The
win gave Furman (1-1) its 99th victory in Paladin Stadium since moving into
the facility in 1981. It also marked the Paladinsą second straight decision
over Elon (0-2), which committed seven turnovers, including four interceptions.September 8, 2001
FURMAN 46, ELON 7
GREENVILLE -- Louis Ivory rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns to lead the NCAA I-AA nationally sixth-ranked Furman Paladins to a 46-7 win over the visiting Elon Phoenix in front of 10,322 fans at Paladin Stadium Saturday evening.
Ivory, the reigning national offensive player-of-the-year, rushed 19 times and scored on runs of 2 and 8 yard while recording his eighth straight 100-yard performance and 22nd 100-yard outing of his career.
The
win gave Furman (1-1) its 99th victory in Paladin Stadium since moving into
the facility in 1981. It also marked the Paladinsą second straight decision
over Elon (0-2), which committed seven turnovers, including four interceptions.
"Elon does such a good job running the football, but they can also hit people with some big passes, so we wanted to do a nice job against the pass, and we did," said Furman head coach Bobby Johnson. "Interceptions are things you can't count on, but when they happen it's nice. It set up our offense and kept them off their game plan."
"We're going through some growing pains right now, and it showed tonight, but take nothing away from Furman, they are a very good football team and they played an exceptional football game," said Elon head coach Al Seagraves. 'They are solid as a rock offensively, defensively, and in the kicking game. I tip my hat to Furman."Furman outgained Elon 452-180 and got a strong performance from junior quarterback Billy Napier, who connected on 12-of-19 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Trent Sansbury led all Paladin receivers with five catches for 86 yards and a score.
Furman took advantage of a pair of Elon turnovers in the first quarter to race to a 21-0 lead.
An interception and 23-yard return by Shelvis Smith gave the Paladins the ball at Elon 19, and four plays later Napier hit Bear Rinehart on an 8-yard touchdown pass to put Furman up 7-0 only three minutes into the game.
On its next possession, Furman moved 58 yards in nine plays to extend its lead to 14-0 following a 2-yard run by Ivory at the 4:53 mark.
A fumble recovery by Paladin defensive tackle LeBryan Sperling at the Elon 42 on the Phoenix's next possession set up Furman's next score, which came on the next play when Napier connected with Sansbury on a 42-yard touchdown at the 1:53 juncture.
Elon trimmed Furman's lead to 21-7 with an 11-yard touchdown run by Martin Swindell with 10:38 left in the first half, but the Paladins answered with three Danny Marshall field goals covering 22, 33, and 28 yards to extend the lead to 30-7 by halftime.
Furman upped its margin to 37-7 on its first possession of the second half with an 8-yard scoring run by Ivory before benching its first team offense in favor of reserves.
Reserve tailback Hindley Brigham tallied the Paladins' last score on a 65-yard touchdown run on the first rushing attempt of his career.
The Paladins return to action next Saturday when they take on Liberty in Lynchburg in a 3:30 p.m. game. Elon plays its first home game of the 2001 season when it hosts Eastern Kentucky next Saturday at 2:00 p.m.