GREENVILLE, S.C. – On Saturday afternoon, the Wofford College football team got a fast start and had three touchdowns of over 70 yards to defeat Furman 32-25 at Paladin Stadium. The Terriers took a 15-0 lead after four minutes of play and held a 29-15 advantage at the half. In the second half, the Paladins outscored the Terriers, but Wofford was able to hold on for the win.
Wofford is 3-3 and 2-2 in the SoCon. Furman is 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the league.
Ethan Drumm led the Terriers on 14-of-21 passing for 304 yards and four touchdowns.
Isaiah Scott had seven catches for 193 yards – the second-most in school history – and two touchdowns.
Gerald Modest Jr. added 83 rushing yards and
Logan McCloud had nine tackles to lead the defense. The Paladins were led by Connor Ackerley with 27-of-43 passing for 264 yards and a touchdown.
"We have such great respect for Furman," said head coach
Shawn Watson. "Our kids were super resilient today. We've got a lot of threes and fours on the depth chart that we're playing with right now, and guys just stepped up, and they're resilient. They're tough. They're gritty, and they just found a way. You know, our defense did a wonderful job at the end with a bunch of guys who honestly were threes when we started this season, and they've really developed. I just love the way they play and appreciate the kids. You've got to understand the journey. It's hard sometimes, and you know, they wanted this win, and it's very important to them. And when they give it up the way they gave it up, I'm just so proud of them."
Wofford began the game with the ball and on second down
Ethan Drumm found
Isaiah Scott open for a 70-yard touchdown pass. Drumm ran the ball in for the two-point play and the Terriers had an 8-0 lead at the 14:14 mark of the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, the return was muffed and recovered by
Marek Marcellus at the 20-yard line for the Terriers. After a first down pass,
Ethan Drumm found
Ivory Aikens in the back of the endzone for a 15-0 lead. The next kickoff was an onside attempt, and it was recovered by Connor Deviney. Wofford had one first down before punting. On their first possession, the Paladins had a first down and converted a fourth-and-one. An apparent touchdown was called back by penalty, and a pass break-up by
Mark Arthur forced a punt.
On the next drive by the Terriers, the Paladins intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown to cut the lead to 15-8 with 4:45 left in the first quarter after the two-point conversion. Wofford wasted little time, as on second down
Ethan Drumm hit
Isaiah Scott for an 80-yard touchdown reception for a 22-8 advantage. Furman had one first down before punting, with the ball downed at the one-yard line. After two first downs,
Ethan Drumm had a short shovel pass to
Ivory Aikens, who went 71 yards down the middle of the field for a touchdown. The Wofford lead was 29-8 at the 14:49 mark of the second quarter.
Furman had one first down before punting back to Wofford. After one first down, the Terriers punted and the Paladins returned it to the 47-yard line. After three first downs, a seven-yard touchdown run cut the lead to 29-15 with 4:13 left in the half. Wofford gained just one first down before punting back to Furman with 1:48 on the clock. On fourth-and-seven, a pass was broken up by
Cole Walker and the Terriers took over with 18 seconds remaining and ran one play before the half ended.
To open the second half, the Paladins put together a twelve-play drive that was capped by a 29-yard field goal to make it a 29-18 score with 9:30 on the clock in the third quarter. Wofford had one first down before punting. On third down, Ramon McCullough forced a fumble that was recovered by
Alijah Williams at the 21-yard line. Wofford had a first down and then a penalty resulted in another first down at the one. After two plays for a loss of yardage and an incomplete pass, the Terriers settled for a 22-yard field goal for a 32-18 lead with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.
Furman had one first down on their next drive before punting. Wofford moved to
J.T. Fayard at quarterback and had three first downs before having to punt. The Paladins had three first downs and then converted a fourth-and-three to move inside the red zone. An 18-yard touchdown pass with 4:47 remaining made it a 32-25 game. Wofford went three-and-out and punted, with the Paladins taking over with 2:39 on the clock at the 34-yard line. A 25-yard completion moved Furman across midfield at the two-minute timeout. After another first down, the Paladins faced a fourth-and-seven. The pass into the end zone was incomplete and the Terriers took over on downs with 1:08 left in the game.
Wofford had a season-high 412 total yards on offense, with 308 passing yards. Furman had 387 total yards, with 264 of those passing yards. Wofford had 16 first downs to 25 for the Paladins. Wofford was 6-of-14 on third down. Furman was 5-of-15 on third down and 2-of-4 on fourth down. Wofford had 10 penalties for 92 yards, while Furman had six penalties for 52 yards. Wofford had a 33:10 to 26:50 time of possession advantage.
Wofford vs. Furman Post-Game Notes
This was the 100
th meeting between the two teams, dating back to 1889. Furman holds a 56-37-7 lead in the series. Wofford has won the last four games.
Isaiah Scott had touchdown receptions for 70 yards and 80 yards in the first quarter. The 80-yard touchdown was the fifth longest in school history. Scott had 193 total receiving yards, his third career 100+ receiving-yard game. It was also the second-most receiving yards in a game in school history, behind Jerry Richardson (241 yards, 1956).
Ethan Drumm had 304 passing yards, the sixth-most in school history, tied with his performance last week against Tennessee Tech. The four passing touchdowns in a game are tied for the second-most in school history.
The Wofford defense was led by
Logan McCloud with eight tackles and the defense had three tackles for loss and three pass break-ups. Ramon McCullough had his first career forced fumble and
Alijah Williams had his third career fumble recovery.
Marek Marcellus had his first career fumble recovery on special teams.
Game captains were
John Jaraczewski, Aidan Morris, and
Isaiah Scott.
Attendance at Paladin Stadium was 9,957.
Wofford will be on the road next week at Elon before returning on October 17 to host VMI as part of Homecoming weekend activities. Tickets are available by visiting
https://woffordterriers.com/tickets.
