Furman 37, Jacksonville State 35
JACKSONVILLE, ALA. ? Ingle Martin completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Justin Stepp on the final play of the game to lift NCAA I-AA second-ranked Furman to a 37-35 win over 20th-ranked Jacksonville State Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
Martin, a senior quarterback and Walter Payton Award candidate, engineered Furman’s game-winning nine-play, 74-yard drive by completing 5-of-7 passes for 47 yards and rushing twice for 27 yards. The Paladin signal caller connected on 17-of-28 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns in the contest and also averaged 42.0 yards on four punts.
“We only scored one touchdown in our two-minute offense in the preseason, so for us to come out and execute like we did at the end and win the game was tremendous,” said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb.
The victory was the sixth straight by the Paladins over Ohio Valley Conference opponents and snapped JSU’s nine-game home winning streak.
Daniel Jackson’s 2-yard touchdown run around right end with 1:27 left gave Jacksonville State a 35-31 lead and appeared to position the Gamecocks, the OVC defending champion and preseason No. 1 team, for the win.
Furman, however, made good on its final opportunity. Starting at its own 26, the Paladins used a sideline pass to Brian Stone to cover 13 yards to the 39, and Martin followed with a scramble for 13 yards and a first down at the JSU 48. A pair of completions to Stone and Daric Carter gave the Paladins the ball at the JSU 30 with 36 seconds remaining. Another Martin scramble netted 14 yards to the 16, and a 7-yard pass over the middle to Carter gave Furman the ball at the JSU 9. After an incompletion and pair of Gamecock timeouts, Martin’s third down pass attempt was batted down with one second remaining, but the 6-foot-3, 223-pound Nashville native used the clock’s final tick to find Stepp open in the back of the end zone for the game winner.
The Paladins’ last second heroics proved just enough to overcome a number of miscues, including three fumbles ? two of which Jacksonville State converted into touchdowns. Furman also surrendered a 96-yard fourth quarter kickoff return that pulled the Gamecocks to within three points at 31-28.
On its next possession Jacksonville State moved 57 yards on eight plays to the Furman 3, but on a third and goal play the Paladins’ Jon MacDonald forced Clay Green into a fumble, which was recovered by Maurice Duncan at the 1 with 6:39 to go.
The Paladins, however, were unable to gain a first down and, following a 48-yard Martin punt and face mask penalty on Furman, Jacksonville State used two minutes and 54 seconds to cover 30 yards for Jackson’s 2-yard touchdown run for a 35-31 Gamecock lead.
Furman’s turnovers and less than stellar special teams play almost overshadowed a huge statistical advantage. The Paladins rushed for 302 yards and passed for 200 to finish with 502 total yards to the Gamecocks’ 301. Furman also rolled up 86 offensive plays to JSU’s 56 and recorded a 36:38 to 23:22 advantage in time of possession.
“We made way too many mistakes and were fortunate to get out with the win in a place where not many opponents win,” said Lamb. “I hope this will make us a better football team.”
Senior tailback Brandon Mays led Furman’s balanced rushing attack with 79 yards on 14 carries. Fullback Jerome Felton added 74 yards and a score, and also caught a 7-yard touchdown pass. Cedrick Gipson ran for 65 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown run.
Stepp led all Paladin receivers with five catches for 53 yards, including the game winner.
Defensively, Furman was paced by All-America and Buck Buchanan Award candidate linebacker William Freeman with 14 tackles, a tacke-for-loss, and a batted pass.
Early on it appeared Furman would bid for a repeat of last year’s 49-7 win over Jacksonville State in NCAA I-AA first round playoff game in Greenville after scoring on its first two possessions.
Taking the opening kickoff, the Paladins covered 76 yards in nine plays, highlighted by an 18-yard reception on a third-and-15 play to the Jacksonville State 48, and a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the Gamecocks that gave Furman a first down a the JSU 21. A 14-yard run by Felton to the JSU 7 was followed by a 7-yard Martin touchdown strike to Felton for a 7-0 lead with 10:57 to go.
After a 71-yard punt by JSU’s Zach Walden rolled out of bounds at the Furman 1, the Paladins fashioned a 10-play, 99-yard drive for a 14-0 lead, which came on a 31-yard run around right end by Cedrick Gipson at the 4:33 mark.
