Box Score Game stats (pdf)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Six turnovers put a damper on the final game of the season for Wofford as the Terriers were defeated by Furman 58-21 on Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium. Wofford had four fumbles and two interceptions in the game and the Paladins put up 469 yards of offense.
The Terriers end the season 3-8 and 2-6 in the Southern Conference. Furman is 6-5 overall and 5-3 in the conference. Wofford was led by Mitch Allen with 92 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Devin Reed added a 44-yard touchdown reception. Furman was led by Jerry Williams with 98 yards and Jordan Sorrells had 272 passing yards with five touchdown passes to five different receivers.
“We were our own worst enemy in the first half,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “You put the ball on the ground that many times against a team like Furman, you are going to pay the price. We came here a nicked up and beat up football team, especially defensively. Furman executed and got after us early, so give credit to Bobby and his staff. Offensively we could not get anything going because of the turnovers. The kids competed and did not give up. We came back and put 21 on the board in the fourth quarter. It has been a tough year for us. You’d like to be able to bring freshmen in and let them play in better situations, but because of the injuries we had freshmen had to come in and start for us. It has been on the job training. It comes down that we have to get better and we will start looking Monday top to bottom on what went wrong and what went right and come up with a better game plan than we had this year.”
On the opening drive of the game, the Paladins gained five first downs as they went 68 yards and scored on a two-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Sorrells to Jacob Longoria at 10:18. Wofford gained one first down on their first drive before having to punt.
Furman went 70-yards on their next drive which was capped by a three-yard run by Tersoo Uhaa to take a 14-0 lead at 2:07 in the first quarter. Wofford’s Mitch Allen was intercepted by Mitch McGrath on the next series and Furman took over at the 32-yard line. Furman completed a fourth-and-six and then scored on a 13-yard pass from Sorrells to Chris Truss for a 21-0 lead five seconds into the second quarter.
Wofford fumbled on the next series, giving the ball back to Furman. The Paladins converted the turnover into points with a six-yard touchdown pass from Sorrells to R.J. Webb to make it a 28-0 lead at 10:46 in the second quarter. On the next drive by the Terriers, the team converted a fourth-and-three, but a fumble at the 18-yard line gave the ball back to the Paladins with 6:03 left in the second quarter. After gaining two first downs, Furman punted with 1:42 left in the half.
The Terriers gained only one first down and had to punt back to Furman with 33 seconds left. On the punt, it was partially blocked by the Paladins. Keaton Thompson sacked Jordan Sorrells on the last play of the half.
To begin the second half, Wofford fumbled on the second play from scrimmage and Furman got the ball back on the Terriers 23-yard line. Furman wasted little time and Jordan Sorrells found Tersoo for a six-yard touchdown at 12:36 in the third quarter. Wofford went three-and-out on the next series. Furman gained three first downs on their next drive before punting back to the Terriers, but Wofford returned the punt after gaining one first down.
With the ball back, the Paladins added a 35-yard field goal by Matthew Cesari at 3:25 on the third quarter for a 38-0 lead. Wofford gave the ball back to the Paladins on the next drive with an interception thrown by Stev Davitte. After the turnover, Furman scored on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Sorrells to Adam Mims on the final play of the third quarter. The Paladins missed the extra point and had 44-0 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Wofford was able to get on the board with 11:48 left in the game when Austin Palmer scored on an eight yard run to cap an eight-play drive. Wofford tried an on-side kick, which was recovered by Furman but the ball was fumbled and Tommy Irvin recovered. The Terriers had fourth-and-two at the ten yard line, which Mitch Allen was able to convert. Allen ended the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to make it a 44-14 game with 6:27 on the clock.
Furman fumbled the ball back and Hunt Marion recovered it for the Terriers. Wofford used a 44-yard halfback pass from Mike Rucker to Devin Reed to make it a 44-21 game at 4:52. After the on-side kick attempt went out of bounds, Furman needed only five plays to score on a three-yard run by Stephone LaFrance for a 51-21 lead. Wofford got the ball back, but fumble again and Furman recovered at the four-yard line with 1:50 left in the game. LaFrance added another touchdown on a one-yard run with 1:06 left to take a 58-21 lead, which was the final score.
The Terriers had 286 total yards of offense, with 241 coming on the ground. Furman had 469 total yards, with 292 passing yards. Wofford was 5-of-12 on third downs, while Furman was 6-of-11. Furman had the lead in time of possession and had 28 first downs to Wofford’s 17.
Wofford vs. Furman Post-Game Notes
The 37-point margin of victory for Furman was the largest since the Paladins won 56-14 in 1976. The 58 points scored by the Paladins were the most since also scoring 58 in 1937 against Wofford.
Team captains for Wofford were Justice Joslin, Gary Blount, Austin Palmer and Mychael Johnson.
Senior Hunt Marion recovered the first fumble of his career in the fourth quarter.
The touchdown pass by Mike Rucker was the second of his career and also was the longest completion of his career.
Wofford ends the season with a 3-7 record, the first non-winning season since going 4-7 in 2001. The three wins are the fewest since 1997, the first year in the Southern Conference.
Attendance was 9,435 at Paladin Stadium.
