FINAL STAT BOOK (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford football team's second-half comeback fell just short in a 41-34 loss to Furman in the season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Bobby Bowden Field at Seibert Stadium.
 
Samford ends its season with a record of 4-7 overall and 3-5 in Southern Conference play. Furman finishes with a mark of 6-5 overall and 4-4 in league contests. Samford's 17 seniors were honored in ceremonies prior to the game.
 
"We have a team that's been through a lot this season," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "We've had a lot of close defeats and each week they've shown up to play. Today, we started awfully slow. You could tell we didn't have a lot of energy and that's on me. But, in the second half, we came out and fought, we didn't quit and we made it a game there at the end. In my mind, we just ran out of time. We didn't have the success we anticipated or that we wanted, but each week we showed up and played our backsides off."
 
For Samford in the loss, graduate quarterback Liam Welch completed 26-of-40 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 10 times for 54 yards and a touchdown. Senior Montrell Washington caught six passes for 43 yards and a touchdown. Senior Jai'Rus Creamer had five catches for 30 yards and a score.
 
Defensively for Samford, graduate defensive lineman Seth Simmer led the way with 12 total tackles, including 2.5 for loss. Graduate linebacker Nathan East had eight tackles for the Bulldogs.
 
Furman was led by Dominic Roberto with 22 rushes for 216 yards, while Devin Abrams rushed 18 times for 110 yards. Jace Wilson completed 7-of-11 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown. DiMarcus Clay had an interception to go along with his six tackles for the Paladin defense.
 
Samford scored on the opening drive of the game when Welch hit Creamer for a six-yard touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 12:49 left in the first quarter. Furman drove to the Samford 12-yard line, but the Bulldogs stopped the Paladins on a 4^th-and-2 play, giving the ball back to Samford with 7:49 left in the first period.
 
Furman tied the score when Wilson hit Ryan Miller for a 50-yard touchdown pass to knot the score at 7-7 with 5:46 remaining in the opening quarter. Two plays later Furman's Clay intercepted a Welch pass and returned it 32 yards to the Samford two-yard-line. Three plays later, Wilson scored on a three-yard run to give Furman a 14-7 lead with 3:44 left in the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, Furman added to its lead when Wayne Anderson Jr. scored on an eight-yard run with 11:19 to go in the period to make the score 21-7. Samford's Zach Williams kicked a 24-yard field goal to cut the Furman lead to 21-10 with 48 seconds to go in the second quarter. On the first play of Furman's ensuing drive, Roberto ran for 73 yards to the Samford two-yard-line. On the next play, Devin Wynn ran for a two-yard score to push the Furman lead to 28-10 with 31 seconds to go before halftime.
 
On the first drive of the third quarter, Wynn scored on a two-yard run to make the score 35-10 with 7:47 to go in the period. On Samford's next drive, Williams kicked a 40-yard field goal to make the score 35-13 with 4:25 left in the third quarter. Welch scored on a one yard run to cut the Furman lead to 35-20 with five seconds left in the third quarter.
 
At the 6:12 mark in the fourth quarter, Furman's Timmy Bleekrode kicked a 33-yard field goal to make the score 38-20. Samford's Jay Stanton rushed for a three-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 38-27 with 4:33 left in the game. Bleekrode kicked a 22-yard field goal with 2:06 to go to make the score 41-27. Welch connected with Washington on the final play of their careers for a 26-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left to make the score 41-34. Samford's onside kick was recovered by Furman and the Paladins were able to run out the clock from there.




 
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford football, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordFootball (Facebook), @SamfordFootball (Instagram) and @SamfordFootball (Twitter).