I think that's the hardest Charles Johnston's ever played in a Furman uniform. For him to get 14 and 12 and be at minus-5 in 30 minutes of action, he really competed. Coop did an unbelievable job playing physical," Richey said. "We were down 25-10 on the glass at one point in the first half and we end up with 19 offensive rebounds. That goes to our effort and shows how hard our guys played. ... Now, we only got 10 points off of those (offensive rebounds), so we've got a lot to clean up.

"We had 21 assists and nine turnovers against a very aggressive defense that pressed. They were really physical with us and they're going to have a really good season in the SEC, so our ball security was great. ... Clearly we had a horrendous free throw shooting night. When you miss that many, it puts you in a tough spot."

Tom House gave Furman four scorers in double figures with 11 off the bench, while Thomas scored nine. Vander Wal had his typical solid outing with seven points, six rebounds, five steals and two assists. While Abijah Franklin went 0-for-6 from the floor, the freshman from Wren High had four assists in just 10:26 off the bench.

Furman suffered a tough blow when Davis Molnar went down midway through the first half and grabbed his knee in pain after he fell. 

"Davis has had an unbelievable preseason. He's really tried to compete, fight and go out there and be a great teammate. I've been so proud of his joy and how he's led," Richey said. "I hurt for him if it's something that will hold him out because I thought he'd play you know, 17 or 18 minutes today. He's a huge piece of the game plan in terms of his toughness off the bench."

Holloway scored a game-high 18 points for Alabama, while Labaron Philon added 16 points and five assists.

Furman opens the regular season Monday against High Point at 6:30 p.m. The game will be played at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center as part of The Field of 68 Tip-Off Marathon and will be streamed live on YouTube.

All three phases power Furman past Citadel

Furman's Taylen Blaylock tackles Citadel's Quentin Hayes. Blaylock had 10 tackles,
including 2.5 tackles-for-loss, in the Paladins' 24-14 win. Photo courtesy of Furman

Coming off back-to-back rough losses on the road, Furman returned home Saturday with a belief that four quarters of smart, hard-played football could turn things around. As it turns out, three-and-a-half sufficed.

On offense, one Paladin returned from an injury and picked up right where his terrific debut season stopped a month earlier while another returned to the scene of a gruesome injury suffered two years ago in triumphant fashion. Outside of a six-minute stretch to start the second half, Furman's defense was outstanding. Meanwhile, Ian Williams did Ian Williams' things on special teams. It all added up to a 24-14 win for the Paladins, their fifth consecutive victory in the 105-game series with rival The Citadel.

"Certainly thrilled with a win in a tough, tough ball game, like I knew it would be. Like many of them before, especially the 32 I've been a part of," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said in the postgame press conference. "I'm really proud of our team. They were resilient and it really took everybody. Our defense played really, really well, especially if you take a few plays away which you can't do."

Freshman sensation Evan James returned to action after missing the past three-and-a-half games with a shoulder injury. He wasted no time getting back to what he's done best. On the third play of the game, James converted a 3rd-and-7 when he caught a 36-yard pass from Trey Hedden. That led to a 45-yard field goal by Williams.

Furman's defensive tone for the day was set on Citadel's second play. Taylen Blaylock, who said after Saturday's game that he'd never faced an option team before, looked like he's faced nothing but option teams when he dumped Bulldogs' quarterback Cobey Thompkins for a loss of three. That helped lead to the first of six three-and-outs forced by the Paladins (5-3, 3-2 Southern Conference).

Furman leading rusher Gavin Hall was injured on the opening series and didn't return. With second-leading rusher CJ Nettles also banged up, Ben Croasdale was the next man up. The junior, who never played this season until junk time at Western Carolina two weeks ago, made the most of his opportunity. Croasdale carried five times on the Paladins' ensuing possession and Kerry King had a big 27-yard catch, which led to a 36-yard field goal by Williams.

"I knew I was going to have a bigger workload because we didn't have CJ. Then Gavin goes down on the first drive, so I knew I had to step up. I knew me and Jayquan (Smith) could get it done for us today," Croasdale said. "We just kept our head down and fought hard."

Early in the second quarter, the Paladins' defense looked to have stopped Citadel once again deep in its own territory and Blaylock had a fair catch of the punt at the Bulldogs' 47. However, Furman was flagged for leaping over the three-man shield that protects the punter. The personal foul gave Citadel (3-5, 2-3) its first first down and a bit of life. The Bulldogs drove to the Furman 30 where they faced a 4th-and-3 and went for it. Raleigh Herbert pressured Thompkins forcing a quick throw to Javonte Graves-Billips, who was immediately stopped by Blaylock for a loss of two.

Late in the half, Croasdale's 27-yard run set Furman up at the Citadel 12. On the next play, Croasdale ran left to the end zone but the score was wiped out by an illegal shift penalty on the opposite side of the field. The Paladins once again had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Williams. Despite a 203-88 advantage in total yards and a 9-3 edge in first downs, Furman took just a 9-0 lead into halftime.

"I felt like we should've been up 17-0," Hendrix said. "Other than some wasted opportunities, we played well offensively. We've just got to clean up those penalties and other things that are causing them."

With Furman's self-anointed status of being a "one half team on defense" lately, there had to be a feeling the Paladins might pay for not cashing in more on their first half chances. Those fears came to fruition quickly after halftime.

Citadel opened the second half by matching its number of first half first downs with three in only four plays. The last one resulted in Jihad Marks simply running past his man to catch a 46-yard touchdown pass from the Bulldogs' left-handed quarterback Quentin Hayes.

Furman's offense responded with a three-and-out, which included a second down sack in which Hedden held the ball too long. The Bulldogs took over at their own 42 and three plays later, Hayes and Marks once again connected for a 46-yard touchdown that looked. It took just 5:17 off the second-half clock for Citadel to take a 14-9 lead and to completely erase that statistical advantage in total yards that Furman had in the first half.

