FURMAN THROTTLES NEWERRY 44-10
GREENVILLE -- Junior tailback Louis Ivory rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns to lead NCAA I-AA ninth-ranked Furman to a 44-10 win over visiting Division II member Newberry Saturday night at Paladin Stadium.
Ivory, who posted his fifth straight 100-yard rushing performance and seventh in the Paladinsí last eight games, scored on a 16-yard run in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7 and later added a 16-yard scoring run early in the second period to give Furman (2-0) a 21-7 lead.
Newberry (1-1) scored on the gameís first possession when tailback Vic Gilmore scampered 45 yards to put the Indians ahead 7-0.
"I was concerned but not really surprised that Newberry came out and played well early," said Furman head coach Bobby Johnson. "They gave us a wake up call, and we played pretty good football after that. We played solid defense and completed some passes on offense, and of course Louis Ivory had another outstanding game. He made a lot of nice cuts, ran hard, and our offensive line did a nice job for him."
"Louis Ivory is a great player and we knew coming in they (Furman) had a great offensive football team," said Newberry head coach Mike Taylor. "They went back to basics this week and nothing they did surprised us. We knew they were going to try and establish Ivory early and hammer us, and once they did that they could run their option plays and throw the football. And thatís exactly what they did."
Furman rolled up 385 yards rushing and totaled 520 total yards against the Indians, who totaled 241 yards in total offense. Ivoryís 171 rushing yards moved him from eighth to sixth on Furmanís career rushing chart with 2,278 yards.
Leading 21-7 in the second quarter, Furman extended its margin to 28-7 when quarterback Justin Hill hooked up with split end James Thomas on a 17-yard touchdown pass with only 42 seconds left in the half.
Furman made it 35-7 when senior fullback Derek Russell bulled over on a fourth and goal play from the Newberry 1 at the 10:00 mark of the third quarter. Russell, who scored three touchdowns in the contest, accounted for the gameís final score on a 1-yard dive with only 17 seconds left in the game.
The game was halted for 10 minutes after Furman redshirt freshman linebacker Todd Prevost was knocked unconscious on the opening kickoff. Prevost, who regained consciousness after approximately 30 seconds later, was eventually removed from the playing field on a stretcher and taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital for tests, which revealed a concussion.
Furman returns to action next Saturday when it hosts William & Mary at Paladin Stadium at 7:00 p.m. Newberry will entertain South Atlantic Conference foe Mars Hill next Saturday at Setzler Field at 7:00 p.m.