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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In a Southern Conference battle with a possible playoff spot on the line, the 13
th-ranked Samford football team earned a 26-20 win over 24
th-ranked Furman Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.
With the win, Samford improves to 8-3 overall and 6-2 in SoCon play. The eight overall wins and six conference wins are the most for Samford since 2013. Furman falls to 7-4 overall and 6-2 in league games. The teams will find out their postseason fates when the field for the NCAA Division I-FCS Playoffs is released Sunday at 10 a.m. (CT) on ESPNU.
"I thought this was a great team win," Samford head coach
Chris Hatcher said. "Our defense bent a little more than we normally do, but we came up with huge stop after huge stop. And then offensively, we moved the ball extremely well, ate a lot of clock. The defense played great, the offense played great and the special teams was really solid. I'm really proud of these guys."
The win was sealed on a second-down play with 46 seconds remaining. Furman's P.J. Blazejowski's pass from the Furman 31-yard line was intercepted by Samford senior linebacker
Shaheed Salmon at the Paladins' 39-yard line. Samford was able to run out the clock from there to hold on for the win.
For the game for Samford,
Devlin Hodges completed 25-of-37 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns.
Kelvin McKnight caught 10 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown.
Clarke Miller also had a touchdown reception.
Roland Adams rushed 14 times for 70 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs.
Ahmad Gooden led Samford in tackles with 17, including 11 solo stops.
Deion Pierre had 11 tackles, six solo. Salmon had eight tackles, including a sack, to go along with his interception.
Austin Barnard averaged 52.0 yards on two punts. Jordan Weaver made both of his field goal attempts, including a career-long 46-yarder in the fourth quarter.
For Furman, Blazejowski completed 11-of-20 passes for 229 yards. Darius Morehead had 17 carries for 86 yards to lead the Furman running game. Thomas Gordon had five catches for 123 yards. Reynard Ellis and Jaylan Reid led the Furman defense with eight tackles each. Darius Kearse had an interception for the Paladins.
Furman jumped on top first with a touchdown on the game's opening drive. Antonio Wilcox scored on a three-yard run to give the Paladins a 7-0 lead with 11:47 left in the first quarter. Samford answered on its first drive when Adams scored on a one-yard run to knot the score at 7-7 with 6:43 left in the opening period.
In the second quarter, Hodges hit Miller for an eight-yard touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead with 8:46 left in the second period. Furman's Grayson Atkins kicked a 20-yard field goal to cut the Samford lead to 14-10 with 4:14 left before halftime. Weaver kicked a 23-yard field goal to push Samford's lead to 17-10 with 1:23 to go in the second quarter. Furman's Kealand Dirks scored on a one-yard run with 25 seconds left in the half to knot the score at 17-17 heading into the locker room at halftime.
Samford took the lead for good when Hodges connected with McKnight for a 29-yard touchdown with 13:11 to go in the third quarter. The extra point, however, was missed and Samford held a 23-17 lead.
Weaver pushed Samford's lead to 26-17 with a 46-yard field goal with 12:55 left in the game. Furman's Atkins booted a 28-yard field goal with 5:18 left in the contest to cut the Samford lead to 26-20.
