BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Furman's defense forced three turnovers and registered seven sacks en route to a 31-13 victory over Samford in the Paladins' Southern Conference opener Saturday afternoon at Pete Hanna Stadium.
With the victory, Furman's fourth straight in Birmingham, the Paladins improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Bulldogs slipped to 0-5 on the season, including 0-3 in SoCon play.
Leading 14-7 late in the second quarter, Furman's defense and special teams came up with game-changing plays.
Raleigh Herbert batted a Quincy Crittendon pass up in the air, intercepted the ball and raced 47 yards for the pick-six to put the Paladins in front 21-7 with 48 seconds left in the half. Samford marched to the Paladins' 18-yard line, but
Joshua Stoneking pushed through the middle to block Ty Ippolito's 36-yard field goal attempt as time expired to send Furman into the locker room with a 14-point cushion.
The Paladin defense stuffed Crittendon on a quarterback keeper on fourth-and-two at midfield on the opening drive of the third quarter, and Furman signal caller
Trey Hedden followed by engineering a 5-play-50-yard drive that ended with his four-yard touchdown toss to
Ja'Keith Hamilton to extend the Paladin lead to 28-7.
Furman stopped Samford on seven of its eight drives in the second half, including a pair of turnovers and two fourth-down stops to secure the victory. Stoneking finished with two of the Paladins' seven sacks while
Demetrius Baldwin and
Garrison Butler joined Herbert in creating turnovers with a forced fumble and interception, respectively.
The Paladins' seven quarterback takedowns gave them 16 sacks in the last two games versus Samford.
Hedden completed 28-of-41 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Paladins to 377 yards of total offense. Freshman wide receiver
Evan James caught seven passes for 88 yards and opened the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown run.
Kerry King added eight catches for 81 yards.
Luke McLaughlin helped pace the Furman defense with 11 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble.
Crittendon led the Samford offense by connecting on 28-of-42 passes for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Paladins return home to Paladin Stadium on Saturday, October 4, to host ETSU for Family Weekend. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. and tickets are available at FurmanPaladins.com.
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