Furman 'Eclipses' Anderson Under a Blood Moon in 2026 Season Opener

 

Dartmouth transfer wideout Daniel Haughton had five catches for 87 yards in his Paladin debut (Photo Courtesy of Furman Sports Information)

Furman 20, Anderson 3

GREENVILLE, S.C.—The latest meeting between old childhood friends and neighbors came under a blood moon and some fancy lights which flickered purple intermittently at the end of the third quarter, but when it was all over, Clay Hendrix’s Furman Paladins (1-0) trotted off with a 20-3 win over Bobby Lamb’s Anderson Trojans (0-1).

There was not much pomp nor was there a lot of circumstance, and certainly nothing happened that famed preacher John Hagee might describe in one of his sermons about about such a celestial alignment as “blood moons”. There was nothing apocalyptic here.

Sometimes paths cross and stars align because they just do, and there doesn’t have to be any meaning to it. For Furman’s 2026 opening act, it would be a mistake to put too much into the result. It’s one game and now there’s 11 more.

It was a night to celebrate a new beginning to a new football season with a game between two old friends that have helped make Furman Football season, which has established itself as the premier football program in the SoCon, as the Paladins have won a league-best 15 conference titles and one national title, while also winning a national title in 1988. A lot of that history forged by the program came from both Hendrix and Lamb, who have carved out their own their star along Paladins Championship “Walk of Fame”.

For a majority of Paladin Stadium’s near half-century of operation, Hendrix and Lamb spent time on the same sideline inside the friendly confines, which opened its 46^th season hosting Furman football on Thursday evening. Furman notched its 195^th win in the place they have called home since 1981. All told, the Paladins improved to 39-7 overall in home openers at Paladin Stadium.

Hendrix and Lamb are responsible for combining for 177 of those now 195 wins inside the facility, whether as teammates (1982-85) or coaches (1987-06). But it was Hendrix that moved to 4-0 against his good friend, with three of those wins coming during Lamb’s time at the helm of Mercer’s football program (2014-19).

Lamb’s lone win over Furman in Paladin Stadium came in 2015, as the head coach of the Bears, with Mercer claiming a 27-20 overtime win on that occasion. On Thursday night, Lamb didn’t run the ‘Trojan Horse’ play nor did he figure out how to knock the Paladin off his high horse. Mainly due to Furman’s dominance on the defensive side of the football, which allowed only six rushing yards on 23 attempts for Anderson, surrendering a mere 160 for the game.

Furman ended the night with a commanding 291-yard advantage in total output, finishing the evening by outgaining the Trojans, 451-160. That included a substantial 262-yard advantage on the ground, as the Paladins outgained the Trojans on the ground, 268-6.

The fact that the Paladin defense was so dominant when preseason SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Joshua Stoneking was so rendered so inconspicuous by a dedicated effort from Anderson to double-team and chip him on the edge to limit his overall effect in the game made the biggest statement in the season-opening win.

For the most part, the Trojans did a nice job of holding a player that was a member of seven different All-America teams last season—a Furman record—in check, and still the Paladin defense managed to record seven tackles-for-loss in the win.

Wingate transfer Eli Lipscomb, who faced off against Anderson last season as a part of his Freshman All-America season for the Bulldogs, was the biggest beneficiary of the Trojans overall focus being on stopping Stoneking, as he finished his debut in a Paladin uniform with six tackles, three tackles-for-loss, two quarterback hurries and one of the two sacks the Paladins recorded in the win.

Joining in the fun on defensive were both veteran linebacker Raleigh Herbert, who posted six tackles to tie Lipscomb for team-high honors, while true freshman cornerback Braylon Peebles posted a strong debut, recording a pair of pass breakups.

On the offensive side of the football, there was an overwhelming sense that the Paladins left something to be desired, despite racking up 451 yards of total offense and 268 of it on the ground. That said, a pair of Nathan Chapman missed field goals and an INT deep in the Anderson red zone, as Furman was driving for a score on the opening possession of the second half certainly left something to be desired.

In his first start under center as the Furman signal-caller, Jake Garcia put together a solid, but not spectacular showing. 

The Michigan transfer, if anything, was efficient and steady, despite not having the greatest opening quarter-and-a-half. His leadership to not force throws was pretty evident for all to see, and even on his one miscue of the evening, which was an outstanding play made by safety Carter Wit at the 4-yard line, in which he had to use every inch of his vertical leap to snag the ball out of the air and prevent it ending up in the waiting arms of Furman tight end Jackson Pryor, who was wide open in the corner of the end zone for a score that would have given the Paladins their third TD of the night, however, that never came.

