September 29, 2001
FOURTH RANKED FURMAN DOWNS WESTERN CAROLINA 31-13
CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Louis Ivory rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns to lead the NCAA I-AA fourth Furman Paladins to a 31-13 Southern Conference win over the Western Carolina Catamounts Saturday night in front of 8,714 fans at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
Ivory, a senior tailback and the 2000 Walter Payton Award winner as the top offensive player in NCAA I-AA football, scored on runs of 3 and 67 yards to help stake Furman to a 21-0 first quarter lead. The 159-yard effort, his 10th straight 100-yard performance and 24th century mark rushing outing of his career, upped his career rushing total to 4,697 yards, leaving him just 49 yards shy of Carl Tremble's school career rushing record of 4,746 yards.
"We played good defense, got the ball back for our offense and took it right down and jumped out to a 21-point lead. Those are the kind of starts you like," said Furman head coach Bobby Johnson, whose team posted its fourth straight win over Western Carolina and sixth victory in the last seven clashes with the Catamounts. "We were really focused on offense and defense because we were expecting a challenge, and we responded in the first quarter. We slacked up in the second half and didnıt play as well offensively, but I was proud of the defense and the way it played, keeping them from scoring until late."
With the win Furman improves to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina falls to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in league action.
Furman scored on its first four possessions of the game, taking a 7-0 lead on a 3-yard run by freshman fullback Eric Emerson to cap a 5-play, 55-yard drive.
On Western Carolina's next possession, Paul Billingsly recorded Furman's third blocked punt in its last two games when he stepped in front of a Stanton Horne punt and recovered it at the Catamount 15-yard line. Three straight handoffs to Ivory led to Furman's next touchdown, which came on a 3-yard run off left tackle by Ivory with 5:55 left in the first quarter, giving the Paladins a 14-0 lead.
After bottling up Western Carolina on its third possession of the game, Furman struck again when Ivory took a handoff from quarterback Billy Napier and, using excellent downfield blocking and a couple of impressive moves, bolted 67 yards for his second score of the contest to give the Paladins a 21-0 advantage with 0:14 remaining in the first period.
A Western Carolina 20-play, 80-yard drive put the Catamounts on the board with a 2-yard touchdown run by Donnie Bryant at the 5:10 juncture of the second quarter, but Furman answered with another impressive scoring drive under the direction of true freshman quarterback Bo Moore, who came off the bench for Billy Napier following a hard hit on an option keeper prior to Ivory's 67-yard scoring run.
Using a 26-yard run by Lamar Rembert and a key third down, 13-yard pass to James Thomas for a first down, Moore moved the Paladins 77 yards in nine plays and connected with Bear Rinehart on a 22-yard strike at the goal line pylon with only 45 seconds remaining in the first half to give Furman a 28-7 halftime advantage.
Napier, who returned to the field on Furmanıs first possession of the second second half, set up Furmanıs final score of the contest when he hooked up with James Thomas on a 41-yard pass to the Catamount 8-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. Three plays later Paladin sophomore kicker Danny Marshall tied Furman's record for consecutive field goals made when he converted a 25-yard field goal for his 10th straight field goal to give the Paladins a 31-7 cushion.
Western Carolina wrapped up the scoring against Furman defensive reserves with 32-yard pass from Brian Gaither to Brendan Roy with 1:01 left.
The Paladins, who rolled up 148 yards total offense in the first quarter on the way to its 21-0 lead, outgained Western Carolina 349-319 for the game.
Due in large measure to its quick strike offense in the first quarter, the Paladins controlled the football for only 7:57 in the first half compared to Western Carolina's 22:03. For the game, the Catamounts had the football for 34:52 to Furman's 25:08.
Paced by senior linebacker John Thrit's two quarterback takedowns, Furmanıs defense registered four sacks in the contest. Senior All-America linebacker Will Bouton, the 2000 Southern Conference Defensive Player-of-the-Year, led all Paladin tacklers with nine stops.