Oct. 22, 2005

Box Score

MARTIN, Tenn. - The Samford defense intercepted five passes, returning two for touchdowns, on the way to a 30-22 win Saturday afternoon at Tennessee-Martin. The win was Samford's first road victory of the season.

"I thought we played hard for 60 minutes," Samford head coach Bill Gray said. "They (UT Martin) played hard as well. They have a lot of pride on their football team. We were fortunate to get the win."

Cortland Finnegan, Sean Hill, Quinton Griffin, Kyle Morton and Luke Landers each had an interception for the Bulldogs. Finnegan and Hill returned their picks for touchdowns. Finnegan also led the team with nine tackles. Offensively for Samford, Jefferson Adcock completed 14-of-26 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Brennard caught five passes for 37 yards and two touchdowns.

Tennessee-Martin was led by Donald Chapman with 24 rushes for 134 yards. Quarterback Brady Wahlberg completed 16-of-33 passes for 184 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions.

Tennessee-Martin (4-3, 2-2 OVC) got on the board first when Taylor Brown kicked a 22-yard field goal with 1:18 to go in the first quarter to give the Skyhawks a 3-0 lead. Samford (4-4, 3-2 OVC) tied the game early in the second quarter when Shannon Fleming kicked a 38-yard field goal with 14:52 to go before halftime.

The Skyhawks retook the lead when Brown kicked another field goal, this one from 26 yards out, with 9:12 to go in the second quarter to make the score 6-3. Samford took the lead for the first time with 5:57 to go in the second quarter when Adcock hit Brennard on a four-yard touchdown pass. Fleming's PAT gave the Bulldogs a 10-6 lead. The teams headed to halftime with Samford leading, 10-6.

On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Finnegan intercepted a UTM pass, and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown. Fleming added the extra point to give Samford a 17-6 lead. Brown kicked a 25-yard field goal, his third field goal of the game, with 11:06 to go in the third quarter to cut the Samford lead to 17-9.

Adcock connected with Brennard for another four-yard touchdown, the second time the duo had combined for a score in the game, with 6:32 to go in the third quarter. Fleming's PAT pushed Samford's lead to 24-9. On UT Martin's next possession, Hill picked off a pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was blocked, and Samford led, 30-9.

UT Martin got its first touchdown of the game when Wahlberg hit Jamal Akbar for an 11-yard touchdown, and the PAT was good to cut the Samford lead to 30-16 with 6:00 to go in the game. The Skyhawks added one more touchdown when Wahlberg connected with Akbar for a 17-yard touchdown with 2:29 to go in the game. The extra point was blocked to make the final score 30-22.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, October 29, when the Bulldogs play host to the Tennessee State Tigers for Samford's 2005 Homecoming Game. The game is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff at Seibert Stadium.