Paladin Rises; Progress Made In Thrilling Home Opening Win Over Presbyterian

Blue Hose Running Back DeMarcus Rouse Tries To Run Away From Furman Linebacker Cory Magwood

GREENVILLE, S.C.–Progress isn’t something that is easily measured, but Furman feels a lot better about itself this Saturday than it has the previous two weeks, as the Paladins improved to 1-2 with a 21-20 win over Presbyterian to extend its winning streak to 15 games against the Blue Hose, but it certainly did not come easy.

With the Blue Hose driving deep inside Paladin territory inside a minute to play, the thought process was the clock was Presbyterian’s greatest asset trailing by just a point (21-20) and with the Paladins already having used all three timeouts.

After getting the ball to the middle of the field, Blue Hose placekicker Brett Wilson lined up for a 23-yard potential game-winning field goal, however, the Paladins got an excellent surge at the line of scrimmage, and a couple of freshmen–linebacker T.J. Warren and defensive end Jordan Hawkins–rose high in the air, with Hawkins getting his paws to the pigskin to block Wilson’s attempt, which was picked up by quarterback Kaleb Griffin, however, Warren was alert enough to bring Griffin down and the celebrations began.

Hawkins was one of the top young recruits for Furman, and one that has the talent to be one of the best to ever suit up for the Paladins at defensive end. It’s an example of the Paladin coaching staff reaping some of the rewards of hitting the recruiting trail hard each of the past two seasons. With depth already an issue on the Furman defensive line, Hawkins was thrust into the fray as a starter in just his third game on Saturday, with senior defnsive end Shawn Boone going down with a season-ending injury earlier in the week in practice, it was Hawkins that was forced into a role sooner than expected on Saturday, and he certainly delivered.

Hawkins, a native of Jacksonville, FL, was a two-star recruit according to both Rivals.com and Scout.com, playing his prep football at Wolfson High School. When taking one look at Hawkins’ bio in the Furman media guy, it is clear that he is a football player. In high school alone, he played defensive end, fullback, offensive guard, defensive tackle and middle linebacker to give you an idea of how much of an athlete he is.

After Saturday’s blocked field goal, you can see why Hawkins was such a huge boon for the Paladins in the recruiting process. In addition to his game-winning blocked kick, Hawkins also contributed four tackles in his first-career start.

The win was certainly a far cry from the victory the Paladins recorded against the Blue Hose in head coach Bruce Fowler’s first year as the Paladins’ head coach, with the Paladins garnering a 62-21 win on that particular occasion. While Furman is a much younger team than the one two years ago, it’s important to note that the team the Blue Hose brought to Greenville two years ago is much like the Furman team that held on for a one-point victory at Paladin Saturday afternoon–extremely young.

The win prevented the Paladins from losing their fourth-straight game at home for the first time in the history of the facility, which opened in 1982.

Presbyterian, under the direction of fifth-year head coach Harold Nichols, delivered blow after blow to the Paladins on Saturday afternoon, but a young team rose up and made the plays it had to when it had to to deliver the first win of the 2013 season for Furman.

One glance at the statistical sheet will tell you the Blue Hose had the better of the Paladins in most categories, including out-gaining Furman, 278-182 in total offensive yards in a game that was defined by miscues and capitalizing on those mistakes. The Blue Hose also held a slight advantage in time of possession on Saturday, utilizing a 32:13-27:47 advantage in time of possession. Both teams ran an identical 59 plays in the contest.

Defensively, Furman improved on third down conversions from the first two weeks, holding the Blue Hose to just 6-of-13 on third down conversions on Saturday, after allowing Coastal Carolina to convert on 9-of-14 attempts in the 35-28 loss last Saturday, while Gardner-Webb was 9-of-18 on third down conversion attempts in the season opener a couple of weeks ago.

Furman’s offense struggled for most of the afternoon, however, it was a second big outing for running back Hank McCloud, who rushed for 102 yards and a couple of scores on 22 rush attempts after posting a career-high 133 rushing yards and a score in last week’s road loss to the Chanticleers. The 100-yard rushing performance marks the first back-to-back century mark rushing efforts of his career.

Presbyterian running back Demarcus Rouse finished with a solid effort on the day, rushing for 89 yards and a pair of scores on 18 carries. The Blue Hose held a 143-131 advantage in total rush yards.

Furman sophomore quarterback Reese Hannon finished the day with a solid performance, but posted his lowest passing yardage performance of his career under center for the Paladins, finishing the day with 51 yards passing completing 10-of-19 pass attempts. Griffin connected on an impressive 15-of-18 passes for 135 yards in the losing effort for Presbyterian.

It appeared the Paladins might be able to do as they wished running the football all afternoon, picking up where they left off last week against Coastal Carolina. The Paladins put together an impressive 16-play, 66-yard drive that took 8:47 off the clock without putting the ball in the air to take a 7-0 lead on a Hannon six-yard option keeper out of the spread, giving the Paladins a 7-0 lead with 6:13 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Blue Hose answered with a four-yard Rouse rush after a Furman miscue on special teams gave Presbyterian the football inside the five. A high snap on a Furman punt forced Paladin punter Ray Early to fall on the ball at the four-yard line, giving the Blue Hose great field position to set up the Rouse score with just four seconds remaining in the opening quarter to tie the football game, 7-7.

