Furman opens spring season in dominant fashion

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.

 Sophomore quarterback Hamp Sisson, who finished the afternoon completing 14-of-22 passes for 207 yards, with three touchdowns and a pair of INTs, but it was third pass of the day that caused some early concern, as Western Carolina safety Jacob Harris picked off his pass on 3^rd-and-4 and returned the ball 47 yards all the way to the Furman 12.

 On 3^rd-and-8 from the 10, the Catamounts would find the end zone for their only score of the day, as Penn transfer quarterback Ryan Glover, who was starting his first game for the Catamounts, scampered in from 10 yards out to give the Catamounts a 7-0 lead with 10:38 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Paladins would begin their dominance from that point forward. A little less than four minutes later, Furman had tied the basketball game when Sisson threw his first of three touchdown passes of the contest, connecting with sophomore running back Wayne Anderson Jr on a 6-yard scoring toss to make it a 7-7 game with 6:44 left in the opening quarter.

After Furman’s defense held the Catamount offense to another three-and-out, Furman got the ball back and had a promising drive end with another Sisson interception. Following a eight plays, which covered 28 yards to get the ball just inside Western Carolina territory at the 47, the Paladins faced a 3^rd-and-4 play, however, a pass in the flat intended for Ryan Miller was tipped by Miller up in the air and into the diving arms of Catamount ‘spur’ linebacker Curtis Roach and returned two yards to the Catamount 49.

But Furman’s defense didn’t blink, and once again forced a Catamount three-and-out, as Paxton Robertson trotted onto the field for his second punt of the day.

Following a punt that covered 39 yards, which sailed out of bounds, the Paladins embarked on nine-play, 87-yard drive to take a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish the remainder of the afternoon in the Battle for Purple Supremacy, as Sisson tossed his second scoring pass of the day, finding Zach Peterson for the first scoring catch of his career on a 27-yard scoring strike, making it a 14-7 Paladin lead with 10:29 left in the half.

 Furman’s defense continued its stout effort, forcing another three-and-out, and the Paladins wasted little time in getting back on the scoreboard, as Dominic Roberto completed a 10-play, 89-yard scoring drive with a 3-yard scamper to put the Paladins ahead 21-7 with 4:42 remaining in the opening half.

 After three more Glover incompletions, Robertson came on to punt back to the Paladins once again, Furman would assume possession at its own seven and drove 93 yards in 3:34 to cap off a dominating second quarter, as Sisson found Ryan Miller on a 24-yard scoring strike to make it a 28-7 game following Timmy Bleekrode's fourth PAT of the half.

After gaining one of its five first downs on the opening drive of the second half, the Furman defense once again stood strong on third down, as senior defensive end Dru Seabrook broke through to get pressure on Glover, forcing an incompletion and ultimately another Catamount punt. 

Furman would take most of the third quarter to put their fifth and final touchdown on the board and close out what was an impressive season-opening Southern Conference win. The Paladins took 17 plays to cover 74 yards, which was completed by a Devin Wynn 1-yard scoring plunge to make it a 35-7 contest. 

The Paladins ended up dominating the football game in every imaginable way, including out-gaining the Catamounts, 533-109 in total offense, including a 320-67 edge in ground yards, as the Paladins ran 91 plays, while Western Carolina's 36. Furman amassed 33 first downs, while limiting Western Carolina to just five. It was the lowest first down total for a Furman opponent since 1999, when VMI charted just four in a 58-0 Paladin win. 

Furman senior tailback and All-America hopeful Devin Wynn got his final season off to an outstanding start, finishing the contest with 106 yards and a touchdown on 18 attempts, avreraging 5.9 yards-per-carry.  With that rushing effort on Saturday, the Greensboro, GA., product finished the contest with over 2,000 yards for a career, marking just the 13th player in Paladin football history to accomplish that feat, and now has 2,063 yards rushing in his career. 

The Paladins had 10 different players make a catch in the contest, led by Peterson, who hauled in four passes for 84 yards and his first-career score. Seeing the first action of his Paladin career, true freshman running back Kendall Thomas from Round Rock, TX, hauled in a pass for 12 yards, while rushing five times for 25 yards, showing glimpses of a bright future in a Paladin uniform much the same way Prosper, TX, product Wayne Anderson. Jr., did in his first-ever game for the Paladins in 2019 against Charleston Southern. 

Anderson finished the contest with three rushes for 17 yards, while hauling in two passes for 33 yards and a score. Furman junior running back Devin Abrams was the Paladins second-leading rusher, as he finished with 57 yards on 12 rush attempts. Miller finished with two catches for 29 yards and a TD.

Furman's defense, meanwhile, swarmed to the football all afternoon, as no player charted more than four tackles in the contest, and it was a unit responsible for forcing eight Catamount punts on the day, while the Paladins opted only to punt just once all game.

The Paladins had three players finish the contest with four stops, with cornerback Darius Kearse, freshman linebacker Evan DiMaggio and redshirt freshman Nick Kuzemka topping the tackle totals for the Paladins, while Kuzemka added half-a-tackle-for-loss to his totals. 

The Catamounts were led offensively by quarterback Ryan Glover, who completed 7-of-14 passes for 42 yards, while Donnavan Spencer rushed for 16 yards on 10 rush attempts. The Catamounts were led defensively by free safety A.J. Rogers, who made 11 tackles, while strong safety Jacob Harris finished with 10 tackles, a sack, a tackle-for-loss and an INT. Talented senior middle linebacker Ty Harris also made 10 stops for Western Carolina.

Furman returns to action next Saturday when it travels to VMI for a 1:30 p.m. contest at Foster Stadium against VMI. The Keydets were supposed to be in action this week, but had their game postponed against Chattanooga, which was slated for this week. Western Carolina will be on the road at Samford, with kickoff its contest in Birmingham slated for 1 p.m. EST. 

Notes:

--Furman opened the season with a SoCon game at home for the first time since 2003 when it hosted Elon

--Furman claimed its 20th win in its past 24 games in the series against Western Carolina, including its fifth-straight win over the Catamounts.

--Furman held its sixth opponent in scoreless in the second half in its past 15 games.

Postgame Press Conference: