FURMAN CLAIMS 10TH SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
TITLE, EARNS LEAGUE'S
AUTOMATIC BID WITH 40-35 WIN OVER CHATTANOOGA MOCS
By Hunter Reid, SID
CHATTANOOGA -- Fullback Derek Russell's 44-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter propelled Furman to a 40-35 win over Chattanooga and gave the Paladins a share of the 1999 Southern Conference title Saturday at Max Finley Stadium.
Russell's game winning touchdown run with 4:21 left gave Furman a 40-28 lead, and the Paladins held off Chattanooga's upset bid when Trent Sansbury recovered a Mocs' onside kick at the UTC 44-yard line with 1:43 left after Chattanooga had scored to make it a 40-35 game. Furman sophomore cornerback Richie Jackson sealed the win with an interception at the UTC 26 with only 18 seconds remaining.
"It feels great, it feels great," said Furman head coach Bobby Johnson following his squad's win that handed the Paladins their 10th Southern Conference football championship and first league crown since 1990. "These guys worked hard all year, and just did it today. I'm proud of them."
Furman's victory didn't come easy as the Paladins had to fend off the accurate arm of UTC quarterback Chris Sanders, who completed 41-of-67 passes for a Southern Conference single game record 532 yards and three touchdowns. Sanders' effective passing paced the Mocs to 618 yards in total offense, but it was Furman's execution in the clutch, both offensively and defensively, and costly penalties that proved to be too much for UTC.
Holding a tenuous 34-28 lead following a UTC pooch punt that pinned the Paladins at their 1-yard line with 11:17 left in game, Furman worked out of the hole with a key first down before Lee Willis punted 32 yards to the UTC 45. From there the Mocs moved to the Furman 38, but the Paladin defense, aided by a pair of UTC penalties, halted the Mocs on downs following a critical fourth down pass deflection by Furman junior linebacker Marion Martin.
The Paladins took over possession with 5:30 left and, following an 8-yard run by Louis Ivory and 10-yard burst up the middle by Derek Russell, the Paladins called on Russell again, who bulled up the middle, bounced outside and rambled 44 yards downfield into the end zone forthe game's decisive touchdown.
"I think they were trying to tackle the ball, and Derek refused to be tackled," said Johnson. "He kept running and made a big play. He's a powerful runner and we figured we had a good chance to get him through there for a couple of first downs, and be broke that one and got the touchdown for us."
Russell, from Austell, Ga., finished the game with 101 yards and two touchdowns for the second 100-yard game of his career. His 44-yard scoring run was the second longest run of his career.
Louis Ivory paced Furman's 296-yard rushing attack with 128 yards and a score for his seventh 100-yard rushing game of the season. Ivory's 1,376 rushing yards this season is the third best single season total in Furman football history.
Unlike its last two games where it struggled early, Furman scored on its first two possessions to take a 14-7 first quarter lead following a 1-yard run by quarterback Justin Hill and a 7-yard scamper by Russell.
The Paladins' went up 21-7 on Ivory's 9-yard touchdown run with 10:05 left in the second quarter.
After UTC closed it to 21-14, both teams traded touchdowns to make it 28-21 Furman with less than a minute to go before halftime. That's when Furman's Des Kitchings came through with one of the game's biggest plays. Taking a kickoff at the 21-yard line, Kitchings, the Southern Conference's leading kick returner, blazed up the middle and broke to the outside on the way to 79-yard kickoff return with only 16 seconds prior to intermission. Kitchings' return for the score was his third of the season on only 12 attempts.
"That was a huge play in the game," said Johnson. "For the most part, our special teams have been good all year, and our kick returns have been the best aspect of our special teams play, and they were certainly key for us today."
The win, Furman's fourth straight over Chattanooga, improved the Paladins' season record to 9-2. Furman finished the Southern Conference with a 7-1 record, along with league tri-champions Georgia Southern and Appalachian State.
Following the game it was learned that Furman had won the blind draw to decide the league's automatic bid into the NCAA I-AA playoffs. The draw was necessary because the tri-champions had one loss each and the tie could not be broken in head-to-head-to-head competition because Furman defeated Appalachian State (35-21), Appalachian State knocked off Georgia Southern (17-16), and Georgia Southern edged Furman (41-38).
This year's playoff appearance will be the Paladins' ninth trip to post-season play. Furman's 10 Southern Conference football championships are more than any other current league member school and more than any school in league history other than Duke, which won 10 conference titles during its membership in the conference in the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. This year's championship gave Furman league crowns on the front (1990) and back end of the 1990s.
Furman will learn who it will play in the first round of the 1999 NCAA I-AA playoffs in Sunday at noon. Should the Paladins land a home game, as expected, it would mark the program's first home playoff game since 1989. Furman's last playoff appearance came in 1996 in Bobby Johnson's third season as head coach.