Furman Snaps Two-Game Skid with Senior Day Win Over VMI

 

Furman true freshman wide receiver Evan James (photo courtesy of Furman athletics)

Furman 32, VMI 14

GREENVILLE, S.C.—True freshman wide receiver Evan James hauled in a pair of touchdown passes, and quarterback Trey Hedden connected on 33-of-46 passes for 275 yards and added a pair scoring tosses, as Furman made the most of its Senior Day, claiming a 32-14 win over VMI before an announced crowd of 8,527 fans Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.

Furman’s win improved it to 6-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play, while VMI falls to 1-10 overall and 0-7 in league play. The win snapped a two-game losing skid for the Paladins; while seeing it now officially double its win total from last season. 

The Paladins improved to 32-11 all-time in the series against VMI, including the Paladins’ 17^th-straight series win in Greenville, as well as being the 16^th-straight triumph inside the friendly confines of Paladin Stadium (1982-present). The win helped the Paladins avenge a 21-17 setback in Lexington last season. 

Despite missing three games this season, Jerry Rice Award candidate Evan James capped his rookie season in front of the home faithful at Paladin Stadium in style, as he hauled in nine passes for 70 yards and a pair of scores. He needed just two catches and only nine receiving yards to set new freshman receiving marks. He now has 59 catches for 760 yards and six TDs with one game remaining in his freshman campaign next Saturday at Clemson.

Ja'Keith Hamilton nearly matched James for the top receiving performance, hauling in eight passes for 97 yards. 

Furman also finished the day with a season-high 174 rushing yards, which was bolstered by strong performances from Ben Croasdale and CJ Nettles. Nettles finished the day with 14 rushes for 70 yards and a score, while Nettles finished his afternoon with 12 rushes for 54 yards.

The Paladins finished with a 204-yard advantage in total offense (448-244) and owned a 26-play (85-59) edge in total snaps. VMI registered 76 of its 244 yards of total offense on its final scoring drive, while Furman's offense finished the day without turning the ball over.

Defensively, the Paladins were led by defensive back Taylen Blalock, who bookended his strong season at Paladin Stadium with a pair of strong performances from teams from the Commonwealth of Virginia, starting it off with a Saturday that scratched the first points of the season on a pick-six against William & Mary, and finishing it off on Senior Day in front of the home faithful with nine total tackles and 42 punt return yards, as well as a kick return for 11 yards. 

Redshirt freshman defensive end Joshua Stoneking finished his day with six tackles, one tackle-for-loss and one sack. Stoneking brought his season totals to 73 tackles, 20.0 tackles-for-loss, and 13.5 sacks. 

Ian Williams capped his career in Paladin Stadium with a 51-yard field goal and was 1-of-3 on the day, with misses from 39 and 58 yards, respectively. Williams will have a shot at the next level to showcase his talents. 

VMI was led offensively on the day by running back Leo Boeling, who rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. 

Keydets starting quarterback Chandler Wilson finished the day 8-of-16 passing for 56 yards and was sacked once, while Nana Utsey finished 4-of-10 passing for 68 yards and was sacked once. He also rushed seven times for 24 yards and a score.

Defensively, VMI was led by linebacker Stephen Dean III, who finished with a game-high 12 tackles and had a pair of quarterback hurries.

How It Happened:

VMI won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. VMI would gain 15 yards on their first pass of the day and then gained four on Chandler Wilson second pass completion of the day. 

After Joshua Stoneking broke up the next play to force a 3^rd-and-6 situation, Wilson scrambled for a gain of seven yards and a first down on the next play to reach just inside Furman territory. An incompletion and a short gain on a pass forced another third down, and this time on third down Wilson was flushed from the pocket for no gain, forcing a VMI punt.

After one first down on its opening drive of the afternoon, Furman was forced to do likewise, as each team came up empty offensive on their respective opening drives of the contest.

Furman’s first attempt to put points on the board came from the leg of senior place-kicker Ian Williams, however, his 58-yard attempt, which had plenty of distance, was just wide to the right, leaving the score tied, 0-0, with 5:33 remaining in the opening quarter of play. 

Furman would eventually draw first blood in the second quarter Hedden found James on a short flip pass for an eight-yard score, with James doing most of the work with his legs before running over a defender at the goal line to give the Paladins a 7-0 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the half. 

The short scoring pass capped off a 68-yard scoring drive.  The drive was set up by Furman gaining the only turnover of the day on a fumble recovery by Billy Lewis.

The Keydets answered on the ensuing drive, as Leo Boehling finished off the nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive with an 18-yard run up the middle, gashing the Paladin defense for the final 33 yards of the scoring drive, which tied the contest, 7-7, with 1:15 remaining in the half.

Furman made the most of the remaining time in the half, and it would be an acrobatic scoring catch from James, as he leapt over a VMI defensive back and touched a foot down to complete the 17-yard scoring catch with just 35 seconds remaining. After a pair of penalties against VMI on Furman's PAT attempt, the Paladins opted to go for two and the conversion attempt was successful by Jayquan Smith to make it 15-7. That would remain the score as the two teams entered the halftime locker room. 

Smith would be responsible for the lone points for either team in the third quarter, as he capped an impressive 12-play, 85-yard drive with an eight-yard scoring run to give the Paladins a 22-7 lead with just under nine minutes remaining in the third.

Furman tacked on 10 points in the final frame, with Ben Croasdale scoring on a 1-yard plunge and Ian Williams knocking through a 51-yard field goal to increase Furman's lead to 32-7 with 8:15 remaining in the game. VMI's backup quarterback Nana Utsey added the final touchdown of the day, scoring on a 17-yard scramble with 32 seconds left to set the final score, at 32-14.

Furman closes out its 2025 season with a trip to Clemson (5-5, 4-4 ACC) next Saturday with kickoff set for 4:30 p.m. EST at Memorial Stadium. Clemson posted a big road win Friday night, downing No. 20 Louisville, 20-19, at L&N Credit Union Stadium. 

Postgame Press Conference:

Other Notes:

--Saturday marked the 60th win in Clay Hendrix's nine-year tenure as head coach, as he improved to 60-42 in his Paladin career.

--Stoneking's 20 tackles-for-loss this season are tied for third in school history in a single-season with Bryan Dailer, who posted 20 during the 1996 campaign. His 13.5 sacks in a single season ranks him fifth in school history in that particular category. 

--With his performance Saturday, Evan James has broken into the Top 10 for best single-season receiving performances in school history.

--With a field goal and three PATs in Saturday's win, Ian Williams now has 234 kick-scoring points in his career, breaking into the top 10 list for kick scoring in program history. His 234 kick-scoring points surpasses the previous No. 10 Grayson Atkins, who finished his Paladin career with 231. He is now 54-of-74 on field goal attempts and 72-of-73 on PATs.