Highlights and Superlatives
Furman and William & Mary hadn’t met in 24 years, but in their first meeting in over two decades, the 12th-ranked Tribe recorded their first win in the series in 30 years, taking what was a hard-fought, 34-24 win over the Paladins in what was the final non-conference game of the season for both teams Saturday night before a crowd of 7,657 at Zable Stadium.
William & Mary defended its ranking in non-league action, especially against Southern Conference foes, finishing non-conference play 3-0 against Southern Conference foes, with wins over Furman, VMI (W, 41-7) and Wofford (W, 28-21).
The Tribe also improved to 3-0 against Southern Conference competition, with their only loss this season coming against a team from the FBS and the Palmetto State, as Coastal Carolina handed the Tribe their only loss of the season, 40-21, a couple of weeks ago.
The loss sees Furman fall to 1-3 overall heading into Southern Conference play for the remainder of the season. The win by the Tribe also sees William & Mary even the all-time series, 8-8, with the Paladins.
Trey Hedden, who was the STATS Perform National Freshman of the Week last Saturday in the 41-point win over Stetson, certainly looked a bit more human this week, but once again showed his flashes of brilliance at times, as well as displaying his outstanding arm strength.
The Tampa, FL, native finished off his second career start by connecting on 13-of-26 passes for 264 yards, with two TDs and two INTs. Over the past two Saturdays, Hedden has connected on 33-of-53 passing for 561 yards with four touchdowns, two INTs and one rushing score.
All told, the Tribe posted a 482-348 advantage in total offense and would have out-gained Furman’s total offense on rushing yards alone (384-348). The 384 yards on the ground are the most given up by a Furman defense on the ground since surrendering 393 on the ground to Kennesaw State in a 52-42 home loss.
Leading the ground onslaught for the Tribe was All-America running back Bronson Yoder, who finished the night with 166 yards and one TD on 24 rush attempts. Quarterback Darius Wilson also had himself quite the night running the football, posting 155 yards and one TD on just 17 attempts. Yoder averaged 6.9 YPC, while Wilson averaged nearly a first down per attempt, finishing the night averaging with a 9.1 YPC average.
About the only thing Wilson did wrong under center was he didn’t have that great of a night throwing the football, which included throwing his first INT of the season, which came on his first pass of the night.
Wilson finished completing 10-of-26 passes for 98 yards, with two touchdowns and an INT. All told, he finished the evening with 253 yards of total offense and three touchdown responsibilities.
The third running back that was effective in the Tribe’s triumvirate of running backs was Mike Imoh, who was effective running the ball, finishing with 50 yards on nine attempts.
The ground attack was strong all night against a Furman defense that has been nearly impossible for FCS foes to run against the past couple of seasons. The individual efforts of Wilson (155 rush yds) and Yoder (166 rush yds) marked the first time a Furman defense has seen two backs run for over 100 yards against it in the same game since 2021, when Ailym Ford (108 yds) and Tyrell Price (110 yds) posted big games on the ground in a 13-3 win over the Paladins back on Oct. 20, 2021.
The leading two pass-catchers for the Tribe were tight end Sean McElwain, who hauled in two passes for 50 yards and a score, while Hollis Mathis caught three passes for 28 yards and another TD.
Tribe linebacker Alex Washington led the William & Mary defense, with nine stops. The Tribe totaled five tackles-for-loss, two sacks, a pair of INTs, and registered a pair of forced fumbles, recovering one.
TJ McGill and Bryce Barnes recorded the two INTs for the Tribe’s defense, while Devin Dzidzienyo had a fumble recovery off a strip sack by Christian Hamm, and he returned the ball 26 yards to seal the win with under a minute remaining.
Paladin Positives and Negatives
There's a lot to be both positive about moving forward for the Paladins, but there's also a lot to clean up as Furman heads into its first SoCon title defense game next Saturday against Samford.
For one, the Paladins have struggled to run the ball in all four games in non-conference play, and that includes its 48-7 win against overmatched Stetson last Saturday.
The Paladins struggled once again to find the century mark on the ground, finishing the night with just 84 rushing yards on 30 attempts. The Tribe held a massive 300-yard advantage in rushing yards (384-84). In the game of contrasts, Furman held a 264-98 advantage in passing yards.
For the oldest college in the nation, the rushing edge it held against the Paladins showed very much the win it was able to garner over the Paladins was old-school, and it was once with veteran leadership the Tribe possessed in the trenches. It was almost a 180-degree contrast from Furman's last visit to Williamsburg some 25 years ago, as the Paladins gashed the Tribe for 509 yards on the ground in a 52-6 win.
