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BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford football team earned a hard-fought 28-26 win over Wofford in a key Southern Conference game Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.
 
"I thought we played exceptionally well on defense," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "Right now, that is the strength of our team. Offensively, we were very inconsistent. We would either go three-and-out or we would score really fast. But, fortunately we made some plays down the stretch."
 
For Samford in the game, Devlin Hodges completed 28-of-32 passes for 315 yards and four touchdowns. Emmanuel Obajimi caught eight passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. Karel Hamilton had eight catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Andrew Harris also had a touchdown catch for the Bulldogs.
 
Defensively, Samford was led by Shaheed Salmon with 13 tackles, including nine solo stops and 2.0 tackles for loss. Jamerson Blount also had 10 tackles in the game.
 
"I'm excited that we won," Hatcher said. "Any time you beat Wofford, you have to put in a very hard day's work. They're very difficult to prepare for. I think this is probably the best team they've had in quite some time. I have the utmost respect for those guys. It was a hard-fought victory."
 
For Wofford, Lorenzo Long rushed 26 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Goodson completed 7-of-13 passes for 108 yards for the Terriers. Jaleel Green led the Wofford defense with seven tackles, including five solo stops.
 
On Wofford's first offensive drive, the Terriers faced a fourth-and-two from the Wofford 35-yard line. Samford stopped the Terriers for a seven-yard loss, giving Samford the ball at the Terriers' 25-yard line. Two plays later, Hodges hit Hamilton for a two-yard touchdown pass to give Samford a 7-0 lead with 11:31 to go in the first quarter.
 
Wofford answered to tie the game on its next possession. Will Gay scored on a seven-yard run to knot the score at 7-7 with 6:33 left in the opening quarter.
 
The Terriers took the lead early in the second quarter. David Marvin kicked a 48-yard field goal to give Wofford a 10-7 lead with 13:14 to go in the second quarter. Samford answered back on its next drive when Hodges hit Harris for a 23-yard touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 14-10 lead with 11:35 left in the second quarter.
 
Samford added to its lead when Hodges connected with Hamilton for a 51-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-10 with 6:52 left before halftime. Wofford added one more score before halftime. Long scored on a one-yard run with 13 seconds left in the second quarter to cut the Samford lead to 21-17.
 
Wofford scored again on its first drive of the third quarter. Marvin kicked a 34-yard field goal to cut Samford's lead to 21-20 with 10:26 left in the quarter.
 
The game remained a one-point contest until the 5:05 mark in the fourth quarter when Hodges hit Obajimi for a 13-yard touchdown to push Samford's lead to 28-20. Wofford's Long then scored on a 16-yard run with 3:24 left in the game. The two-point conversion, however was intercepted by Ahmad Gooden, and Samford was able to secure the win from there.
 
As a team, Samford 345 yards of total offense (315 passing, 30 rushing), while Wofford had 399 yards (291 rushing, 108 passing). Neither team committed a turnover in the game.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Southern Conference. Wofford drops to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in SoCon play.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 8, when the Bulldogs play at Furman. The game is scheduled for a 12 p.m. (CT) start from Greenville, S.C.