The Paladins’ defense recorded its second consecutive stop on JSU’s next possession, but Justin Stepp’s fumble on the punt return was recovered by the Gamecocks’ Darren Williams at the Paladin 31. From that point, JSU used six plays to make it 14-7 on Clay Green’s 1-yard run with 31 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Gamecocks’ capitalized on a Jarvis Smith fumble recovery at the Furman 30 for its next score, which came one play later on Raynodd Zeine’s 30-yard option pass to Tauren Rhetta to make it a 14-14 contest.
A Scott Beckler 27-yard second quarter field goal gave the Paladins a 17-14 halftime lead, and Furman built on the advantage in the third quarter by marching 58 yards on its first possession for a 1-yard touchdown sneak by Martin for a 24-14 lead.
Lonzo Jones’ 17-yard touchdown pass from Maurice Mullins pulled JSU to within three points at 24-21, but Furman again stretched its lead to 10 points with a 14-play, 71-yard drive that ended with Felton’s 1-yard scoring plunge off left tackle.
Jacksonville State, however, bounced right back when Clay Green took the ensuing kickoff and bolted up the middle on the way to a 96-yard kickoff return to make it 31-28.
Furman opens Southern Conference play next Saturday against Western Carolina in Cullowhee. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. for the contest that will televised by WB40 (Charter Cable Channel 5).
Western Carolina 21, Mars Hill 7
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Western Carolina junior quarterback Justin Clark tossed two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one to John Bush and one to Nick Miller, as the Catamounts pulled out a 21-7 season-opening victory over Mars Hill Thursday night at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field.
While Clark’s scores provided the margin of victory, Western’s defense forced six turnovers, including four interceptions. Francis Brown, who was granted a fifth-year of eligibility by the NCAA this past summer, took advantage of his situation by leading the Catamounts with nine tackles, two interceptions and a pass breakup.
Western Carolina got on the board early, scoring on its second possession of the game. Lamont Reid, who finished with 59 yards on nine carries, capped a seven-play, 54-yard scoring drive with a one-yard touchdown. Stephen Brown tacked on the extra point, but that is the last time the Cats would score until the start of the fourth quarter.
Over its next eight possessions, Western had six punts, a fumble and an interception.
Mars Hill moved the ball, but had little to show for it. On their first three possessions, the Lions punted and threw two interceptions. However, with Mars Hill facing fourth-and-12 on Western’s 38, quarterback Brandon Sims completed a 14-yard pass to Ben Pierson to keep the drive alive. After back-to-back completions by Sims to the WCU five, he made it three straight with a five-yard score to Antoine Jones to tie the game at 7-7, a score which would hold up until the break.
Western’s defense set the tone in the second half for the eventual victory. Again, Mars Hill’s offense was able to have some success. However, on the Lions’ nine second half possessions, they had drives end with a fumble, punt, fumble, interceptions, punt, interception, punt, downs and punt, respectively.
The Cats struggled through the third quarter, but scored on its first possession of the fourth. After a short punt, Clark found Bush for five-yard score with 11:53 left in the game. Two plays later, Western came away with its fourth and final interception. On the next snap, Clark found a streaking Nick Miller for a 48-yard score to provide the final margin.
Mars Hill held the upper hand in most of the offensive categories, getting 19 first downs compared to WCU’s 10 and gaining 275 yards of total offense compared to Western’s 227. The Lions also held the ball for 34:11 compared to 25:49 for the Cats. However, Western only committed two turnovers and held the Lions to just 105 yards of offense in the second half.
Clark finished the night completing 9-of-20 for 94 yards with two TDs and an interception. J.C. Brown led the receiving corps with three catches. For the Lions, Sims was 13-of-23 for 108 yards with a TD and four INTs. George Washington led the Mars Hill rushing attack with 74 yards on nine carries (8.2 yards per carry), while Jones was Sims top target with four receptions for 21 yards. Jeremy Stewart paced the Lions on defense with seven tackles.
Western Carolina will host defending Southern Conference champion Furman, who is a consensus top two team in the national polls. Game time is set for 6:00 pm and will be telecast locally on WBSC. The game will also be broadcast on the Catamount sports network, which includes free internet streaming on www.wwcufm.com and www.supertalk1350.com.