THIRD-RANKED FURMAN DOWNS EAST TENNESSEE STATE 31-6
GREENVILLE -- Louis Ivory rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown to lift NCAA I-AA third ranked Furman to a 31-6 Southern Conference win over East Tennessee State in front of 11,009 homecoming fans at Paladin Stadium.
In posting the win Furman (6-1, 5-0 SoCon) claimed its school record 12th straight conference home victory but only the second decision in its last six meetings with East Tennessee State (2-4, 1-3 SoCon).
"I
was really proud of our guys. We were really banged up on defense, but we played
hard and made some big plays when we had to," said Furman head coach Bobby
Johnson. "They had a lot of guys up there on the line of scrimmage, but
Billy (Napier) did a great job getting the ball off in front of a big rush and
Bear Rinehart made some catches I couldn't believe."
"We came down here and played one of the best teams in the nation, and we competed well," said East Tennessee State head coach Paul Hamilton. "I commend our defense. I feel like there are some areas that we progressed in today against a very good football team. We are a young team, and wečre only going to get better."
In rushing 26 times for 146 yards, Ivory, the 2000 Walter Payton Award winner as the top offensive player in I-AA, recorded his school record 26th 100-yard rushing performance and became the first Furman player in history to top 5,000 rushing yards in a career. The Paladin senior tailback now has 5,014 yards.
Furman took an early 7-0 lead after Hindley Brigham blocked an East Tennessee State punt out of bounds at the Buccaneer 7. Two plays later Ivory ran seven yards for the score at the 10:34 mark of the first quarter.
After East Tennessee State cut the Paladin advantage to 7-3 on a Scott Salmons 37-yard field goal, Furman moved 69 yards in 11 plays for its second touchdown, which came on a 1-yard run by fullback Eric Emerson at the 12:58 juncture of the second quarter.
Leading
17-6 at intermission, Furman capitalized with good field position in the third
quarter to add to its advantage. A 16-yard punt return by Bear Rinehart to
the Buccaneer 41 set up a six-play drive that ended when Emerson registered
his second score of the contest with a 5-yard run off left tackle to make it
24-6 with 5:14 remaining the third quarter.
The Paladins added a 5-yard touchdown run by backup fullback Al Means late in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.
Furman, which outgained East Tennessee State 364-199, got 166 yards passing from junior quarterback Billy Napier, who completed 15-of-23 passes. His favorite target was Rinehart, who totaled six receptions for 74 yards while also totaling 47 yards on four punt returns.
With starting nose guard Ryan Spencer and tackle LeBryan Sperling out with injuries, Furman's defense was paced by strong safety Shelvis Smith's seven tackles, including two for loss. East Tennessee State got a game high nine tackles from cornerback Tony Tiller, who also had a 37-yard interception return to set up one of the Buccaneers' two field goals.
Furman placekicker Danny Marshall, who converted a school record 12th straight field goal attempt in the second quarter, had the streak stopped when he missed a 47-yard attempt late in the second period.
East
Tennessee State returns to action next week when it hosts top-ranked Georgia
Southern in Johnson City in a 7:30 p.m. game. Furman is off next Saturday and
will next play at Georgia Southern in Statesboro on Nov. 3 in a game televised
by Fox Sports South. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Pictures:
Top Left: Pete Stamas (72) and Sterling Frierson (43) put the clamps on East Tennessee State quarterback Jatavis Sanders. Furman's defense limited the Buccaneers to only 92 yards rushing.
Middle Right: Backup tailback Hindley Brigham rips off a 37-yard run to set up Furman's last touchdown.
Bottom Left: Backup fullback Al Means bounces off Buccaneer defenders on his 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.