NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Sophomore
Jace Wilson came off the bench to run for two touchdowns and throw for another as Furman rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to down Charleston Southern, 24-19, Saturday afternoon at Buccaneer Field.
With Furman trailing 19-10 and under one minute remaining in the third quarter, Wilson connected on a 44-yard touchdown stirke to senior tight end
Ryan Miller to trim the CSU lead to 19-17. On his team's next possession, set up by a
Kam Brinson fumble recovery at the Buccaneer 49, the Missouri City, Texas, native helped the Paladins cover the distance in eight plays, which he capped with a 22-yard scamper around the right end to put Furman in front 24-19 with 10:30 to play.
The Paladins forced Charleston Southern (0-4) to punt on the next drive. After the Bucs got the football back on an interception with at the Paladin 43 with just under four minutes left, Furman's defense delivered one final stop when sophomore cornerback
Dominic Morris stepped in front of a CSU pass in the back of the end zone for an interception on fourth down with 1:14 remaining to seal the victory.
The pickoff was the second in consecutive games by Morris.
Furman overcame a rough first half to secure the win. The Paladins' first seven possessions of the game ended with two fumbles, an interception, three punts, and a safety for Charleston Southern, yielding only an Axel Levpreau 30-yard field goal and a 9-3 late second quarter deficit.
Paladin starting quarterback Tyer Huff, who along with the rest of Furman's offense struggled over the game's first 25 minutes, moved the Paladins from their own 7 to the 49, but on a 10-yard run to the CSU 41 he sustained an injury to his non-throwing elbow that forced him to exit the contest. A pair of
Dominic Roberto runs advanced Furman to the Buccaneer 21, where on fourth-and-one, Wilson connected with Miller for a 16-yard pass to the CSU 5, and on the next play Wilson scrambled around left end to beat CSU's defense to the end zone for the score an a 10-9 lead heading into halftime.
A Sam Babbush 28-yard field goal gave CSU a 19-10, late third quarter lead, but Furman answered on the ensuing possession, covering 65 yards in six plays for Wilson's 44-yard strike to Miller.
Wilson hit on 7-of-15 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown while also rushing six times for 48 yards.
Dominic Roberto paced Furman's 216-yard ground attack with 21 rushes for 88 yards,
Miller had six catches for 94 yards, his scoring grab extending his Furman record for consecutive games with a touchdown reception to seven.
Braden Gilby paced all tacklers with 11 stops, including two for-loss, a sack, and a forced fumble.
Furman (3-1) on the season, returns home to host Southern Conference foe Samford next Saturday. Kickoff at Paladin Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