After failing to convert on 3rd-and-1 near midfield, the Paladins had another three-and-out. One of the biggest plays that won't really be remembered followed when Williams' punt was downed at the six-yard line. A holding penalty against the Bulldogs backed it up to their three.

"That was huge. I think we've done a much better job covering (punts) lately. Caleb Easterling is a guy that just came out nowhere," Hendrix said during his weekly press conference Tuesday. "He's had a couple of tackles-for-loss on punt returns. That's really hard to do and I think that gets in people's heads a little bit."

Dylan Chiedo just missed forcing a safety on the next play as he dropped the Citadel's Corey Ibrahim for a two-yard loss to the one. The Bulldogs ended up punting from their end zone and Blaylock returned it 11 yards to the Citadel 40.

On the next play, Furman remembered that its offensive MVP this season was back as James caught a 16-yard pass. That was followed by a beautifully-designed play in which Hedden threw to Hester for a 20-yard gain. Two plays later, Smith finally got the Paladins in the end zone with a two-yard run. After Citadel was offsides on Furman's first failed two-point conversion attempt, Smith successfully converted the next try as Furman took a 17-14 lead with 3:30 left in the third quarter.

After Citadel missed a 48-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, the teams exchanged punts before the Paladins delivered a knockout blow. For the third time in the game, a Furman scoring drive began with a big catch by James. This one went for 38 yards to the Citadel 42.

"It felt good to be out there for my team making plays again," James said. "It's been hard sitting on the sideline watching the past couple of weeks, but I just tried to encourage my teammates. ... Today, I felt like our running backs helped us a lot. Their running helped open up the passing game."

Croasdale ran twice before Hedden found James for a 10-yard gain to convert a third down. Croasdale ran twice before Hedden found James for a seven-yard gain to convert another third down. Furman's last third-down conversion came courtesy of a seven-yard touchdown run by Smith to help push the lead to 24-14 with only 3:21 remaining.

On the Citadel's ensuing possession, the Bulldogs drove to the Furman 34 before Joshua Stoneking had a strip sack that Herbert recovered. After scoring the go-ahead touchdown and the game-sealing touchdown, Smith's six-yard gain for a first down allowed the Paladins to kneel out the clock.

It could not have been a more fitting way to end a victory over Citadel. Two years ago on the same field against the same foe, Smith tore every ligament in his knee and was sidelined until preseason camp this year.

"It means a lot to just be able to prove to myself and others that it's possible to return to this level of play. It's also a testament of my faith to still trust in God with the plan, even when it's up in the air," Smith said. "I'm just blessed to be in this culture, in this locker room with these coaches and teammates that are like a family to me."

Hedden completed 16-of-22 passes for 211 yards and most importantly, no turnovers. James finished with 126 yards on eight receptions. While he wasn't heavily involved in the passing game with one catch Saturday, Ja'Keith Hamilton (ankle) also returned to action. Croasdale finished with a career-high 91 yards on 19 carries, while Smith ran 11 times for 52 yards.

In addition to making all three of his field goals, Williams put five of his six kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks and pinned three of his five punts inside Citadel's 20-yard line. The effort led to Williams earning SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week honors for the third time this season and sixth in his career.

Blaylock and AK Burrell shared the team lead in tackles with 10 each, including 2.5 tackles-for-loss for Blaylock. Stoneking had four tackles, two sacks, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry to also claim his third SoCon Defensive Player of the Week award this year. Stoneking still leads all the FCS in sacks (12.5) and tackles-for-loss (18) and he's also second on the team in tackles (47).

Furman's defense held Citadel to 133 rushing and 3.8 yards per carry. The only teams to hold the Bulldogs to a lower yards-per-carry average this season have been North Dakota State and Mercer.

"The way we practiced this week, shout out to our scout team. They gave us a great look all week," Blaylock said. "So when we went out there, it was slow motion. We knew exactly what we were going to get and everybody played their gaps soundly.

"That's the key to stopping the option - everybody doing their job. It may look like I've made a play, but if you like inside, you see a d-lineman holding his gap and making the run bounce (outside) and I just happen to be there."

Next up for Furman will be a test against the first-place team in the SoCon as the Paladins host Mercer Saturday at 2 p.m. The Bears (6-1, 5-0) are coming off a SoCon-single game record performance with 834 yards of total offense in a 62-0 win over VMI Saturday.

Furman and Citadel to battle for the 105th time

Furman's defensive line in 1978 prepare to stop Citadel at the goal
line on the final play of a 17-13 win. Photo courtesy of Furman

One week after renewing the deep South's oldest rivalry at Wofford, Furman will resume hostilities with its most prolific rival this Saturday. The Paladins host The Citadel at 2 p.m. at Paladin Stadium for the 105th game in the series.

While Furman and Wofford first played in 1889 - 24 years before the Paladins' first game against the Bulldogs, Furman hasn't played any other program 100 times. Some younger fans may consider the Terriers to be Furman's biggest rival. Before some Southern Conference teams left to go play regular season games on Tuesday nights with hopes of reaching one postseason game a year in places like Boise, Shreveport or Albuquerque, some may have considered Marshall, Georgia Southern or Appalachian State to be Furman's biggest rival.

But the truly biggest rival has always been Citadel. If for no other reason than one of the most important moments in program history. When the teams wrapped up the 1978 season at Sirrine Stadium, Furman was clinging to a 17-13 lead as Citadel had the ball at the Paladins' one-yard line. Bulldog legend Stump Mitchell was stopped for no gain on the final play and Furman claimed its first SoCon championship before a crowd of what has to have grown to 150,000 by this point.

Quarterback David Henderson became the first Paladin to win SoCon Player of the Year honors that season, while tight end Brette Simmons became the first Furman player to earn the league's Jacobs Blocking Award. In his first year as head coach, after Art Baker left for Citadel, Dick Sheridan was named SoCon Coach of the Year. Most importantly, the SoCon's biggest championship dynasty was born.

Clay Hendrix has been a part of about one-third of the games in this series as Saturday will mark his 32nd. When he first came to Greenville as a freshman offensive lineman in 1982, nobody really told him what this game meant. He could just tell.

