Oct. 16, 2004

Stats

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Ingle Martin passed for 213 yards and two touchdowns to lead NCAA I-AA eighth-ranked Furman to a 33-14 win over The Citadel Saturday in front of 14,441 fans at Paladin Stadium in the 84th meeting between the two longtime Southern Conference rivals.

Martin, a junior from Nashville, Tenn., and former starting quarterback at the University of Florida, completed 17-of-28 passes and connected on touchdown strikes covering 45 and 4 yards to pace Furman (5-2, 2-1 SoCon) to its fifth victory in the last six meetings with The Citadel (1-4, 0-2 SoCon). He also rushed seven times for 50 yards to finish with 263 total yards.

The Paladins, who rushed for a season high 332 yards and outgained The Citadel 551-230 in total offense, held the Bulldogs to no first downs and only 42 total yards in the first half while building a 27-0 halftime lead.

"I'm extremely proud of our defense and the effort they gave today," said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. "We got ripped up last week (in a 30-29 loss at Appalachian State), so to step up with that kind of performance was very big. We really concentrated on stopping Nehemiah Broughton, and I think we did a pretty good job."

Broughton, who rushed for 159 yards on 28 carries in last year's 10-9 Citadel victory in Charleston, was held to 36 yards on 12 carries.

"In the first half we didn't do much on offense to help our cause. We finally showed some stuff in the second half, but not being able to convert after the turnover on the first play was huge," said first year Citadel head coach John Zernhelt. "We gave up too many big plays. Early on, we stopped the running game pretty good, but they beat us deep with some passes."

The Citadel's best scoring chance of the first half came after the Michael Ballentine pounced on a fumble by Furman tight end Willis Sudderth at the Furman 43. The Bulldogs, however, failed to take advantage and four plays later were forced into the first of seven punts in the first half.

Martin got Furman going on its third possession when he teamed up with split end Isaac West on a 45-yard touchdown strike at the 8:40 mark of the first quarter.

The Paladins made it 14-0 on their next possession after covering 68 yards on seven plays for a 2-yard touchdown run by freshman fullback Jerome Felton at the 4:41 mark of the first period.

A pair of Scott Beckler field goals covering 43 and 20 yards increased Furman's second quarter advantage to 20-0, and the Paladins used an interception by redshirt freshman Andrew Thacker at the Furman 49 to complete their first half assault. Highlighted by a 31-yard run by Martin to the Citadel 11, Furman needed just 33 seconds to cover the 51 yards in five plays for a 4-yard scoring strike from Martin to Brian Bratton with 15 seconds remaining in the half.

Furman continued its offensive on its second possession of the third quarter when Bratton took a pitch from backup quarterback Bo Moore and raced around left end untouched on a 59-yard touchdown run for a 33-0 lead at the 5:03 mark.

Held completely in check by Furman's first team defense, The Citadel mustered its first score of the contest against Paladin reserves with a 9-yard run around right end by Ern Mills with 3:07 to go in the third quarter to make it 33-7. Mills' score was set up by a 52-yard run by freshman quarterback Duran Lawson to the Furman 11.

The Bulldogs later added a fourth quarter 1-yard scoring plunge by Lawson, who was making the first start of his career.

Isaac West topped all receivers with five catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. Brian Bratton added four receptions for 47 yards and a score while also rushing twice for 84 yards and a touchdown.

Furman's 551 yards in total offense marked the fifth time in seven games the Paladins have topped 500 yards offense.

Clifton Dortch topped Furman's defensive effort with seven tackles, including a tackle-for-loss. Brandon Hawkins tallied a game high 13 stops and forced fumble for The Citadel.

Furman returns to action next Saturday against Elon in Burlington. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. for the contest, which will be televised by Comcast-Charter Sports Southeast (CSS).