BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford football team dropped a 31-13 decision to Furman Saturday afternoon at Pete Hanna Stadium.
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in Southern Conference play. Furman improved its record to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in league play.
 
"It definitely wasn't our best effort," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said. "I thought defensively after the first two series of the game, we really settled in a groove and played extremely well and flew to the football, we limited explosive plays. Offensively, we moved the ball well and then we'd have a big negative play and we had a hard time getting it into the end zone. And then our special teams, any time we get a little momentum, it's killing us right now. So, it's a little bit of the same that has happened to us to this point in the season. Hopefully, we'll find a way to correct it. We've been trying to correct it, but it just rears its ugly head at the wrong times during the course of the ballgame."
 
For Samford in the game, Quincy Crittendon completed 28-of-42 passes for 252 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Jaden Gibsom caught 10 passes for 61 yards. Preston Bird hauled in five passes for 97 yards and a touchdown, while C.J. Evans had three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown.
 
The Samford defense was led by Jaden Mosley with 10 tackles, including five solo stops. Trey Lenhardt had eight tackles, while Carson Sloan had seven stops.
 
For Furman, Trey Hedden completed 28-of-41 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. The Furman defense was led by Luke McLaughlin with 11 tackles, including eight solo stops. Raleigh Herbert had an interception he returned 47 yards for a touchdown.
 
Furman struck first on the opening drive of the game when Evan James scored on a 17-yard run to give the Paladins a 7-0 lead with 12:14 to go in the first quarter. The Paladins made the score 14-0 when Hedden hit Joshua Burrell for a seven -yard score with 1:21 left in the opening period.
 
Samford got on the scoreboard when Crittendon connected with Evans for a 25-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 14-7 with 9:08 left in the second quarter. Samford was driving late in the second quarter when Furman's Herbert intercepted a Crittendon pass and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown to make the score 21-7 with 48 seconds left before halftime. A Samford field goal attempt on the final play of the second quarter was blocked and the teams went to halftime with Furman leading, 21-7.
 
Furman added to its lead when Hedden hit Ja'Keith Hamilton for a four-yard touchdown to push the lead to 28-7 with 10:37 to go in the third quarter. Furman's Ian Williams booted a 40-yard field goal to make the score 31-7 with 1:15 left in the third period. Crittendon hit Bird for a 70-yard touchdown pass with 11:52 to go and the two-point conversion failed, leaving the final score at 31-13.
 
Next up, Samford will play at Mercer on Saturday, Oct. 4. The game is set for a 3 p.m. (CT) start from Macon, Ga.  


 
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