"I was a scout team guy all year. That was back when we played them in the last game of the year, like we should have," Hendrix said. "I don't remember if we had won the conference championship or had to beat them to do it, but there was something about our coaches. Their demeanor changed that week. I remember going out to practice and they were different guys than they had been all year. They had lost down there the year before after winning the conference championship the previous week.

"So it got ingrained in me pretty quick about just how important this game was. I know there's a ton of Citadel people in Greenville and it's just been a great, great rivalry."

In addition to the excitement of a rivalry game, it's Homecoming weekend at Furman. No other group of students may be more excited to be home Saturday than the football team. It's just the Paladins' second home game since Sept. 6. Furman would love to replicate that one home game from three weeks ago when it put up 500 yards of total offense in a 31-22 victory over East Tennessee State.

Over the past two weeks, injuries have decimated the wide receiver position and catastrophic turnovers that plagued last year's team have returned. That's led to Furman's portion of the scoreboard being pretty quiet in lopsided losses at Western Carolina and Wofford. After losing six turnovers over the first five games - three of which came in the Presbyterian fiasco, the Paladins (4-3, 2-2) have lost eight over the past two weeks.

Playing without your top three receivers - Evan James, Ja'Keith Hamilton and Ethan Harris - as Furman did last Saturday certainly factors into how the offense has performed of late. In addition to hurting a running game that's yet to really get going this season, there's probably also been timing and communication issues with new receivers in the mix. With Furman getting behind by a large deficit, sophomore quarterback Trey Hedden has likely tried to force some throws as well.

As Hendrix has said several times, he wants the Paladins to "control what they can control." Controlling the football better has to be No. 1 on that list.

"We'll look at what we've been doing. Trey's certainly got to play better and I don't think there's anyone that cares more about doing that than Trey," Hendrix said during Tuesday's weekly press conference. "He's made some fantastic throws and some good decisions this season. Each week's just a little different with what people present you with."

James didn't play last week but did dress out, which would lead one to believe he might play Saturday for the first time since the win at Samford on Sept. 27. Despite missing the last three games, James was one of 22 players named this week to the Stats Perform 2025 Jerry Rice Award Watch List earlier this week. The award is presented annually to the top freshman in the FCS. James has 32 receptions for 379 yards and two touchdowns this season, as well as 52 rushing yards and a score on just four carries.

Furman's defense will be challenged in a different way than what they've seen this season. While Citadel doesn't run the ball in the same style as it did for years, the Bulldogs do love to run it a lot. Citadel has six players with at least 125 yards rushing this season and each one of them averages at least four yards per carry. The two leading rushers split time at quarterback for the Bulldogs in Quentin Hayes (354 yards) and left-hander Cobey Thompkins (350). Hayes has rushed for five touchdowns, while Thompkins has thrown for four.

"(Citadel coach) Maurice (Drayton) has done a really good job since taking over there. They've evolved and actually kind of evolved during this year if you watch what they've done these last few weeks," Hendrix said. "They've become a wishbone team in the (shot)gun. There's not a lot of triple option, but there's a lot of double option. ... This is one of those games defensively where you've got to be willing to get in there and fight.

"Most games in this league are decided by four or five plays - unless you turn it over a bunch. You never know when those plays are going to be, so you've got to play them all. Our guys are still confident because we've played some really good football at times with these same guys. We've got to play hard and smart for four quarters on both sides of the ball. That's what we're shooting for."

Turnover bug lingers as Furman falls at Wofford

Landyn James makes a leaping, one-handed catch in Furman's
31-13 loss at Wofford Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

SPARTANBURG - As any of my fellow Cleveland baseball fans can attest, a lack of home run hitters make it hard to win in October. Furman's football team is finding out the same.

A couple of trends continued for the Paladins at Wofford Saturday - catastrophic turnovers and injured leading receivers watching from the sideline. Those two factors greatly contributed to Furman's 31-13 loss, which continued other trends. It's the Paladins' third consecutive loss to the Terriers and they've been held to exactly 13 points in each of those games.

"I certainly wasn't happy at halftime. I was proud of how our guys played in the second half, but we're not good enough to not play four quarters," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said Saturday. "I'm not sure we've played a full four quarters this year. We just played awful in the second quarter today.

"Offensively, that's eight turnovers in the last two games. That's eight lost possessions. I don't know how you ever overcome that. We've just got to quit making terrible decisions."

Freshman Evan James, who's been unarguably Furman's best offensive player this season, hasn't played since injuring his shoulder against Samford on Sept. 27. The Paladins won a thriller the next week against ETSU thanks to a huge performance by Ja'Keith Hamilton. Four plays into a blowout loss at Western Carolina the next week, Hamilton injured his ankle and hasn't played since. After Hamilton went down, Ethan Harris stepped up and was Furman's top performer against Western. Harris, who missed time earlier this season with an injury, got hurt during practice last Wednesday and missed the Wofford game.

So Furman went into Saturday's game against a solid Terriers' defense down its top three receivers, who've combined to average 205 yards receiving per game, as well as tight end Jackson Pryor. Pryor, who's proven to be the best deep threat among Furman tight ends, hasn't played since the Samford game. Additionally, Furman's fourth-leading receiver Kerry King has been pushing through a nagging ankle injury.

"It certainly didn't help (quarterback Trey Hedden) that we were missing 80 catches Saturday. ... We actually haven't been bad health-wise outside of that one group," Hendrix said during Tuesday's weekly press conference. "You've just got to control what you can control. ... So we will look at what we're doing."

King started Saturday, along with Devin Hester and Landyn James. It was the second collegiate game for James, whose college career began at Clemson as a student only - not on the football team, and his first start since his senior season at JL Mann in 2022.

Every team has to deal with injuries, but teams typically don't get hit like this in one position at this rate. It started back in the spring with the season-ending loss of John Holbrook, who was set to have a much bigger role this fall, and veteran Ben Ferguson, whose lingering back issues have likely ended his career. All told, Furman was without six scholarship wide receivers Saturday.