Garcia finished the contest connecting on 15-of-28 passes for 183 yards, with an INT. He also finished rushing for 51 yards on nine rush attempts.

His favorite target in the passing attack was Dartmouth transfer Daniel Haughton, who hauled in five passes for 87 yards, while Ethan Harris had a solid start to his senior campaign with three catches for 49 yards. Rounding out the top passing targets was Jackson Pryor, who also hauled in three passes for 15 yards in the contest.

On the ground, Furman had a three-pronged attack at running back, with CJ Nettles leading the three primary running backs utilized by the Paladins on the evening, rushing for 99 yards on 10 carries, which included a 47-yard scamper in the first half. Meanwhile, Ben Croasdale scored Furman’s only two touchdowns of the night and ended up totaling 67 yards on the ground on 11 carries, while CJ Stokes, who was playing in his first game as a Paladins, finished with 37 yards on 11 carries.

Anderson finished the game led by quarterback Wilson Edwards, who finished the evening by connecting on 19-of-31 passes for 154 yards and was sacked twice.

Defensively, the Trojans got nine tackles, an INT and a pass breakup from safety Carter Wit, while linebacker Alex Ledgford added eight tackles and half-a-tackle-for-loss.

While the game lacked the overall glitz and glamour of some of Furman’s season openers, it ended up being a solid way to open the season for Hendrix and the Paladins, who now look forward to a much different and tougher challenge on the horizon, as the Paladins will tangle with Tennessee for the first time since 1941 next Saturday. Kickoff between the Paladins and Vols is set for 3:30 p.m. EST at Neyland Stadium. Lamb and Anderson will look for their first win of the season next Saturday against Keiser in the home opener and also first meeting between the two programs. Kickoff for that contest is slated for 6 p.m.

How It Happened:

Neither team could find points in the opening quarter of play, with the most notable missed opportunity coming on a 43-yard missed field goal from Furman’s new place-kicker Nathan Chapman missed wide right on a 43-yard field goal attempt following an Anderson turnover on the game’s first play from scrimmage, as Eli Lipscomb recovered an Anderson fumble in Trojans territory at the 40. The Paladins would see their opening drive of the season bog down at the 25, and Chapman was called on for the field goal attempt.

Midway through the second quarter, Furman sophomore running back CJ Nettles broke off a 47-yard run with 8:47 remaining in the half, getting the ball just inside the Anderson red zone to the 24. However, the drive once again soured, as Garcia and the Paladins only netted a yard over the next three plays and Furman was forced to settle for a 40-yard field from Chapman, which was perfect, to give the Paladins a 3-0 lead with 7:10 remaining in the half.  

Furman’s first touchdown of the season would come on its next possession, which was set up by the Paladin defense with a Joshua Stoneking tackle-for-loss and Caldwell Bussey sack forcing a quick Trojans three-and-out and getting the ball back to a Furman offense fresh off finding its first breakthrough in the contest.

Following the Anderson punt, the Paladins took over the football at their own 37 and on third play of the drive, Garcia hooked up with Dartmouth transfer Daniel Haughton for a 49-yard pass play to set the Paladins up well inside Anderson territory at the Trojans 4. On the very next play, Ben Croasdale bowled over from four yards out to give the Paladins a 10-0 lead with 3:02 left in the half.

Anderson would respond by scoring its only points of the night, as the Trojans were set up in great territory when Trojans quarterback Wilson Edwards located Kenneth Brown for a 37-yard connection behind the Paladin secondary and down to the Paladin 32. However, Furman’s defense did enough to force the Trojans to settle for a 28-yard Ross Burnette field goal to cut Furman’s lead to seven, at 10-3, with 1:16 left in the half.

It would leave Garcia and the Paladins just enough time to find the end zone one more time in the half, as Garcia engineered a beautifully-executed nine-play, 73-yard drive that was capped off by Croasdale’s second touchdown of the game, as he plunged into the end zone from a yard out to make it 17-3 on the final play of the opening half.

In the second half, Furman’s defense did its thing, locking down the Anderson offense, allowing it to gain a total of just 30 yards over the final 30 minutes of football. The lone points of the second half came from the boot of Chapman, who connected on a 30-yard field goal with 9:05 left in the game, giving the Paladins a 20-3 lead and that would ultimately end up being the final verdict.

Postgame Press Conference: