Greenville, SC. Wofford jumped Furman early with three touchdowns of 70 yards or more and held on for a 32-25 Southern Conference win Saturday, Oct. 3, at Paladin Stadium. The Tdawgs improve to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the SoCon. Furman falls to 2-4 and 1-1 in league play.
It was the 100th meeting between the programs, dating to 1889. Furman still leads the series 56-37-7. Wofford has now won the last four.
Ethan Drumm completed 14-of-21 passes for 304 yards and four touchdowns. The 304 yards tie his Tennessee Tech total for sixth most in a single game in school history. The four touchdown passes are tied for second most in a game in program history. Isaiah Scott caught seven passes for 193 yards and two scores. The 193 yards are the second most receiving yards in a game in school history, behind Jerry Richardson’s 241 in 1956. Gerald Modest Jr. ran for 83 yards. Wofford finished with a season high 412 total yards.
Wofford struck on its opening drive. On second down, Drumm hit Scott for a 70 yard touchdown. Drumm ran in the two point conversion for an 8-0 lead at the 14:14 mark of the first. Marek Marcellus recovered a muffed Furman kickoff return at the 20. Drumm then found Ivory Aikens in the back of the end zone for a 15-0 lead.
Furman cut it to 15-8 on an interception return for a touchdown and a two point conversion. Wofford answered immediately. Drumm hit Scott again, this time for 80 yards, the fifth longest touchdown reception in school history, for a 22-8 lead. Early in the second quarter, Drumm shoveled to Aikens, who went 71 yards down the middle to make it 29-8 with 14:49 left in the half.
Furman trimmed it to 29-15 on a seven yard touchdown run before the half. The Paladins opened the third with a 12 play drive capped by a 29 yard field goal to make it 29-18. Ramon McCullough forced a fumble that Alijah Williams recovered at the Furman 21. Wofford settled for a Connor Deviney 22 yard field goal and a 32-18 lead with 11 seconds left in the third.
Furman scored an 18 yard touchdown pass with 4:47 left to make it 32-25. After a Wofford three and out, the Paladins drove inside Terrier territory. On fourth and seven, the pass into the end zone was incomplete. Wofford took over on downs with 1:08 left and closed it out.
Logan McCloud led the defense. McCullough recorded his first career forced fumble. Williams had his third career fumble recovery. Marcellus had his first career fumble recovery on special teams. Attendance was 9,957.
“We have such great respect for Furman,” head coach Shawn Watson said. “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.”
Wofford (3-3, 2-2 SoCon) travels to Elon on Saturday, Oct. 10, for a 2:00 PM ET kickoff on the Wofford Digital Network.