The Mini-Dome was rocked as the Bucs pulled off an impressive upset of the sixth ranked Furman Paladins 23-21 Saturday night.
“I promised the guys we’d win.” said ETSU Head Football Coach Paul Hamilton, “It was a total team effort.”
It definitely was a total team effort as the Bucs played solid on both sides of the ball and came up with big plays when they needed them.
The Bucs got ahead early just under three minutes into the game when quarterback Todd Wells hooked up with receiver Cecil Moore for a 42-yard touchdown. This would not be the only time Wells found Moore.
Furman matched the Bucs on their third possession of the game when Paladin tailback Louis Ivory found his way into the end zone with an eight-yard run.
Knowing Furman was going to be tough throughout, the Bucs came right back 2:45 into the second quarter when Wells found Moore once again for a 35-yard touchdown pass.
Not to be outdone, the Paladins once again marched down the field behind Ivory and knotted the score up at 14 going into the half. On the drive Ivory carried the ball on six of the 10 plays.
Coming out of the half the Paladins began to turn up the heat once again behind Ivory.
Ivory found the end zone for his second score of the game from 11 yards out making the score 21-14 with 7:51 to go in the third quarter.
Looking to jump back, Wells tried to hook up with receiver Tim Turner, but the ball bounced off Turner’s hands and right into a Furman player. This was Wells’ third pick of the game and the Bucs entered the fourth quarter down 21-14.
The Paladins and Ivory began the fourth like the third by pounding the ball down the field with the run.
Ivory carried the ball on seven of the 10 plays and brought the ball all the way down to the Buccanneer 1-yard line.
As Ivory took the ball and began his run to the end zone, outside linebacker Russ Lindgren knocked the ball loose, resulting in a turnover that gave the Bucs the momentum boost they needed.
“It was a big momentum boost getting that fumble,” Moore said. “We were a little down, that got us back up.”
On the Bucs next possession, key runs by Wells and fullback Jermaine Gamble brought the Bucs down to the 8-yard line where Wells ran it in for the touchdown taking a hard hit in the process.
Now it was up to kicker Con Chellis to simply knock in the extra point and the game would be tied again. Unfortunately a low snap caused the kick to miss and the Bucs still trailed 21-20.
“It knocked us to our knees, that missed extra point,” Hamilton said.
The Bucs, like they had done all game, bounced right back as the defense stopped Ivory and the Paladins on their next two possessions and forced them to punt to awaiting punt returner Keyandre Fenn.
Fenn took the punt and ran it all the way down to the Furman 13-yard line with just 1:34 to go in the game.
From there Chellis took care of business and knocked in a 26-yard field goal that proved to be the game winner.
The Bucs came up huge on both sides of the ball and withstood 231 rushing yards from Ivory and 12 penalties for 96 yards.
“This is an undescribable feeling,” Moore said. “Coach told us all week we weren’t going to lose this game.”
The Bucs got huge performances from Wells and Moore once again. Wells completed 23 of 44 passes for 336 yards with two touchdown passes and also ran for 65 yards on nine carries. Moore also came up big with five catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
On the defensive side the Bucs held Ivory when it counted and came up with big interceptions all night.
“I’m proud of our football team. There are a lot of great teams in our conference; we play the best team in America in our division,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton was also extremely proud of quarterback Wells.
“He’s been through so peaks and valleys, ups and downs. He played a great game and that guy is a winner,” he said.
This game will certainly serve as a momentum booster when the Bucs travel next week to face Georgia Southern, the top ranked team in the Division I-AA polls.
But don’t look for Hamilton and the Bucs to back down as they showed that this team has heart. “Our guys have the heart the size of the dome,” he said. “They have the heart of a lion and I am proud to coach them and lucky to coach them.

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