Furman has perennially been renowned for its disciplined play and mistake-free football; however, the first four games of the season have at times seemed like a comedy of errors for a team as talented.
The Paladins and Tribe combined for 247 penalty yards, with Furman committing 10 infractions for 120 yards, while the Tribe finished with 11 for 127 yards.
Four games into the 2024 season, and there’s no more talking about the youth and inexperience of this team. It’s go time.
The Paladins played without some big weapons on the offensive side of the ball, including Joshua Burrell at tight end, who transferred in from Florida State during the off-season; however, the biggest missing weapon in the offense was preseason All-SoCon wideout Joshua Harris. He was suspended for the game for a violation of team rules.
For a player that ranked 13th in receiving yards (1,599 yds) and eighth in all-time receptions (129), as well as one that comes of a career-best 164-yard, two touchdown effort against Stetson last week, his absence was notable, but it wasn’t as if Furman didn’t have lack of players step up and make plays at wide receiver and tight end on Saturday night. There’s certainly no lack of talent, even without Harris, who is the focal point of the Furman passing game.
Two of those to step up Saturday night were sophomore tight end Brock Chappell and sophomore wideout Colton Hinton helped Furman take an early 14-0 lead, providing a bit of a shock to the system for the ranked hometown team.
Chappell provided at least the best catch we’ve seen since Ben Ferguson’s one-handed grab for a score a little less than a year ago in a 27-21 road win at Samford. All told, Chappell hauled in four passes for 42 yards, which included that gem of a catch on his second-career scoring catch—a 14-yard strike from Trey Hedden.
Colton Hinton proceeded to put Furman on top 14-0 when he hauled in an 84-yard scoring pass from Hedden on Furman’s second possession of the contest. The 84-yard pitch and catch marked the ninth-longest scoring play in Furman football history. All told, the sophomore hauled in two passes 89 yards and one score.
Jackson Pryor also saw the first meaningful action of his career Saturday evening, as he hauled in two passes for 88 yards. The true freshman from Boone, N.C., by way of Watauga High School hauled in his first two passes as a Paladin. All told, seven different Paladins hauled in a pass in the game.
The Paladins didn’t do too much in the running game, finishing with the aforementioned 84 yards on 30 attempts, including one touchdown, as the Paladins finished averaging 2.8 yards-per-rush.
Leading the way on the ground for the Paladins was Myion Hicks, who rushed for 46 yards on 10 attempts. Grant Robinson added 10 attempts for 26 yards and a score.
Defensively, the Paladins were on the field a great deal on Saturday night, as the Tribe held a 24-play advantage, snapping the ball 80 times, while Furman snapped it just 56. That led to nearly a 10-minute advantage in time of possession (34:58-25:02).
Furman's defense finished with five tackles-for-loss and a pair of sacks, while posting an INT, a forced fumble and had a fumble recovery.
Evan DiMaggio, Tre’ McCloud, Maurice Perkins, and Luke Clark sparkled defensively all night for the Paladins. DiMaggio led the Paladins with 12 tackles and a pair of quarterback hurries, while McCloud continued to shine in his first season as a starter on the back end, posting 10 tackles.
Like McCloud, Perkins is in his first season as a starter on the Paladin defense at ‘Spur’ linebacker. He finished the contest with nine tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, forced a fumble and a sack. The Midwestern State transfer easily enjoyed his best game as a Paladin.
Clark posted four stops, half-a-tackle-for-loss and had an INT. Xavier Stephens finished with five stops, including one sack, taking his team-leading total to four quarterback takedowns this season.
After garnering SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week last Saturday in a performance that included a school-record 57-yard field goal and also had a 59-yard punt, Furman redshirt senior placekicker Ian Williams was 1-of-2 on field goals, missing from 27 and 29 yards, while connecting on a 33-yard attempt.
How It Happened
Furman’s offense ran only eight plays in the opening quarter to William & Mary’s 23, however, the Paladins held a 14-7 lead, thanks to TD passes of 14 and 84 yards from true freshman quarterback Tre Hedden, accounting for 99 of their 108 yards in the opening quarter of play.
Furman's fast start came from getting an INT from Luke Clark on the game's first play, and with the short field, Trey Hedden found tight end Brock Chappell for an acrobatic one-handed grab in the middle of the end zone on a 2nd-and-14 play to give the Paladins an early 7-0 lead.
On Furman's offensive second possession, Hedden hooked up with sophomore speedster Colton Hinton , who did most of the work after the catch on an 84-yard scoring connection a little over five minutes into the contest. It led to a somewhat surprising 14-0 lead early for the Paladins.
