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Furman Trips Wofford 34-21
Nov. 12, 2005
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Ingle Martin passed for 180 yards and a touchdown to lead NCAA I-AA sixth-ranked Furman to a 34-21 Southern Conference victory over Wofford Saturday at Paladin Stadium.
Martin, a senior from Nashville, Tenn., and Walter Payton Award candidate, completed 16-of-24 passes, rushed for 26 yards, and had a 55-yard punt to key Furman (8-2, 4-2 SoCon) to its sixth straight home victory in 2005 and fifth triumph in its last six clashes with Wofford. The Paladins will attempt to nail down an NCAA I-AA playoff bid next week in the regular season finale at Chattanooga. Wofford (5-5, 3-4 SoCon) closes out its season next Saturday at Gardner-Webb.
"I'm very proud of the way we took control early, especially after last week's very difficult loss (at Georgia Southern)" said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. "I thought our seniors stepped up and other than their one drive there in the first quarter when we blocked the field goal, we dominated the half and did what we needed to do offensively."
"I thought Furman did a good job defending us, but we some opportunities. We wanted to play keep away from them, and I think we had a 13-play drive and a 14-play drive but then a couple of three-and-outs. Our deal is we weren't productive, and you have to get points out of possessions, and we didn't until the second half."
Furman took the opening kickoff and covered 80 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead on Daric Carter's 3-yard run less than fouro minutes into the contest.
On the ensuing possession, Wofford moved 55 yards in 13 plays to the Furman 20, but William Freeman blocked Nick Robinson's 38-yard field goal attempt, and the ball was returned 20 yards by Tristian Owusu-Yaw to the Furman 41. A face mask penalty on Wofford gave Furman the ball at the Terrier 44, and the Paladins covered the distance in eight plays for a Jerome Felton 1-yard touchdown plunge and 14-0 lead with 1:47 remaining in the first quarter.
Furman increased its advantage to 21-0 in the second period on Carter's second 3-yard touchdown run of the contest.
A pair of Scott Beckler third quarter field goals covering 43 and 22 yards stretched Furman's lead to 27-0 before Wofford got on the board with an Adrian Young 1-yard scoring run with 0:34 to go in the third quarter.
The Paladins' pushed their advantage to 34-7 on Martin's 22-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Sprague midway through the fourth period.
Furman rolled up 428 yards in total offense, including 243 rushing and 185 passing. Wofford finished with 383 total yards, including 157 yards in their final two possessions against Paladin defensive reserves.
Brandon Mays paced the Paladin ground game with 91 yards, and Carter finished with 68 yards and two scores. Josh Collier topped all rushers with a career high 101 yards and a touchdown.
Andrew Jones led Furman's defense with nine tackles, and Rico Scott and Gary Nelson finished with eight tackles apiece. Defensive end Wallace Artis record three pass deflections.
Wofford's Jim Thurman led all tacklers with 11 stops.
Furman's regular season finale at Chattanooga next Saturday is slated for 3:30 p.m. and will be televised by CSS. Kickoff for the Wofford vs. Gardner-Webb game is set for Noon.
