Story courtesy of Furman sports information
Furman 14, Nicholls State 12
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Ingle Martin passed for one touchdown and ran for another and Furman rode a strong defensive effort to secure a 14-12 win over Nicholls State in NCAA I-AA first round playoff action Saturday at Paladin Stadium.
Martin, a senior quarterback from Nashville, Tenn., completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Justin late in the second quarter to give Furman a 7-6 lead and later scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter for the Paladins’ game winning points.
The Paladin defense, punctuated by a career high 16 tackles by sophomore linebacker Andrew Jones and 15 stops by senior All-America linebacker William Freeman, limited Nicholls State, the nation’s second leading rushing team, to a season low 199 yards on the ground.
Furman (10-2) will now hit the road and play the winner of Saturday evening’s Richmond-Hampton game next Saturday at a time to be announced.
“The story of this game was our defense,” said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. “To hold a offense the caliber of Nicholls State to 199 yards rushing and 12 points is a big deal, and our defense deserves a lot of credit for this victory. We needed that type of effort today to win, and we got it.”
Furman’s defense entered the contest yielding 29.2 points and 372.8 yards per game but surrendered only 271 total yards to the Colonels.
Furman forced a Nicholls State punt on the game’s first possession, but the Paladins’ fumbled their first play from scrimmage. The Colonels’ Naton Stewart scooped up the miscue and returned it 11 yards to the Furman 23. From there Nicholls State advanced to the 17, where Alex Romero booked a 34-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
The Paladins’ suffered a turnover on their second possession when Nicholls State linebacker Cory Vavala gathered in a ball knocked free from the grasp of Furman receiver Justin Stepp at the Furman 46. Using 14 plays, the Colonels moved to the Furman 1, but the Paladin defense stopped NSU shy of the goal line on third and fourth down to short-circuit the scoring opportunity.
A 70-yard Martin punt gave NSU the ball at the NSU 25, and the Colonels responded by covering 73 yards in nine plays to the Furman 2, where Romero booted a 20-yard field goal for a 6-0 lead with 11:21 to go in the first half.
Punctuated by a pair of runs by Cedrick Gipson covering 18 and 12 yards, and 17-yard run by Martin to the NSU 33, Furman finally got on the board when Martin connected with a wide open Stepp on a 29-yard touchdown strike with 1:24 to go in the first half.
Furman added to its lead on the first possession of the second half, utlilizing 14 running plays on a 15-play, 57-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Martin for a 14-6 Furman advantage at the 8:06 mark of the third period.
Nicholls State pulled to within two points at 14-12 with an 11-play, 80-yard march that included a pass interference call on a third-and-nine play from the NSU 21 and 22-yard touchdown pass from Yale Vannoy to Kenley Horton on a fourth-and-three play from the Furman 22. The Colonels’ two-point conversion bid, however, failed.
Furman’s next two possessions ended with a blocked 45-yard field goal attempt and fumble at the Nicholls State 36, but the Paladin defense again stepped up by halting Nicholls State on its final two possessions, forcing a punt and stopping Colonel fullback Joseph Tobias on a fourth down play a yard short of a first down at the Furman 38 with 4:52 to go.
From there the Paladin offense salted the game way by methodically covering 54 yards in 10 plays and ending the contest at the NSU 8-yard line.
Appalachian State 34, Lafayette 23
BOONE, N.C. (AP) -- Richie Williams threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Daniel Bettis, breaking a tie and leading Appalachian State to a 34-23 victory over Lafayette on Saturday in the Division I-AA playoffs.
Williams, who also threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Dexter Jackson in the third quarter, completed 10-of-17 pass attempts for 151 yards and ran for 32 yards in the Mountaineers' (9-3) win.
The Leopards (8-4) were led by Jonathan Hurt who scored Lafayette's touchdowns on a 3-yard pass from Pat Davis with 12:55 remaining in the second quarter, and on a 1-yard run less than four minutes later.
Hurt had 115 yards on 25 carries, and Davis completed 24 of 40 passes for 259 yards, but threw two interceptions. The Leopards put up 431 yards of total offense.
The Mountaineers generated 375 yards of offense, including 224 yards on the ground.
Kevin Richardson had 171 yards on 24 carries for Appalachian State, including a 38-yard touchdown with 7:02 left in the second quarter.
Zodd Kelly of the Mountaineers had 12 tackles, a sack, and a fourth-quarter interception with less than 6 minutes remaining that effectively ended the Leopards' hopes for a comeback.
Texas State 50, Georgia Southern 35
SAN MARCOS, TX -- Texas State scored 34 unanswered points during the final 16 minutes, rallying for a 50-35 win over Georgia Southern in the first round of the NCAA I-AA playoffs, Saturday (Nov. 26) at Bobcat Stadium. The Eagles close out the campaign at 8-4.
