August 22, 1998


Offense, Passing Game Shine During Paladins' Saturday Scrimmage, Johnson Pleased

GREENVILLE -- Furman's offense scored three touchdowns and drew the praise of head coach Bobby Johnson following the Paladins' near two-hour scrimmage in Paladin Stadium Saturday afternoon.

"Being only our third day in pads, I thought it was a pretty good scrimmage," Johnson said. "A lot of people were going hard, and that's what you want to see. I thought our offense did as well as I've seen in a long time. We didn't execute very well in the red zone and had some turnovers down there, but overall I thought we were pretty consistent."

Operating against the first team defense, Furman's first team offense drove 77 yards in 12 plays on its first possession and scored on a 1-yard plunge by freshman fullback Louis Ivory (Fort Valley, Ga.). Senior tailback Ernest Crosby (Greenville, S.C.) contributed the drive's biggest play with a 21-yard run.

Sophomore quarterback Justin Hill (Greer, S.C.) came back on the next offensive possession and connected with Louis Ivory on a screen pass that Ivory converted into a 62-yard touchdown reception. On the afternoon Hill completed 5-of-8 passes for 102 yards.

Hill's backup, sophomore Brent Rickman (Rome, Ga.), was equally effective, completing 7-of-12 pass attempts for 101 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown strike to freshman flanker Bear Rinehart (Seneca, S.C.) for the third score of the day by the Paladin offense.

"I thought both of our quarterbacks did a good job. They made good decisions, and didn't try to force things when they weren't there. That's part of the maturing process for a quarterback, and I think Justin and Brent are coming along well in that area," added Johnson.

The Paladins' 12 pass receptions went to seven different receivers -- a fact not lost on Johnson, who was without the services on Saturday of pre-season All-Southern Conference split end selection Desmond Kitchings (Wagener, S.C.), who was attending a funeral. In Kitchings' absence, the Paladins' chief target was Bear Rinehart, who caught three passes for 53 yards.

"Bear Rinehart is a sold young player. He caught a lot of passes in his high school career, and he's going to help us.

"Our receivers have improved a great deal since the spring. They've really worked hard and have gotten better, and I think that showed," said Johnson.

After taking Sunday off the Paladins will return to their twice daily practice schdule on Monday.

Notes: Freshman tight end Graham Hunter (Knoxville, Tenn.) was carried off the after sustaining a knee injury midway through Saturday's scrimmage. He will undergo an MRI on Monday, according to head trainer Brian Reese. Placekickers Jason Wells (Lawton, Okla.), David Burton (Tampa, Fla.), and Gus Hauser (Barbourville, Ky.) combined to connect on 8-of-12 field goal attempts in Saturday's scrimmage. Wells (11-of-14 FGs in '97), a pre-season all-conference selection, went 3-for-4, with makes from 40, 41 and 29 yards.


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