SoCon Sports Report

The opening weekend of Southern Conference football came and went, and while there was at least one surprise, both Furman and Wofford produced the expected results, with wins over both Western Carolina and Mercer in somewhat convincing fashion. But there was at least one thriller on the weekend, as East Tennessee State was able to come from behind to take what was a 24-17 SoCon-opening win in what was easily the game of the weekend inside the league.  How ETSU's comeback  happened: It was that vaunted ETSU defense that helped the Bucs come away with the season-opening win at William B. Greene Stadium over Samford, and the win came despite the Bucs having to come from a 14-0 deficit early on in the contest.  The win by the Bucs snapped what had been a three-game losing streak in the series against the Bulldogs. Like both Furman and Wofford, East Tennessee State and Samford both decided to forego the fall season in anticipation of the spring.  Samford quarterback Chris Oladokun looke

Devin Wynn/Photo courtesy of Furman Sports Information Furman 35, Western Carolina 7   Furman used a dominating performance in the opening half, using 28 unanswered points and out-gaining Western Carolina 384-39 in total yards en route to a 21-point halftime lead, and were never really threatened in the second half, as the Paladins closed out their first of an eight-game spring Southern Conference football schedule with a 35-7 win over the Catamounts at a sun-splashed and cool late February Saturday afternoon at Paladin afternoon. With the win, Furman improved to 1-0 overall and in league play, while Western Carolina dropped to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in Southern Conference play.    It wouldn’t start out according to plan, however, for Clay Hendrix’s Furman Paladins, who were sidelined for 448 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, opting not to participate in the fall, while the Catamounts took part in three games during the fall, taking on Liberty, North Carolina and Eastern Kentucky.

Furman LB Josh Agbenou/Photo courtesy of Furman Sports Information Dept.  It’s football time in the SoCon It’s a big weekend if you’re a fan of FCS football, and in this region, the SoCon won’t have to battle of the FCS national attention garnered by a national power like Clemson, or even SEC members like South Carolina, Georgia or Tennessee. No, this spring will be all about FCS football. The lone game not being played this weekend due to the COVID-19 pandemic is the contest between Chattanooga and VMI, and no date has yet been scheduled to make up the contest. Positive COVID tests occurred within the Chattanooga football program.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SoCon will begin what is an unprecedented spring season this Saturday. Here’s a look at the three matchups that will highlight the weekend of football in the Southern Conference.  Samford (0-0, 0-0 SoCon) at East Tennessee State (0-0, 0-0 SoCon), William B. Greene Stadium 1 p.m. Series: Samford leads 6-1 Maybe the most intr