The injuries, particularly to guys who've proven to be those home run hitters on offense like Evan James, Hamilton and Pryor, cause a trickle-down effect. Defenses can stack the box even more against a running game that has struggled much of the season. Those in the secondary can play tighter coverage without the same level of fear of getting burned.

Still, Furman managed to move the ball somewhat Saturday. The Paladins actually outgained the Terriers, 329-325, but mistakes proved monumental for the second week in a row. When Hedden was good, he was really good, especially considering how far down on the depth chart his weapons were. But a few bad throws were really bad as two of the sophomore's three interceptions hit Wofford linebackers right in the gut. The Terriers scored 17 points off those three picks.

After going three consecutive games with just one turnover, which came on some kind of miscommunication on a pass that was intercepted by ETSU, Hedden's thrown six interceptions and a lost fumble over the past two weeks. He's also been sacked eight times over the past two games after not being sacked at all over the prior three.

"It (the receiver injuries) probably slows down the clock on routes. Maybe he's standing there holding it a little longer because a guy's not quite where he needs to be. I know it has an effect," Hendrix said Saturday. "When we knew we weren't going to have any of those three after Ethan got hurt Wednesday at practice, we tried to tweak the plan as best we could. We just can't turn the ball over. I said the same thing last week. It's frustrating."

Furman got on the board early in the second quarter Saturday when Hedden hit Hester in the end zone for a 10-yard score to cut Wofford's lead to 7-6. Hedden went 4-for-4 on the drive and the score was set up by a 15-yard run by Gavin Hall on the play before. After Wofford was flagged for offside on the PAT, the Paladins' offense came back out to try for two. Furman's play-action pass out of a power I-formation fooled no one and Hedden's pass was incomplete.

The Paladins looked to keep momentum after forcing a three-and-out on Wofford's next possession. A 29-yard run by CJ Nettles got the ball in Terriers' territory and Furman ended up driving to the 34. On third down, Hedden's pass went straight to Wofford's Logan McCloud. McCloud returned it 16 yards to the Wofford 46. On the Terriers' first third down of their ensuing drive, JT Fayard threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Honeywood.

After Furman's offense responded with a three-and-out, Wofford took over at its own 30-yard line with 2:15 left in the first half. The Terriers got chunks of yards never facing a third down on their way to a first down at the Furman 23. For the second week in a row, a non-reviewed fumble didn't go the Paladins' way. Isaiah Scott caught a short pass and the 5-foot-10, 180-pound receiver broke six tackles on his way to the goal line. Before he crossed though, Furman's Billy Lewis knocked the ball free and it bounced through the end zone and out of bounds. The side judge looking right at the play never made any call. Instead, he rushed to talk to the back judge in the end zone. 

That's supposed to be a touchback and Furman's ball at its own 20, but there was a flag for illegal hands to the face against the Paladins at the line of scrimmage more than 20 yards away. That returned the ball back to Wofford. Officials explained to Hendrix that the penalty means the ball goes back to where it was fumbled and the penalty marked off rather than marking off from the spot of the foul. After retaining possession inside the one with 47 seconds left, Ihson Jackson-Anderson scored to push the lead to 21-6 at the half.

"I knew they got to keep the ball. I just didn't understand why it was from that spot," Hendrix said. "The bigger issue on that play was our horrendous tackling. We tackled pretty good for the game but on that play, it was horrendous.

"I think the old saying is, 'the harder you work, the luckier you get.' I guess we've got to work harder, because we haven't had a lot of luck."

Defenses ruled the second half as all of the scoring after halftime came off turnovers. Midway through the third quarter, Furman's Marc Hernandez tipped a pass and AK Burrell picked it off. He returned the interception 37 yards to the Wofford 18. Hall then carried four consecutive times, the last of which resulted in a four-yard touchdown run to help cut the lead to 21-13.

Another chance for the Paladins to maintain momentum was there after forcing a three-and-out, but the Terriers' Cavan Craig unleashed a 64-yard punt that went out of bounds at the two.

"That was a huge play in the game," Hendrix said. "We weren't deep enough with our alignment. We should've caught that ball."

In the shadow of their own end zone, the Paladins played it extremely safe and Ian Williams produced a 50-yard punt. That long effort plus an illegal block in the back penalty pushed Wofford back to its own 33.

Furman's next possession began at its own 40 early in the fourth quarter. After Landyn James turned a 3rd-and-8 pass into a 19-yard gain on an incredible leaping grab with his left hand, it appeared that the Paladins may be headed for a potential game-tying score. But two plays later from the Wofford 37, Hedden's pass went right to the Terriers' Javario Tinch. Tinch returned it 66 yards for a touchdown to help push the lead to 28-13 with 11:59 remaining.

Furman drove to midfield on its ensuing possession, but Hedden was sacked which led to a punt Hedden was sacked again on the Paladins next drive, but once again James came through with a 17-yard gain on a 3rd-and-14 play.

"I couldn't be more proud of Landyn James," Hendrix said.

On the next play though, Hedden's pass went through the hands of Joshua Burrell and right to Wofford's Cole Walker. Walker returned the interception 41 yards to the Furman 25. That led to the Terriers (2-5, 1-2 Southern Conference) putting the final nail in Furman's coffin with a 42-yard field goal by Sam Spence.

In the second half, Furman's defense allowed just three first downs and 59 yards on 23 plays. For the game though, the Paladins had no sacks for just the second time this year. The other time was the Presbyterian fiasco. Last week at Western, Furman had two sacks in a scoreless first quarter and then had none over the rest of that 52-7 loss.

"We are a very good half football team. We play a very good half or a very bad one. Consistency is the biggest thing we've got to work on," defensive tackle Caldwell Bussey said Tuesday. "For us (on the defensive line), teams have really started to focus on Josh Stoneking because he's having a great season. So it falls back on us as a group. We've just got to get more production in the pass rush."

