Sept. 29, 2001
Final Stats
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Louis Ivory rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter to lead fourth-ranked Furman to a 31-13 victory over Western Carolina Saturday night at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field.
Ivory, the 2000 Walter Payton award winner as NCAA I-AA's top offensive player, finished with a game-high 159 rushing yards on 22 attempts, a 7.2 average, and two touchdowns. The Paladins also had a productive night from their quarterbacks as starter Billy Napier completed 7-of-10 passes for 109 yards and back-up Bo Moore, who spelled an injured Napier briefly in the second quarter, was 2-of-2, including a 22-yard touchdown.
Furman (3-1, 2-0 SoCon) set the tone early. The Paladins did not allow Western Carolina a first down on their first possession and forced a Catamount punt. After a 15-yard pass from Napier to Bear Rineheart on their first play, Ivory put the Paladins scoring position with a 27-yard run. The drive was capped by three consecutive rushes by true freshman fullback Eric Emerson, including a three-yard TD.
A blocked punt on Western's next possession put Furman in scoring position once again. With the ball on WCU's 15, Ivory carried all three times in the scoring drive, including a three-yard TD. Ivory rushed for his second touchdown on the game on and the Paladins' third of the game on Furman's third possession. Facing a second and three from the Paladin 29, Ivory burst over the left tackle and took it 67 yards for the score, which marked his fourth-longest scoring run of his career.
Down 21-0, Western (2-2, 1-1 SoCon) was able to get on track as the second quarter began. Junior quarterback Pat Cilento came off the Catamount bench to provide a spark, leading WCU on an 80-yard, 20-play scoring drive, which consumed 10:04 on the game clock. The scoring drive was Western's longest of the season in terms on distance, plays and time. Cilento rushed six times for 30 yards during the drive, while completing all four of his passes for 46 yards. Donnie Bryant ended the derive with a two-yard plunge for his fourth TD of the season.
Furman, on the strength of a 26 yard run by tailback Lamar Rembert, immediately answered with a nine-play, 77-yard scoring drive to take a 28-7 lead at halftime. On a third and 12, Moore hit James Thomas for a key first down, then, two plays later, connected with Rineheart on a 22-yard scoring strike.
The teams traded punts throughout the third quarter until Furman was able to pad its advantage with a 25-yard field goal by Danny Marshall with 7:02 left in the contest.
WCU starting quarterback Brian Gaither returned in the fourth quarter and led the Cats to a four-play, 75-yard scoring drive. He completed all four passes in the drive, hitting Michael Banks for 23 yards, Lamont Seward for nine, Banks for 11 and Brenden Roy for 32. The 32-yard touchdown catch by Roy marked his first career score and marked the first passing TD for Gaither and Western this season.
As it has for the previous three games, Western held the upper hand in time of possession, having the ball for 34:52 compared to 25:08 for Furman. The total offense came out nearly even with Furman tallying 349 yards to Western's 319. However, the Paladins averaged 7.4 yards on their 47 plays, while the Catamounts averaged 4.5 on their 71 plays.
Western will return to action next weekend when it travels to Statesboro, Ga., to faced top-ranked and defending national champion Georgia Southern. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m., and can be heard on the Catamount Sports Network or on WCU's official website at www.catamountsports.com.