Southern led 35-16 when Jayson Foster capped an 11-play 93-yard drive thanks to a 36-yard TD run with 4:20 left in the third quarter. But it was all Texas State from there. Barrick Nealy threw three touchdown passes then the Bobcats (10-2) scored two rushing TDs in a 25 second span for the final margin.
The Eagles could not respond on their final five drives, failing to get a first down in the fourth quarter after getting eight during the third quarter.
Texas State, which elected to receive after winning the coin toss, fumbled the opening kickoff but recovered on its own 20. On the first play from scrimmage, Nealy ran 76 yards down to the four. Three plays later Nealy scored on a one yard plunge 95 seconds into the game.
Facing a 4th-and-5 from the Bobcat 38, Foster found Teddy Craft open on a post pattern to tie the game. That capped a 10-play drive covering 85 yards.
TSU drove deep into Eagle territory. Facing 2nd-and-1 on the 20 the defense held on three straight plays, stopping Nealy’s fourth down run, to take over on downs.
On the ensuing drive, Foster faked to Jermaine Austin then broke a couple tackles down the right sideline for 56 yards before getting forced out of bounds at the 10. Austin rushed twice, the last from six yards for his 14th rushing TD this season.
Right before the quarter ended the Eagles took over on their own 43. Foster hit Craft on a 57-yard TD pass and Jonathan Dudley’s extra point made it 21-7. That second TD hook-up tied a personal-high for both Foster in passing and Craft in receiving. The junior wide receiver tied Chris Johnson for second-most touchdown receptions in GS history with 13.
After driving deep into Bobcat territory again, TSU held on third down forcing a 29-yard field goal attempt. Holder A.J. Bryant picked up the low snap but Dudley missed just right.
Nealy completed two long passes to get the ball down to the one yard line, setting up a 4th-and-goal. The Bobcats were lined up to go for it but were whistled for offsides. That forced a field goal attempt. Stan Jones nailed it from 23 yards making it 21-10.
The Eagle defense stopped Texas State driving late in the second quarter. Nick Session fumbled after getting hit by T.J. Rutledge and Tariq Muhammad recovered. The Eagles took a 21-10 lead into the locker room.
Facing a 3rd-and-long to start the half, Foster was intercepted by Daniel Varvel. On their first play, Nealy hit Dameon Williams on a 31-yard TD pass but Nealy’s pass was incomplete on the conversion making it 21-16.
Georgia Southern quickly answered. Austin broke through for 39 yards then Foster took sole possession of the Southern Conference record, scoring from 29 yards out on the very next play. That gave him a rushing touchdown in 12 consecutive games, breaking the previous record of 11 held by former Eagle QB Chaz Williams and Furman’s Louis Ivory. Dudley’s extra point made it 28-16.
Texas State caught a break after it was forced to punt. Craft signaled for a fair catch but since he was surrounded by players from both teams he could not make the play. The ball bounced and TSU recovered. After a discussion the officials ruled the ball hit off Richard Murphey and recovered by the Bobcats.
But the defense stepped up again. Bryant picked off Nealy at the goal line, his fourth interception this year and 10th of his career, which led to Foster’s final score.
Nealy hit Justin Williams on a 47 yard play, then found the endzone on a 5-yard pass to Chase Wasson, cutting the Bobcats’ deficit to 35-23. Nealy hit Williams on a 26-yard touchdown. During that drive Nealy also broke the TSU record for career passing yards, surpassing 6,700.
TSU’s senior quarterback came up with another big play on third down, hitting Markee White for 58 down to the Eagles’ 22. Nealy connected with Williams again, this time for 11 yards which gave the Bobcats the lead for good. They converted the two-point conversion to go ahead 38-35. Daniel Jolly and Douglas Sherman added a rushing TD late in the game.
“I thought 42 was the magic number. If we could have gotten to 42 points first, we could have won the game,” said head coach Mike Sewak.
Austin picked up his 33rd career 100-yard game while Foster hit the century mark for the ninth time this season. The senior fullback, one of 13 seniors playing in their final game, totaled 147 yards on 23 carries. He ended the season with a personal-best 1,546 yards, but more impressive he finished his stellar career recording 5,411 yards, the sixth-most rushing yards in NCAA I-AA history.
Foster broke his second SoCon record when he moved past former GSU quarterback Chaz Williams for most rushing yards by a quarterback. He added a game-high 151 yards on 21 carries. In fact, Foster jumped up to third place in rushing yards among NCAA I-AA quarterbacks, finishing his sophomore campaign with 1,481 yards and 29 touchdowns accounted for (21 rushing, eight passing).
John Mohring led the defense with nine tackles.
Nealy finished with 400 yards passing, going 23-for-32 with the one interception and four TD passes. White totaled 10 catches for 157 yards, Justin Williams added 106 receiving yards and Dameon Williams caught three of the TD passes.
Said Sewak, “I think our guys played their hearts out today and showed a lot of class, dignity and pride which is something you build your program on. I thought they gave us a great effort after week three (1-2 start) to where we ended. They put the program ahead of themselves.”