Hedden finished with 257 yards on 27-of-41 passing with the one touchdown and three interceptions. Hall had 61 yards on 17 carries and also caught seven passes for 49 yards. Hester caught six passes for 82 yards. Nettles finished with 34 yards on just four carries before leaving with an injury in the fourth quarter. While Hedden being sacked five times - which resulted in 26 yards lost - had a lot to do with it, Furman still managed just 72 yards rushing and only 2.6 yards per carry as a team.

Furman (4-3, 2-2) will return to Paladin Stadium Saturday for just the second time since Sept. 6 and first time since Oct. 4. The Paladins host The Citadel at 2 p.m.

Turnover-prone Paladins get thumped at Western

Ethan Harris caught six passes for 95 yards in Furman's 52-7
loss at Western Carolina Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

CULLOWHEE, NC - During pregame warm-ups about 45 minutes prior to Furman's football game at Western Carolina Saturday afternoon, All-American kicker Ian Williams was going through his typical rotation of field goals. On one of his shorter attempts, the pigskin soared over the large, ball-getting netting behind the goal posts and landed on the roof of the field house at EJ Whitmire Stadium. 

It was an impressive, albeit unimportant, sight to behold. Hopefully, Furman fans already in attendance saw it because it's not like they had much else to admire the rest of the day. Western Carolina didn't pass for more than 600 yards like it did last season at Paladin Stadium, but it did put up the same point total and had a wider margin of victory this year as the Catamounts dominated their way to a 52-7 victory. The Paladins had five turnovers and didn't force any in their most lopsided FCS defeat since a 45-0 home loss to Samford on Oct. 25, 2014.

"Credit to them. They just whipped us in every way. They were tougher than we were. They outcoached us," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said. "We're our own worst enemy sometimes and we've been that way throughout this year and it really hasn't caught up with us until today. It catches up with you against a really talented, good team.

"I'm just really disappointed with some mistakes we continue to make. Our immaturity showed up today and really cost us."

While the first quarter ended scoreless, it was far from uneventful. The game began with a typical Furman kickoff return that saw the Paladins begin at their own 15. Coming off a 500-yard performance the previous Saturday in a win over ETSU and facing the 117th-ranked defense in the FCS, Furman produced one yard on its first possession in going three-and-out. A 14-yard punt return to Furman's 41 set the tone for field position as most of the first half was spent on the Paladins' side of the 50.

It appeared that Western also had gone three-and-out when Billy Lewis picked off a pass at the goal line on the Catamounts' third snap, but that turnover was wiped out by an interference penalty on another defender 20 yards upfield. Furman did force a turnover on downs when Caldwell Bussey stopped Western's Patrick Boyd for no gain on a 4th-and-1 at the 14.

Furman's next possession began with Trey Hedden hitting Ja'Keith Hamilton on a 19-yard pass over the middle. It appeared to be a good start to what could've been another big week for Hamilton after he stepped up with a monster day the previous Saturday, but he didn't get up. After being checked on for several minutes, Hamilton had to be helped off with some kind of foot injury and never returned. Just four minutes into the game, Furman's leading two receivers were on the sideline as Evan James (shoulder) remained out. Tight end Jackson Pryor was also out with an injury Saturday.

The Paladins drove to the Western 47 where Hedden took a deep shot to the end zone. It initially appeared that Kerry King caught a touchdown, but before he could get a firm handle on it the Catamounts' Hasaan Sykes wrestled it away for an interception.

"We just let the guy take the ball away from us," Hendrix said. "It was a huge play in the game."

Western's next snap resulted in Joshua Stoneking padding his FCS-leading stat total to 10.5 this season. Two plays later, Taylen Blaylock had what would've very likely been a pick-six, but he couldn't haul in the pass and settled for a third-down pass breakup. It looked as if Furman at least finally won a field position battle, but the Catamounts' Stephen Brantley delivered a 62-yard punt that was downed at the 19.

Late in the first quarter, Dylan Chiedo and Tre' McLeod teamed up for a sack of Taron Dickens. That was the last time Western's record-breaking quarterback was sacked though, which probably had a lot to do with how things turned out. That sack brought up a 2nd-and-22, but the Catamounts ended up converting on third down and got on the board early in the second quarter with a 44-yard field goal by Marcus Trout.

On Western's next possession, it appeared that Furman recovered a fumble near midfield as tight end Josiah Thomas twisted his way for yardage on a third-down catch. There was no whistle heard on the television broadcast as the ball popped free. No part of Thomas' body ever hit the ground. No official came running in pointing to the ground to signify that he was down and the play was over. No official bothered to mention that his forward progress was stopped. There was no video review of the play.

Officials just spotted the ball and Western quickly snapped it. On the next play, Dickens threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Michael Rossin as the Catamounts took a 10-0 lead.

On the third play of the Paladins' ensuing possession, another judgement call went Western's way on a fumble recovery. It appeared that the ball was starting to come loose as Gavin Hall's backside hit the turf and fully came out when his full body hit the ground. The Catamounts' Justin Wallace grabbed the ball when it was in bounds, but as he pulled it into his stomach it appeared that his body was out of bounds. Officials actually reviewed this one and the turnover call stood.

Four plays later, Dickens found Joshua Perry for a nine-yard touchdown. In a five-minute span of game time it went from scoreless to a 17-0 lead for Western.

"We've been a pretty resilient group if you look at our year. We don't win those games in the fourth quarter if we weren't, but we haven't been popped in the mouth like we were today," Hendrix said. "We've got to get the right guys on the bus. If there's some guys that don't need to be on the bus, we've got to get them off the bus. Some guys that keep making similar mistakes, we've got to look at that."

After the Paladins responded with a three-and-out, the officiating ineptitude hit a laughable low on the Catamounts' next possession. Dickens was pressured and made a backhanded throw at the feet of a Western lineman. The closest official threw a flag for an obvious intentional grounding, but after officials huddled they ruled that it was a fumble recovered by Furman. Another huddle precipitated a video review. The review resulted in the ruling switching to an incomplete pass - and they even remembered to enforce the intentional grounding penalty!

