Western Carolina Ends 22-Game Road Losing Streak With Win at Furman

Furman Senior DE Shawn Boone Recovers Fumble Against Western Carolina In Second Quarter

WESTERN CAROLINA DOWNS FURMAN TO END 22-GAME ROAD LOSING STREAK

GREENVILLE, S.C.– Former Greenwood High School wideout Spearman Robinson made the most of his return to the Palmetto State playing in front of friends and family, as he hauled in five passes for 120 yards and a pair of scores to help Western Carolina to a 35-17 win over reinging Southern Conference champion Furman in FCS action Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.

Robinson’s offensive effort against the Furman defense was just part of what was a 35-point, 415-yard afternoon for the Catamounts, which were both season highs surrendered by the Paladin defense.

The win by the Catamounts also snapped a pair of streaks, as it was their first win in Greenville since 1994, snapping a nine-game skid in the facility, while scoring their first win over the Paladins since 2005, stopping that streak at eight games. Western’s three-game winning streak is its most since 2005, and its three wins are the most it has amassed in a single-season since 2005.

The road win by the Catamounts marks their first win away from Cullowhee since Oct. 2, 2010, when the Catamounts defeated The Citadel, 27-21, at Johnson-Hagood Stadium in Charleston.

Furman is now staring at a uphill climb the remainder of the season, welcoming No. 3 Coastal Carolina next Saturday for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Coming into the day, the Chanticleers were off to a perfect 4-0 start on the campaign. The loss dropped the Paladins to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon, marking the third-consecutive setback–their longest since 2012.

Troy Mitchell led the offensive attack for the Catamounts, as he connected on 12-of-19 passes for 182 yards and a pair of scores with one INT.

There were positives in the loss for the Paladins offensively, however, as Furman fans got a glimpse of the future, which may be more in the immediate, as P.J. Blazejowski came on in the second half in relief of Dillon Woodruff, and showed why he was so highly sought after by the Paladin coaching staff.

Though completing just 4-of-15 passes for 75 yards, Blazejowski gave the Paladin offense an immediate lift when coming into the game midway through the third quarter. Blazejowski would end up leading Furman’s rushing totals, with 56 rush yards on nine attempts. He also had a TD pass and INT in the loss.

With Furman trailing 28-10, Blazejowski came into the football game with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter.

On his first possession as a collegiate quarterback, Blazejowski showed good wheels, with a 15-yard run to give the Paladin offense a first down, however, a pair of incompletions and a two-yard run forced the Paladins to punt the ball back to the Catamounts.

Furman’s defense would force a punt, and the on Blazejowski’s second possession, he would lead Furman to its second score of the day, despite having 92 yards to cover after the Catamount punt was downed inside the 10 with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter.

Blazejowski and the Paladin offense were able to cover 92 yards in nine plays, taking just 2:34 off the clock, marking Furman’s longest TD drive of the season. Blazejowski capped the drive with a 28-yard scoring strike to junior wideout Jordan Snellings, making it a 28-17 game with 13:32 remaining in the contest.

On the ensuing kickoff, Furman would be the beneficiary of Western Carolina’s second fumble of the day, as Furman reserve linebacker Brad Minter forced Catamount return man Detrez Newsome to cough up the football and the ball was recovered by Nick Miller at the WCU 24.

The fans who stuck around on the home side appeared to be in for a frenetic finish, however, after a six-yard run by Blazejowski on first down, a pair of incompletions forced Furman to settle for a 35-yard field goal attempt by Jon Croft Hollingsworth with 12:29 remaining in the game, but the true freshman’s kick missed wide left. The miss deflated the Paladins’ comeback aspirations.

The Catamounts would get the ball back and eventually were eventually forced to punt the ball back to the Paladins, but not before taking a valuable 5:29 off the game clock, severely damaging Furman’s comeback hopes.

The Paladins got the football back at their own 29 following a Destry Brownwell punt, and Blazejowski would have some misfortune on the first play of the drive, as his deep pass intended for Chad Scott was almost hauled in, but broken up by Western Carolina’s active secondary.

On second down, Blazejowski gained seven yards on a run, but his third down pass intended for Logan McCarter was dropped, forcing Furman into a 4th-and-3 play from their own 36 with 6:29 to play. After a timeout, Blazejowski was brought down by Catamount defensive end John McBeth after a gain of only a yard, effectively ending any comeback hopes for the Paladins.

On the ensuing possession, Newsome would put the game out of reach for Furman, scoring on a two-yard run with 2:17 remaining, and Richard Sigmon’s PAT made it a 35-17 WCU lead.

The Catamounts would show why they came in as one of the SoCon’s most elite offenses, taking it right down the field against the Furman defense and put points on the board, with Robinson hauling in his first of two scoring receptions on the day, hauling in a 39-yard pass from Mitchell, which capped a six-play, 71-yard drive to make it a 7-0 game with the game less than three minutes old.

Dillon Woodruff, who started the game under center for the Paladins, seemed to get the Paladins off to a good start, as the Paladins covered 51 yards in five plays, however, had to settle for a 44-yard field goal attempt by Hollingsworth, which missed wide right.

Woodruff’s first pass of the day was a perfect spiral on a deep pass to Snellings for a gain of 45 yards, and if Snellings hadn’t stumbled, it might have been a tie game.

Leading 7-0, Mitchell and the Catamount offense would seemingly pick up right where they had left off previously, driving the ball on the doorstep of the Furman red zone, as the Purple and Gold got down to the 20.

