Sept. 23, 2006

Final Stats

Greenville, S.C. - Jerome Felton set school and Southern Conference records by rushing for six touchdowns in leading third-ranked Furman to a 42-7 win over 22nd-ranked Western Carolina in the Southern Conference season opener for both schools Saturday night at Paladin Stadium.

The previous Furman and SoCon record for TDs in a game was five.

Felton, a 6-foot, 248-pound junior fullback from Madisonville, Tenn., and Walter Payton Award candidate, ran 20 times for 102 yards and scored on runs of 13, 2, 2, 5, and 1 yards in the first half in helping Furman (3-1, 1-0 SoCon) build a 35-7 lead. Felton finished off his performance with a 1-yard plunge on the first possession of the second half to make it 42-7.

Felton's rushing touchdown flurry, which came on the heels of a four-touchdown performance in the Paladins' 45-42 loss to North Carolina last week, shattered the school record first set by William Gressette in a 38-7 win over Presbyterian in 1915 and matched the following year in a 60-3 triumph over Erskine. It also eclipsed a SoCon standard shared by three players and was one shy of the NCAA I-AA record.

Furman was also able to take advantage of a depleted Catamount defense. Starting with defensive tackle John Martin being sidelined for the game after an injury last week versus Eastern Kentucky, Western had four defensive tackles go down during the game and not return, including Jeff Bradley, Randy Birch, Keanon Orr and Felipe Foster.

The win marked the 10th straight home win for Furman, sixth straight victory over Western Carolina (2-1, 0-1 SoCon) in Greenville, and eighth victory in the last nine clashes with the Catamounts.

"I thought we played extremely well, especially in the first half, and Jerome Felton had a career game," said Furman head coach Bobby Lamb. "Our plan was to run between the tackles with him, and he obviously did that very well. When we get near the goal line, everybody in the country knowswhat we're going to do, but he's so big and we get great blocking angles that it's hard for people to stop him. I thought this was our most complete performance of the season."

"It is very simple...they (Furman) did a great job taking their offense and going right at where we were weakest (defensive line)," said Western Carolina head coach Kent Briggs. "You can't spot a team like Furman 14 points, and we just couldn't stop Felton. Furman does a great job with their scheme. It's not like we didn't know what was coming; we just couldn't stop them."

Furman wasted little time in taking control. After forcing a Western Carolina punt on the game's first possession, the Paladins used a 28-yard punt return by Justin Stepp and personal foul penalty on Western Carolina to start its first possession at the Catamount 17. On second down Felton bolted up the middle 13 yards into the end zone to put Furman ahead 7-0 barely three minutes into the game.

A fumble recovery by defensive tackle Justin Brown at the Western Carolina five set up the Paladins' next score, which came on a Felton 2-yard run at the 9:12 mark.

After the Catamounts sliced the Furman lead to 14-7 on a 1-yard run by L.J. Davis late in the first quarter, Furman answered with three second quarter Felton scores covering 2, 5, and 1 yard for a 35-7 halftime advantage.

Felton closed out the scoring on the Paladins' first possession of the second half. Moving 56 yards in 10 plays, Furman turned to Felton for a 1-yard run off left tackle at the 9:09 mark to make it 42-7.

Furman, which scored on its first six possessions, compiled a 305-217 advantage in total offense. Cedrick Gipson followed Felton in the rushing column with 70 yards on 11 carries, and quarterback Renaldo Gray connected on 4-of-7 passes for 100 yards.

Bennett Swygert completed 17-of-26 passes for 133 yards for Western Carolina.

The Catamounts will return to action next Saturday at 6:00, hosting Georgia Southern. In addition to being Mountain Heritage Day and Family Weekend on campus, Western will retire the jersey of three-time All-American Kirk Roach.