Western pushed the lead to 24-0 with 1:38 left in the half. Hedden threw into a crowd and the Catamounts' Ken Moore picked it off and returned it 64 yards for a touchdowns. There were offsetting unsportsmanlike penalties during the play, which typically results in a replay of the down. But they came after the interception, which allows the play to stand. ... I guess. It's the kind of thing more competent officials would probably explain when announcing the penalty, but no such luck Saturday.

Furman's lone score sort of came by accident. The Paladins seemed content to just get into halftime before another fiasco hit but after two short runs, Western called timeout with 57 seconds left. On 3rd-and-5, Hall finally found some space and popped off a 23-yard run. That led to Hedden finding Joshua Burrell wide open in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown pass. Facing a defense that was allowing 37 points per game entering Saturday, the Paladins finally got on the board with 13 seconds left in the half.

Any glimpse of hope for Furman after the late score in the first half quickly went out the window after halftime. After all of the snakebites the Paladins endured in the second quarter, the venom took effect in the third. Boyd carried the ball on each of the first four plays of the second half for 34 yards. On the fifth play, Dickens hit Malik Knight perfectly in stride in the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown.

Furman drove to the Western 11 on its first possession of the second half, but Hedden's pass to the end zone was underthrown and easily picked off by Moore.

After a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive by the Catamounts, the Paladins had a 13-play possession. On 4th-and-goal from the two, Hedden was sacked and fumbled and the ball was recovered by Moore. It was Hedden's fourth turnover Saturday and Furman's fifth.

"We get stopped at the two and then (later) we just lob one up on third down and they pick it off and take it back to the house. We just need an awareness of where we are," Hendrix said. "It certainly hurt losing Ja'Keith after already losing Evan. So now you know you're going to be playing against loaded groups, so you've got to be able to throw and win with some guys that maybe don't do that as much. I thought Ethan Harris still competed at a high level."

The Paladins may want to look into making the second Saturday in October a permanent bye week. Saturday marked their highest turnover total since five against Chattanooga in a 41-10 loss 364 days earlier. They also forced none that day. Prior to last season's loss to Charleston Southern, in which Furman lost four turnovers and forced none, the Paladins never had a minus-four turnover margin in any game under Hendrix.

Furman's final possession ended as the clock expired with the ball at Western's five-yard line. That left the Paladins with 1-of-4 showing in red zone scoring for the game. To be fair on the last one, it wasn't like Furman was pulling out all the stops to try to cut the lead to 38. Unlike some other coaches in the SoCon, Hendrix doesn't really seem interested in chasing meaningless points.

"Obviously, Trey had a tough day. We've just got to make good decisions. It's okay to punt. It's okay to kick a field goal. We can't just give them the ball," Hendrix said. "I still like this group of kids, but we're not good fundamentally right now and that's on me.

"We are who we are. It's not like everything is going to change drastically. You can always tweak and refine some things. ... We can't get an edge on somebody and we can't set an edge on somebody. And if I see another quarterback scrambling because we run past him ..."

Hedden completed 18-of-35 passes for 208 yards. His top target was Harris, who had 95 yards on six receptions including an incredible 36-yard catch along the sideline while he was being heavily covered. Ben Croasdale got his first significant action this season in the fourth quarter and led the Paladins (4-2, 2-1 Southern Conference) in rushing with 72 yards on six carries, including a 50-yard run.

Dickens finished with 220 yards passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions, and also rushed for 48 yards, for the Catamounts (4-3, 3-0).

Next up for Furman is a trip to Wofford on Saturday for a noon kickoff.

Paladins out to make Allison's last ride special

Furman coach Doug Allison huddles alongside Paladin legend Clint Dempsey, middle,
and the current team prior to a match earlier this season. Photo courtesy of Furman

A taste of NCAA Tournament success would be enough to motivate any team to build off of that the next season. Throw in being the final chance to play for a coaching legend and Furman men's soccer has all the more motivation to make this season a special one.

The Paladins have certainly played like they're on a highly motivated mission thus far. Doug Allison, the winningest coach in Southern Conference history, announced this 31st season of coaching Furman would be his last back in April. The Paladins' response has seen them as highly ranked as No. 3 nationally in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 poll after going 4-0-3 to start this season.

The Paladins (7-1-4, 0-0-1 SoCon) are currently 16th in the Top Drawer poll and No. 25 in the College Soccer News Top 25. Rankings aren't really a concern of Allison's at the moment and any hint of nostalgia about this being his final season has been shoved to the backest of burners.

"I'm not thinking about any of that. I'm only thinking about my team," Allison said following Furman's 3-2 win over Presbyterian Tuesday at Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium. "How can we help them and motivate them. That's my job."

Tuesday's victory wasn't easy. Coming off what had to have been a bit of a disappointing 1-1 tie in the SoCon opener at Mercer (2-6-3) Saturday night, the Paladins went through a rather listless first half and trailed 1-0 at the break. Presbyterian held Furman without a shot on goal in the first half and took the lead on a score with just 41 seconds left.

In the second half, the Paladins posted a 10-6 advantage in shots. Furman still could not find the net until Luke Hutzell's goal in the 73rd minute tied things up at 1-1. That began a flurry of goals. Less than four minutes later, reigning SoCon Player of the Week Braden Dunham scored his fourth goal of the season - all over the last three games. Just over four minutes later, leading scorer Diego Hernandez pushed the lead to 3-1 with his sixth goal off an assist from Wilfer Bustamante.

Hernandez' goal became a bigger one two minutes later when the Blue Hose tallied another score to cut the lead to one, but Furman held on for the victory.

"The last 45 minutes, we played well. We challenged them in the locker room (at halftime). These guys, under the leadership of this guy here, did a great job in the midfield," Allison said as he stood next to Hernandez. "Division One wins are not easy to come by. So I'm proud of how the guys responded."