But on 1st-and-10, Mitchell would throw his only pick of the day, trying to hit the Palmetto State product Robinson, but instead found another Palmetto State product, in Abbeville High School graduate and Paladin junior cornerback Reggie Thomas at the three, and the Furman defense had its first big play of the day.

With the Furman offense looking promising, having driven the football from its own three, the Paladins, the Paladins would get down into scoring position, but a costly mistake would prove costly.

Wide out Jordan Snellings took a handoff from Woodruff and gained four yards on a little rocket sweep play to the left side. However, on 3rd-and-6, a bad snap forced running back Tanner Skogen to fall on the loose football for what turned out to be a loss of eight yards, and the Paladins had to punt the football.

The Catamounts took over at their own 17, and the Paladin defense forced their first three-and-out of the day, and it would be a 42-yard return by Andrej Suttles that would lead to Furman’s first score of the day.

Suttles returned the ball all the down to the WCU 29, but after a three-yard run from Hank McCloud on first down, Woodruff’s rush on second down saw the Christiana, Tenn native tackled for a loss of two yards, forcing Hollingsworth into a field goal attempt.

He connected on his second attempt from 50 or more yards this season, as the true freshman Shrine Bowl kicker hit a low, line-drive kick that covered the 51 yards and then some, cutting the Catamount lead to four points, at 7-3, with 12:34 remaining in the half.

On Western’s next drive, the Catamounts would once again move the ball to the Furman 21 before the Paladins would force their second turnover of the night, with Furman linebacker Cory Magwood forcing Mitchell to fumble the football, which would be picked up by senior defensive end Shawn Boone and returned to the Paladin 25.

However, on just the second play of the ensuing Paladin drive, Catamount cornerback Fred Payne would step in front of a Woodruff pass and pick it off, returning it 11 yards to the Furman 22.

It took the Catamounts just two plays to put more points on the board, as the Paladins jumped offsides on the second down play, allowing Mitchell a free play, and he promptly tossed the ball 21 yards to Robinson who was covered by Thomas in the right corner of the end zone, however, Robinson came down with the football, making an outstanding catch and giving the Catamounts a 14-3 lead with 9:15 to play in the half.

The Paladins took over at their own 19, but moved just 22 yards before having to punt the ball back to Western’s high octane offense.

Taking over with 6:40 remaining in the half, the Catamounts would put their third score of the half on the board when junior running back Darius Ramsey scored on a 19-yard run to cap an eight-play, 69-yard drive, which took 3:12 off the game clock.

Woodruff and the Furman offense would get one more opportunity to put points on the board before going to the half, as the Paladins took over the football at their own 16 with 3:28 to play in the half.

Facing a crucial 3rd-and-5 from its own 21, Furman would get its second- biggest offensive play of the afternoon in terms of yards gained, as Woodruff connected with Jordan Snellings, who took a short crossing route over the middle and turned it in to a 39-yard gain and a first down at the WCU 40.

A pair of careless penalties by the Catamounts kept the Furman drive alive, with one coming on a substitution infraction, which turned a 4th-and-6 play at the WCU 36 into a 4th-and-1 play at the WCU 31, which was easily converted for a first down by Woodruff.

Two plays later and down to the WCU 25, Catamount defensive back Ace Clark interfered with Snellings on a pass to the right side, putting the ball at the WCU 11.

After a timeout, Furman faced a 3rd-and-4 from the WCU 5 with 56 seconds remaining in the half.

Following that timeout to talk things over, Woodruff completed a shovel pass to tight end Duncan Fletcher, and the Paladins had a potentially momentum-building TD, cutting the score to 21-10. The Catamounts would run out the final 46 seconds, taking a the 11-point lead to the break.

Furman could not build on that momentum coming out of the locker room, as the offense struggled to gain three yards on two plays, and then a holding call on third down would force a third-and-long. Hank McCloud would rush for seven yards on a draw play before Hollingsworth punted the ball back to the Catamounts.

Western would make its first possession of the second half look much like its first possession of the game, covering 72 yards in eight plays, as Newsome capped the drive with a seven-yard run to make it a 28-10 game with 8:59 remaining in the third quarter.

Woodruff finished the game going 10-of-20 passing for 133 yards with a TD and an INT. Snellings proved to be Furman’s top offensive weapon on the afternoon, hauling in three passes for 112 yards and a score.

Suttles finished with four catches for 31 yards, while Fletcher had four catches for 39 yards and a score. McCloud rushed 11 times for 35 yards.

Western was led on the ground by Darius Ramsey, who posted 113 yards and a TD on 17 rush attempts, while Mitchell added to his 182 passing yards with 70 yards on the ground on 16 attempts.

Joining Robinson with a big day catching the ball for the Catamounts was Karnorris Benson, who caught his first three passes of the season for 36 yards.

Furman was led defensively by the SoCon’s leading tackler, Magwood, who posted 15 stops in the losing effort.

Western got seven tackles and half-a-tackle-for-loss from linebacker Christion Gill, while Payne and Trey Morgan recorded INTs for the Catamounts.

The Paladin defense was held without a sack for the first time this season.

Western held a 415-314 advantage in total yards, out-rushing the Paladins 233-106, marking the second-straight week the Paladins have surrendered 200 yards on the ground.

Western Carolina returns to action next week with a trip back to the Palmetto State to take on Presbyterian at Bailey Memorial Stadium in Clinton, with kickoff for that contest set for 2 p.m. Furman will host Big South member and No. 3 ranked Coastal Carolina in a 7 p.m. game at Paladin Stadium.