November 10, 2001

NCAA I-AA THIRD RANKED FURMAN DUMPS WOFFORD 45-14
BEHIND IVORY'S 198 YARDS, FOUR TDs

Game Statistics

GREENVILLE -- Louis Ivory rushed for 198 yards and a career high four touchdowns to lead the NCAA I-AA nationally fifth-ranked Furman Paladins to a 45-14 win over the visiting Wofford Terriers in Southern Conference football action Saturday at Paladin Stadium.

Ivory, a senior All-America tailback and 2000 Walter Payton Award recipient as the top offensive player in NCAA I-AA, scored on runs covering 13, 7, 17, and 8 yards and topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the third consecutive season, tying a school mark first set by Stanford Jennings from 1981-83.  In improving his season rushing total to 1,158 yards, Ivory also racked up the 29th 100-yard rushing performance of his career and shattered the school record for rushing touchdowns with 50, breaking the old standard of 48 set by Carl Tremble from 1989-92.

The win was the 13th straight home conference victory by Furman (7-2, 6-1 SoCon) and sixth triumph in the last seven meetings with Wofford (3-6, 2-4 SoCon), which last won in Greenville in 1970.  With a victory next Saturday at Chattanooga, Furman will clinch a conference record 11th league championship.

"I'm very proud of our players.  They were focused and practiced hard all week long, and I think it showed today," said Furman head coach Bobby Johnson.  "We couldn¹t have asked for a better attitude coming off the loss to Georgia Southern, and I think that was the key to the game today.  We were ready to play, and I think we controlled the line of scrimmage most of the game."

"We did a poor job of getting our kids ready to play today," said Wofford head coach Mike Ayers.  "Furman is an outstanding team and they knocked us off the ball.  We didn't play like we were capable of playing and defensively, we played too many snaps early.  We had a couple of opportunities early on offense and didn'tconvert.  Furman won't give you much, and if they do you better take advantage of it."

Furman outgained Wofford 434-264 and piled up 260 yards on the ground to the Terriers' 216.

Furman seized control on the contest early, scoring on its first possession by moving 92 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 13-yard run by Ivory at the 8:05 mark of the first quarter.

The Paladins added three more scores on Ivory touchdown runs of 7 and 17 yards and on an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Billy Napier to James Thomas to take a 28-0 second quarter lead.

Wofford made it 28-7 when Chris Edwards returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown with 3:20 remaining in the half, but the Paladins responded by moving 56 yards in 10 plays for a 39-yard Danny Marshall field goal on the final play of the half for a 31-7 advantage.

Furman vanquished any Wofford comeback when Brian Bratton took the second half kickoff and raced 100 yards for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 38-7.  The kickoff return was Bratton's third of the season and the fourth by the Paladins this year.

Despite throwing two interceptions, Furman quarterback Billy Napier completed 14-of-16 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown.  His favorite target was junior wide receiver James Thomas, who tallied a career high seven receptions for another career high 101 yards and a score.

Senior linebacker Sterling Frierson led all Paladin defenders with eight tackles.  Redshirt freshman defensive end Mike Killian had seven tackles and a fumble recovery, which he returned 18 yards to set up the Paladins' third touchdown.  Will Bouton, the league's reigning defensive player-of-the-year, tallied six tackles and his first interception of the season, which he returned 10 yards from the end zone to stop a Wofford scoring threat.

Furman wraps up its conference schedule next week against Chattanooga in Chattanooga in a 7:00 p.m. game.

Pictures:

(Top) Redshirt freshman defensive Mike Killian returns a fumble 18 yards to the Wofford 28 in the second quarter to set up the Paladins' third touchdown of the game.

(Bottom) Louis Ivory is tackled by Wofford's Fred Washington at the Terrier 16-yard line following a 50-yard run. Two plays later Ivory scored on a 7-yard run to put the Paladins ahead 14-0.