Hernandez and his teammates are looking to build off a memorable 2024 season. After a third-place finish in the SoCon, Furman ousted regular season league champion UNC Greensboro in the SoCon Tournament semifinals before defeating ETSU in the SoCon championship. The Paladins' 10th conference tournament crown sent them back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.

In the opening round at North Carolina, Furman stunned the Tar Heels in penalty kicks, 5-3. The victory came 25 years to the day that the Paladins stunned UNC in the opening round of the 1999 NCAA Tournament on their way to reaching the quarterfinals. Last season ended with a loss to Marshall in round two.

"Last year, I was coming back from a hard year and a hard injury and the guys in our locker room had my back," said Hernandez, who scored the game-clinching penalty kick in the win over UNC. "This year, we still have a team of brothers. We know that's what it takes for the team to win and that's what we try to do every game - come out and win together. ... When you have a team of guys who are bought in and want to win, the next mountain top doesn't seem too high."

The Paladins seem to have the right pieces back to make this season another memorable one. Hutzell and Bustamante were second team All-SoCon performers last season as was senior Lloyd Wamu Snell. Furman also returned SoCon Goalkeeper of the Year Aaron Salinas, although he and Snell have been injured most of the year. Snell made his season debut and logged 20 minutes off the bench Tuesday against PC, while Salinas remains out indefinitely. Freshman Ivan Horvat has been a solid replacement for Salinas this season as he's tallied 33 saves and recorded two shutouts.

On Friday, Hernandez was announced as one of 31 players - and one of just two in the SoCon - on the watch list for the 2025 Hermann Trophy. The Hermann is annually presented to the national player of the year. In addition to his six goals in 12 games this season, Hernandez also has five assists.

"(Snell) is a captain, a leader and an awesome kid. ... I wanted to see how he works out tonight, how he feels tomorrow, and see if we can get him in a little bit for more minutes every game because he's a terrific player," Allison said. "Great kids have been the key to our success this season. I'm very lucky to work with great kids."

Entering this season, Allison had a career record of 349-173-72. The 349 wins ranked as the 11th most among active head coaches. He's coached 30 All-Americans and World Cup stars such as Ricardo Clark, Walker Zimmerman and Clint Dempsey, who had his jersey retired earlier this season.

While Allison's focus is solely on the next match, his players certainly want to make this season as special as possible for their coach. Still, they're focused on the next task at hand as well.

Just what you'd expect from a well-coached team.

"There's just always that satisfying feeling of winning a game and knowing that everybody put a drop in the bucket," Hernandez said. "Tonight was another moment like that.

"Moving forward, we just want to keep the ball rolling. Some conference teams want to play differently, but that's not going to be us this year. We're a firm team with a good locker room and a good culture. That means we're going to be unshaken."

Furman has its SoCon home opener Saturday when the Paladins host ETSU for Senior Night at 7 p.m.

Big plays help Paladins rally past ETSU

Ja'Keith Hamilton hauls in the go-ahead touchdown in Furman's
31-22 win over ETSU Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

On a Saturday in which Furman was missing its most dynamic offensive player, it had its best offensive performance this season. Meanwhile on defense, this year's simple formula of "sacking the quarterback = win" held true as Furman topped East Tennessee State, 31-22, at Paladin Stadium.

Each side of the ball was responsible for two of the wildest plays in program history to first, give the Paladins the lead late in the fourth quarter, and then to seal the win. Furman trailed 22-17 at its own 47. On a 2nd-and-8 play, Trey Hedden was hit as his threw. As the wounded duck of a pass floated high into the air, an interception with less than four minutes left likely would've doomed the Paladins. But on a career-high day for Ja'Keith Hamilton, the sophomore receiver noticed what happened from the start. He raced to the ETSU 46, snatched the ball out of mid-air and went untouched to the end zone for a 53-yard touchdown.

"I knew that when I jumped for the ball I was going to get hit, so I was just bracing for it," Hamilton said of the catch. "But all of a sudden, I stayed up."

Hedden's two-point pass to Luke Clyburn gave Furman a 25-22 lead with 3:57 remaining. The touchdown was a replica of the one Chattanooga scored against the Paladins in the regular season meeting two years ago. Furman rallied from that crazy touchdown to clinch the Southern Conference championship that day. There was no title at stake Saturday, but it appeared that ETSU might be on the same course on its ensuing possession.

The Buccaneers drove to the Paladins' 26-yard line with 10 seconds left. That would've been a 43-yard field goal attempt to tie but on second down, ETSU took one more deep shot for the win. Joshua Stoneking wrapped up another brilliant performance by getting to Bucs' quarterback Jacolby Criswell just as he released the ball. Criswell's pass wasn't as ducky as Hedden's, but it was short and easily picked off by Jordan Miller. Senior linebacker Luke McLaughlin implored Miller to go down, but the freshman wasn't having that. He raced 95 yards untouched for a touchdown as time expired and Furman erupted in celebration.

"When I hit the quarterback and went down, I was just kind of praying for an incompletion or something," Stoneking said. "Then I just heard the crowd roar and I turned around to see J-Mill going down the sideline. I was just like, 'thank goodness.' "

It was a bit of a historic win for the Paladins (4-1, 2-0 SoCon), who rallied from a 22-7 third quarter deficit. That marked the third time this season Furman's come back from a second half deficit to win and it's the fifth-largest comeback victory since 1973.

"I'm proud of our guys. We've got a group that kind of hangs in there and fights and stays together. We've had to do that a bunch of times this year," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said. "I thought we played exceptional defensively and offensively, we did some of the best things we've done all year."

Hedden also put his name in the Furman record book in a much happier fashion than other quarterbacks did before him. The 12 quarterback performances that resulted in at least 26 completions in a single game for an individual prior to Saturday all had one thing in common - the Paladins lost.

Not anymore.

Hedden completed 36-of-49 passes for 358 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. It was the second-highest completion total for a single game and the third-highest passing yardage total. Of the top nine in single-game passing yardage, Hedden is just the second to win.

