Rembert’s scoring run, which came on the final play of the first quarter, gave Furman (5-2, 3-1 SoCon) a 14-0 lead and keyed the Paladins to their fourth straight win over The Citadel (2-5, 1-3 SoCon) and 15th consecutive home victory against conference opposition. Rembert, a junior from Ocala, Fla., finished with a game high 87 yards on five carries as Furman piled up 345 yards on the ground and five touchdowns on the way to 508 yards in total offense.
“It was very big the way we came out today,” said Furman head coach
Bobby Lamb, whose team suffered a crushing 16-15 loss last week to Appalachian
State on an intercepted two-point conversion pass and return with just over
seven seconds left. “I didn’t know how we would react psychologically
from the loss last week, but we answered that question with the way we came
out in the first quarter. We were ready to play.”“Furman is a tremendous team that had a faced a lot of adversity coming into this weekend,” said Citadel head coach Ellis Johnson. “I think they did an excellent job of recovering from the loss and coming out here today and taking care of business. We just didn’t execute and we missed assignments, reads, passes, and blocks. We didn’t do a very good job today between the sidelines.”
Furman’s defense played a significant role in the victory, limiting The Citadel to only 252 total yards and picking off Bulldog quarterback Jeff Klein four times, including a pair by senior cornerback Rodney Johnson. Klein entered the contest having thrown only one interception in 197 attempts.
“Our defense played great; they’re a scrappy bunch,” added Lamb. “We didn’t rush the passer that well, but we made some big plays in the secondary with the interceptions. I’m proud of the way they played.”
Furman took command of the game early, moving 73 yards on 13 plays for a 1-yard touchdown plunge by fullback Eric Emerson and 7-0 lead at the 8:17 mark of the first quarter.
After Rembert’s 83-yard touchdown sprint increased the Paladins’ advantage to 14-0, a Johnson interception at the Furman 25 led to a 12-play, 75-yard drive the produced another score. After lining up for an apparent 30-yard field goal try, Furman holder Jeremiah Van Dora faked it and rolled around left end 13 yards for a touchdown at the 9:30 juncture.
The Citadel got on the board with a Travis Zobel 21-yard field goal with 3:59 left in the half, but Furman countered by moving 60 yards in 12 plays for 32-yard field goal by Danny Marshall with less than a minute left for a 24-3 advantage.
The Citadel attempted to get back in the game on its first possession of the third quarter when Klein scored on a 2-yard run around right end, but the Bulldogs failed to sustain the momentum on their next possession when Furman linebacker Cedrick Ritter picked off a Klein pass at the Paladin 35 at the 4:40 mark.
The Paladins put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter when senior flanker Bear Rinehart collected a reverse and, behind a wall of blockers, glided 47 yards untouched into the end zone to complete a seven-play, 80-yard drive.
Furman’s Toreico O’Neal closed out the scoring with an 8-yard run with 1:13 left in the contest.
Furman quarterback Billy Napier connected on 11-of-20passes for 163 yards, including five for 80 yards to sophomore split end Isaac West, who completed his comeback from a fractured collarbone sustained in the Paladins’ 17-7 win over Richmond on Sept. 21.
Furman returns to action next Saturday when it takes on East Tennessee State in Johnson City in a 3:30 p.m. game. The Citadel returns home to host Georgia Southern with kickoff set for 2:00 p.m.