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Furman true freshman quarterback Trey Hedden completed 20-of-27 passes for 267 yards and two TDs, while rushing for 16 yards and another touchdown in his first-career start, and senior wideout Joshua Harris hauled in seven passes for a career-best 164 yards and two scores, as the Paladins blasted Pioneer Football League member Stetson, 48-7, in non-conference action Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.
Hedden, a native Tampa, FL., seemingly had the magic touch on his passes all afternoon against the Hatters, and as the game progressed, his immense arm talent showed more potency with each throw, as Furman’s explosive plays in the passing game were key to breaking the game open just before the half. In fact, Furman seemingly produced more chunk scoring plays than it has in any one game in each of the past two seasons.
Hedden became the first true freshman signal-caller to start for the Paladins since Jace Wilson led the Paladins to a 42-20 win at Wofford back in 2021.
With the win, the defending Southern Conference champion Paladins improve to 1-2 on the season, while Stetson suffers its first defeat of the 2023 season, falling to 2-1.
Furman ended the day rolling up a 510-244 advantage in total offense, with 339 yards coming through the air between quarterbacks Hedden and junior signal-caller Carson Jones.
Jones finished the night by connecting on 6-of-8 passes for 72 yards and a score. All told, Paladin quarterbacks connected on 26-of-35 throws for 339 yards with three touchdowns and no INTs.
The favorite receiver for both quarterbacks was Joshua Harris, who finished the day with seven catches for career-high 164 yards and a couple of touchdowns. Harris' previous receiving high came on the road in a win at Mercer two years ago, as he caught five passes for 146 yards and a score in a 23-13 win over the Bears.
Ben Ferguson hauled in three passes for 74 yards, which included a 51-yard scoring catch from Hedden. All told, nine different receivers caught passes for the Paladins in the game.
The Paladins finished the contest with 171 yards on the ground, with true freshman Gavin Hall leading the way on the ground, with 72 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts. Grant Robinson carried 10 times for 35 yards and a score.
Stetson played three quarterbacks in the contest, with Matt O'Connor finishing the night connecting on 14-of-32 passes for 114 yards, with two INTs. Chris Stephenson finished the night completing 2-of-7 passes for 18 yards and an INT. Trip Maxwell finished 1-of-4 passing, accounting for Stetson's lone scoring pass of the with an 11-yard scoring strike to AanJay Feliciano late in the fourth quarter.
The Hatters leading pass-catcher was Fabian Baez, who finished the day with four catches for 59 yards, while Feliciano caught four passes for 41 yards and had the lone scoring catch of the day.
After surrendering a school-record 772 yards in its season opener at Ole Miss, the Paladins have given up just a combined 501 yards in its past two games against both Charleston Southern and Stetson.
The Paladins also won the turnover battle for the first time this season, posting three INTs, with Billy Lewis picking off a pair of passes, while Evan DiMaggio had one. Those three INTs led to 21 Paladin points.
DiMaggio ended the game as one of three Paladin defenders with six tackles to go with his INT, while also registering 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
Stetson opened the game with the football, and one first down, strong safety Billy Lewis picked off Hatters quarterback Matt O'Connor at the 50, giving the Paladins excellent field position to start the game. From there, the Paladins drove the football 50 yards in eight plays capped by a Grant Robinson 1-yard plunge to make it a 7-0 contest with 10:15 left in the opening quarter.
Gifted 30 yards of penalties on a pair of roughing the passer penalties, the Hatters moved the ball to the Furman seven before Joshua Stoneking broke through to block a short field goal attempt from Hatters placekicker Daniel Holbrook.
The first quarter was plagued by penalties on both sides, as well as miscues, with the two teams combining for 73 yards on a total of seven infractions, with Furman owning five of those penalties for 53 yards. Furman ended the first 15 minutes of action with a 7-0 lead.
Midway through the second the quarter, Furman was able to flip the field with a 59-yard Ian Williams punt set Stetson up at its own two, the Paladins forced the Hatters to punt the ball and Joshua Harris returned it to the Hatters 39.
The Paladin drive stalled, however, after gaining 19 yards to the Stetson 20, the Paladins had to settle for a 48-yard field goal from Williams to go ahead 10-0 with 6:48 left in the first half.
After Evan DiMaggio picked off a second Stetson pass of the opening half, Furman would be aided by a holding penalty that negated a Hatters interception, needing just four plays to finish off the scoring drive and take a 17-0 lead following Trey Hedden’s longest TD passing play of the season, which was a 51-yard strike to Ben Ferguson with 3:48 remaining left in the half.
The Paladins forced a Stetson punt late in the half, and Furman took a 24-0 lead after Trey Hedden found Joshua Harris for a 50-yard scoring strike down the far sideline with 1:11 remaining in the opening half. That would remain the score as the two teams entered the halftime locker room.
Furman would make it 31-0 on the opening drive of the second half, using five plays to cover 90 yards after a penalty for block in the back on the opening kickoff of the second half.
Hedden opened the drive with a completion of 58 yards to Joshua Harris, and then two plays later, Hedden found Harris for another 10 yards before calling his own number for 13-yard scoring run.
With just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Ian Williams came on to establish a new school-record with a 57-yard field goal to increase the Paladin advantage to 34-0. Williams' record kick surpassed both Jon Croft Hollingsworth and Grayson Atkins previous marks of 55 yards. Hollingsworth connected on a 55-yarder as time expired to beat Central Florida in 2015, while Atkins' 55-yard make came in a 28-7 win at Western Carolina in 2019.
Following another three-and-out forced by the Furman defense, Carson Jones replaced Hedden in the lineup. He would complete a pair of passes to true freshman Devin Hester Jr. before hooking up with Harris for a 30-yard scoring connection to make it a 41-0 Paladin lead with 1:07 remaining in the third.
On Stetson's next possession, Furman's Lewis registered his second INT of the game, marking the first two INT game since Cally Chizik recorded a pair of picks in a FCS playoff loss to Incarnate Word in 2022. Following Lewis’ second INT of the day, Gavin Hall finished off an eight-play, 50-yard scoring drive with a 12-yard scoring run, which was his first-career scoring run of his career to make it 48-0.
Stetson got a consolation score late in the game, as Aanjay Feliciano hauled in an 11-yard scoring pass from Trip Maxwell to make it a 48-7 with 8:28 left following Holbrook’s PAT.
The Paladins return to action next Saturday on the road in Williamsburg, VA., to face the 14th-ranked William & Mary Tribe.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. EST at Zable Stadium. The Tribe have already posted a 2-0 mark against SoCon teams this season, including a 28-21 win at Wofford this past Saturday night.
Stetson gets back into action next Saturday with a trip to Cambridge, Mass., to face Ivy League member Harvard. Kickoff for that contest is slated for noon.
Furman faces off against William & Mary for the first time in 24 years, last facing the Tribe 24 years ago at Paladin Stadium. The eighth-ranked Paladins were 34-10 winners on that occasion. Furman junior tailback and eventual Walter Payton award winner Louis Ivory rushed 27 times for a then career-high 232 yards and a pair of scores, leading NCAA Division I-AA eighth-ranked Furman to a 34-10 win over visiting William & Mary under the lights at Paladin Stadium.
The Paladins haven't made a trip to Zable Stadium since 1999, when in the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd, came away with a 52-6 win on a day when the Paladins rolled up better than 500 yards on the ground.
Furman and William & Mary will be meeting for the 16th all-time meeting with the Paladins leading the series 8-7 and have won each of the past two meetings.