"What a job Trey did. He's a tough dude," Hendrix said. "I thought we did a really good job of protecting him against a really talented front. Trey's done a good job of figuring out his role and how he fits into everything. I think we're still figuring that out a little bit."

Hedden did it without the services of Evan James, the freshman sensation who leads Furman in receiving this season. After James suffered a shoulder injury at Samford a week earlier, the Paladins had things well in hand but went through a pretty lethargic fourth quarter. Another key pass catcher this year was out with an injury Saturday in tight end Jackson Pryor. There had to be some wonder as to how Furman would respond without James for an entire game against a much better defense in ETSU (2-4, 0-2).

The Paladins responded with a 500-yard day of total offense, the most allowed by the Bucs to an FCS team in two years. Last season, no SoCon team had more than 397 total yards against ETSU. On Saturday, Hamilton finished with 11 catches for 141 yards, while Ethan Harris had 11 for 81. That's got to be one of the very few times, if not first ever, that Furman had two receivers with double-digit receptions in the same game. There are plenty of games in Furman history where that would've been impossible simply because there weren't 20 passes thrown.

Meanwhile, Furman's running game finally had a breakthrough. The Paladins ran for 142 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry as a team. Gavin Hall led the way with 101 yards on 23 carries. It was Furman's first 100-yard rusher since Hall ran for 121 at VMI last season.

"We've got a depth in that (wide receiver) group. We've played a lot of guys there and it's not like they haven't been productive. ... Clyburn stepped up today with Jackson Pryor out," Hendrix said. "And that's all helped the running game. ... We didn't have quite as many safeties in the box this week."

Those big offensive numbers didn't translate on the scoreboard in the first half Saturday. In the first quarter, Furman possessed the ball for 13:02 and outgained ETSU, 155-8, but trailed 8-7. The Bucs opened the scoring when Cole Keller blocked a punt and then fell on the loose ball in the end zone. It was the first blocked punt suffered by the Paladins since ETSU's last visit to Greenville two years ago. On the PAT, the Bucs' kicker shifted to a slot position, the holder took a shotgun snap and ran to his right for a two-point conversion.

Furman responded with a 12-play, 83-yard drive. Despite starting with a false start prior to the first play for the second consecutive possession, the Paladins never faced a third down until 3rd-and-goal from the one-yard line. That's where Hedden snuck in for a touchdown to help cut the lead to 8-7.

After former Iowa starting quarterback Cade McNamara started the game for the Bucs, Criswell - a former North Carolina starting quarterback - came on in the second quarter. He promptly led ETSU on a touchdown drive on his first possession and played most of the rest of the game.

It was a frustrating second quarter for the Paladins. They drove to the ETSU 38 before Hall was dropped for a three-yard loss on 3rd-and-2. After Stoneking sacked Criswell on a fourth down at the Furman 45, the Paladins drove to the Bucs' 15. They had to settle for a 33-yard field goal try by Ian Williams, but it sailed wide right.

Stoneking sacked McNamara on the final play of the half to go into halftime with the Bucs leading 15-7.

"I was a little ill with our guys at the half," Hendrix said. "I just thought we spent a lot of time in the first half trying to find ways to beat Furman."

Eleven seconds into the second half the lead stretched to 22-7. That's how long it took ETSU's Devontae Houston to race 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play.

Furman never faced a third down on its ensuing possession. The eight-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hedden to Hamilton. If the Paladins had to punt at that point after allowing a big play to fall behind by 15, who knows what the rest of the game might've played out.

"I think maybe that was the biggest drive of the game," Hendrix said. "To come out and answer after the long run."

Furman forced a three-and-out on ETSU's ensuing possession when McLaughlin and AJ Burrell stopped Houston for no gain on a 3rd-and-1 play. The Paladins followed with another scoring drive as Williams made a 44-yard field goal to cut the lead to five with 6:51 left in the third quarter. The Bucs looked to answer Furman's field goal with one of their own, but Caldwell Bussey blocked it to leave the score at 22-17 heading to the fourth quarter.

The final quarter began with some kind of miscommunication when Hedden's pass was intercepted with no Paladin near the ball for the first turnover of the game. It was negated when Furman's Demetrius Baldwin sacked Criswell on a third-down play forcing a punt.

On its ensuing possession, Furman drove to the ETSU 19. After a 3rd-and-6 pass was caught by Kerry King for three yards, the Paladins went for it on 4th-and-3. In a "pound your head against the wall" kind of moment, Hedden's pass was complete to Devin Hester ... for one yard.

"We just had a lot of faith in our defense. ... I debated about kicking a field goal and making it a two-point game, but it's 4th-and-3," Hendrix said. "Once again, we just didn't run a deep enough route. ... Either way, we were going to have to stop them again on defense. So even if we didn't make it there, I was confident we'd get the stop and get the ball back and we did."

Once again, Furman's defense forced a punt which led to the Paladins' go-ahead score.

Not to be lost in the celebration of Miller's interception to end the game should be what Miller did three plays earlier. ETSU took its first shot to the end zone and Criswell's pass was nearly caught by Karim Page. Page got both hands on the ball as he crossed into the end zone before Miller popped the ball out with his left hand for an incompletion.

"Obviously, the last play is going to be the one that gets seen, but that was an easy pick for J-Mill," said safety Billy Lewis, who was the closest other defender on the breakup. "The play before was just a heck of a defensive back play. If they score the touchdown there, we're down with 30 seconds left."

The victory likely wouldn't have been possible without Furman cleaning up its play along the way. After six penalties for 50 yards in the first quarter, the Paladins had just one penalty in each of the last three quarters.

In addition to his big pass breakup and interception, Miller had four tackles and earned SoCon Defensive Player of the Week honors. Lewis finished with a game-high nine tackles, while Stoneking and Bussey each had seven, to lead the defense. Stoneking finished with three sacks, padding his FCS-leading total to 9.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles-for-loss this season. With seven games left in the regular season, Stoneking already has the seventh-highest sack total for a season in school history.

Furman will travel to Western Carolina next Saturday at 2:30 p.m.