Johnson City, Tenn. – Furman intercepted three ETSU passes, including two in the second half, and quarterback
Trey Hedden tossed a pair of touchdown passes as the Paladins upset the FCS 21
st-ranked Bucs, 24-21, on Saturday afternoon at Greene Stadium in Johnson City, Tenn.
After ETSU scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to grab a 21-14 lead, Hedden connected with
Colton Hinton on a 31-yard catch and run on a third and six play with 1:36 to go in the quarter to even the game at 21-21.
Billy Lewis and
Maurice Perkins intercepted Bucs quarterback Gino English on back-to-back possessions to open the fourth quarter, the second of which led to a 21-yard, go-ahead field goal by senior
Ian Williams with 9:08 remaining.
Furman's defense forced a three-and-out on ETSU's next offensive possession, allowing the Paladins to take over the ball at their own 24 yardline with 7:18 to go. Hedden led the Paladins on a 14-play drive that resulted on Furman taking a knee to run out the clock and secure its third consecutive win over ETSU. The key play of the game-ending drive came with 2:30 play and Furman facing a fourth down and three yards to go situation at the ETSU 31-yardline. Hinton went and motion, received a pass from Hedden, and made the first defender miss to pick up four yards and a first down to allow the Paladins to run out the clock.
ETSU (6-5, 4-3 SoCon) outgained the Paladins in total offense 425-282 but committed three turnovers, which led to 10 points for Furman. Hedden completed 23-of-28 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns while Hinton hauled in six passes for 62 yards.
Ethan Harris totaled three catches for 61 yards and
Ben Ferguson recorded two catches for 23 yards and a score.
In addition to Lewis and Perkins' second half interceptions,
Caleb Williams picked of a second quarter pass by English and returned it 35 yards to setup
Myion Hicks' two-yard touchdown plunge that gave the Paladins a 14-7 lead at halftime.
Devontae Houston led the ETSU offense with 12 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown, which came on a 64-yard sprint to the endzone in the first half.
Furman (3-7, 2-4 SoCon) concludes its season next Saturday when it travels to Macon, Ga., to take on the Mercer Bears.