Furman’s next offensive drive would be snuffed out by the Presbyterian defense, which saw linebacker Ugonna Akoh break up a reverse to put the Furman offense behind the eight ball. The Paladins were forced to punt, and the Blue Hose would capitalize on the ensuing drive to take their first lead of the afternoon. Presbyterian drove the ball 82 yards in 13 plays, with the drive capped by a LaQua Mayes three-yard scoring run, giving the Blue Hose a 14-7 lead with 7:32 remaining in the half.

On Furman’s next offensive possession, Furman freshman running back Marcus Anderson fumbled the ball after being hit and it was recovered by Blue Hose linebacker Breyon Williams at the Paladin 41-yard line, giving Presbyterian excellent field position. Rouse would deliver the biggest blow to Furman’s hopes for a victory in the home opener, ripping off runs of 12 and 19 yards to give the Blue Hose a 13-point (20-7) edge with 4:01 remaining in the half. However, Wilson would miss the PAT, and that would prove to be a monumental miss.

With three timeouts, Furman would get into Presbyterian territory, giving Early a chance to slice into the Blue Hose 13-point advantage prior to the half, however, Early’s 43-yard attempt with less than a minute remaining would sail wide right, and going back to last Saturday’s  loss in Conway to Coastal Carolina, marked his third-straight missed field goal.

Trailing by an identical score line as the Paladins did in the loss at Coastal Carolina last Saturday and in complete contrast to the Paladins’ 31-21 win over the Blue Hose last season, Furman would prove to be good enough in the second half, out-scoring the Blue Hose 14-0 to get their first win of the season.

Presbyterian got the ball to open the second half, and like Furman in the opening half, the Blue Hose would gift-wrap the Paladins a scoring opportunity after both teams failed to get points on their first possessions of the second half. Sophomore middle linebacker Carl Rider would put a big hit on Mays forced the ball free and Austin Williams would recover the football for the Paladins at the Blue Hose 24.

Then, the Blue Hose were flagged for sideline interference following the turnover to put the ball at the 12, and then a pass interference penalty in the end zone on the following play, put the football at the two. On the next play after the latter interference penalty, McCloud punched it in from two yards out, bringing the Paladins withitn six points (20-14) following Early’s PAT with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter.

Furman would seize the momentum from there, nearly causing another Presbyterian turnover on the ensuing possession, but the ball was recovered by the Blue Hose and the Paladins’ defense had forced a three-and-out.

After an 11-yard punt by Wilson, the Paladins were awarded excellent field position at the Blue Hose 42. It didn’t take long for the Paladins to take their first lead since early in the first quarter, as they needed only four plays to cover the 42 yards and capitalize on the Blue Hose poor special teams play.

A 12-yard reception by Furman 6-5 freshman wideout David Dingess got the Paladins to the Blue Hose 26, and on the next play, McCloud took a toss sweep to the right side and covered the final yardage to match his number and tie the football game, 20-20, with 2:41 to play third quarter. Early’s PAT would give the Paladins the all-important lead, 21-20, and the bend-but-don’t-break Furman defense would make that single point advantage stand up.

In the fourth quarter, the Presbyterian offense would threaten a c0uple of times to re-take the lead deep inside Furman territory. With the Blue Hose driving down inside Furman territory at the 36, Griffin lofted a beautifully thrown pass to a wide open Tobi Antigha down the left sideline, however, Furman safety Marcus McMorris tracked the pass from one side of the field to the other, arriving just in time to knock the ball away from Antigha, preventing a sure seven points. The Blue Hose would eventually have to settle for a 33-yard Wilson field goal attempt, which he pushed wide left.

The Blue Hose then took over on offense once again after the Furman offense was once again unable to sustain anything on offense, taking over at their own 46 with 6:32 left. The Blue Hose used 15 plays to cover 48 yards, even converting a crucial fourth-and-three play at the Furman 25, with Griffin connecting with wideout Jeremiah McKie on an 11-yard connection to get the ball down to the 14.

A seven-yard run by Rouse got the ball down to the Furman four with 1:52 left. The Blue Hose forced the Paladins to use all three timeouts and then positioned the ball in the middle of the field with 18 seconds to play for the potential game-winning kick. That would set the stage for Hawkins and the Paladins to get a surge and make the game-winning block on Wilson’s attempt, yielding the Paladins the win.

Defensively for the Paladins, Greg Worthy led all defensive players with a career-high 14 stops.

Furman will have next week off before traveling to Charleston to take on The Citadel in the Paladins’ Southern Conference opener. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. in the Holy City. Presbyterian will also have an off week next week before facing start-up program Charlotte at Bailey Stadium on Sept. 28, with kickoff set for 2 p.m.

Saturday Night’s Extras:

–Jairus Hollman now officially credited with blocked field goal in the 21-20 win over Presbyterian on Saturday.

–Furman’s first three Big South opponents are now a combined 6-3, with Gardner-Webb and Coastal Carolina a combined 5-1 after Saturday’s action.