By the end of the opening 15 minutes however, the efficient Tribe had found their rhythm on offense, and after a 21-yard scoring strike from William & Mary quarterback Darius Wilson to tight end Sean McElwain in the corner of the end zone to slice the Furman lead in half with 6:54 remaining in the opening frame. On the first play of the second quarter, an Eric Bernstein 34-yard field goal got the Tribe to within four points, at 14-10.
All told, the Tribe would score 27 unanswered points to take control of the game, however, the Paladins had their chances to get back into the contest but let the contest slip through their grasp due to mental mistakes, miscues in the kicking game, and the inability to establish a consistent ground game.
With that said, William & Mary showed why they will be an FCS playoff team this fall and has the potential to make a deep run much the way the Paladins did last season.
The Tribe slowly but surely started to gain momentum in the game, but Furman’s defense continued to keep the Paladins in the game.
In the second quarter, Furman’s tired defense finally gave after playing valiantly for most of the half, and the Tribe took their first lead of the night on their biggest play of the night to that point, as Wilson broke free and scampered 53 yards for a score to make it a 17-14 game with 6:13 left in the half.
Late in the opening half, Furman, staked by 43-yard completion from Hedden-to-Jackson Pryor, the Paladins drove the ball deep into Tribe territory, however, after reaching the Tribe’s 14-yd line, the Paladins offense couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone, and had to call on Ian Williams for a short 27-yard FG attempt.
However, the normally efficient Williams couldn’t connect on a the short field goal, which was wide left leaving the Tribe ahead by three.
After the Paladins forced a three-and-out late in the half, Hedden would make his first miscue of the night when his pass intended for Ethan Harris was picked off by Bryce Barnes.
From that turnover, the Tribe would convert a field goal of 28 yards just before the break, as Bernstein’s chip shot field goal gave the 12th-ranked team in FCS football a 20-14 lead at the break.
The Paladins would get the ball to start the second half, but again penalties negated anything promising from the opening drive. However, after being flagged for offensive pass interference coupled with a short punt of 23 yards to the Furman 40, it gave the William & Mary offense momentum it didn’t already need.
The Tribe made the most of the short field, driving it the needed 40 yards to take a 13-point, 27-14 lead, following a 15-yard scoring pass from Wilson-to-Hollis Mathis on 3rd-and-7, giving the Tribe a 13-point advantage with 11:47 remaining in the third following Bernstein’s PAT.
On its ensuing drive, Furman would again start the drive with a big play to Jackson Pryor on an identical wheel route, which yielded a gain of two more yards, as the Paladins used the 45-yard pitch-and-catch to set up 1st-and-10 at the William & Mary 37.
Unlike the drive started by Pryor’s 43-yard reception midway through the second quarter, the Paladins wouldn’t have to settle for a missed field goal attempt, as they would find the end zone with their only rushing score of the night. Grant Robinson finally capped the drive, which could be described as being sloppy on both sides, as his 4-yard run on 1st-and-goal with 7:27 left in the third brought the Paladins to within six, at 27-21, following Williams’ PAT.
The Paladins had a chance to chip away at the lead even more, however, Williams missed his second chip shot field goal of the night—this one from 29 yards out—and the Paladins continued to trail by six. Furman’s Hedden overthrew his intended receiver in the red zone on the ensuing drive, but Furman’s defense proved resilient, as Maurice Perkins forced Bronson Yoder to cough up the football, and it was recovered by Paladin reserve defensive lineman Caldwell Bussey with 9:30 left to keep the Paladins in it and give them a late opportunity to steal a late road win.
However, despite moving the ball 38 yards from its own 47 to the Tribe’s 15, the Paladins again had to settle for a Ian Williams field goal attempt, which this time he converted on from 33 yards out to bring the Paladins to within three, at 27-24, with 6:18 left.
With the ball back, however, the Tribe would show their maturity and leadership on the offensive side of the ball, and ultimately put the game away, as Yoder’s 12-yard scoring run with 57 seconds remaining on a 3rd-and-6 play capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive, giving the Tribe a two-score lead, at 34-24, and clinching the win.
On the first play of the next possession, Hedden dropped back to pass, however, was sacked and stripped of the football by Tribe linebacker Christian Hamm, and the ball was recovered and returned 26 yards by defensive end Dave Dzidzienyo to the Furman three, as he was forced out by Paladin running back Grant Robinson. The Tribe took a knee and ran out the remaining 29 seconds on the clock to clinch their third win of the 2024 season.
Furman and William & Mary both enter conference play next time out, with William & Mary hosting tidewater rival Hampton in a CAA clash, with a 6 p.m. EST slated for Zable Stadium, while Furman begins defense of its Southern Conference title with a 2 p.m. EST test against Samford at Paladin Stadium.
