Eagles win big after fourth quarter eruption

The last 10 minutes of the game provided a lot of action for spectators at Furman’s homecoming game and when the dust settled, the Georgia Southern University Eagles were victorious, 38-17.

Going into the fourth quarter, the game was much closer at 17-10.

When it looked like McKinnon would get tackled for a loss with 10:08 to go in the game, he pitched it to Johnathan Bryant, took the ball and broke through for a 42-yard touch down. The Eagles went up 24-10.

During Furman’s next drive, Hannon fumbled a snap, Eagle defensive end Dion Dubose picked it up and ran 44 yards to set the Eagle up for a first and goal on the 5-yard line.

From there, Dominique Swope scored from four yards out for his first touchdown of the day. The Eagles and freshman kicker Alex Hanks missed the extra point attempt. Eagles up 30-10.

Furman responded with a 85-yard drive capped off with a two-yard touchdown from Jerodis Williams. With 4:24 left in the game, the score was 30-17 GSU.

With 20 seconds left in the game, the Eagles added an extra nail in the coffin, Swope scored his second touchdown of the game, as well as the 2-point conversion. Eagles would go on to win the game 38-17.

Furman chips the ball down the field, GSU one-ups them

After receiving the ball, down 7-3, a result of a 2nd quarter field goal by GSU and a go-ahead Furman touchdown to head into halftime, the Eagles looked start playing their own brand of “Georgia Southern football.”

Thanks to a 35-yard kick return by senior safety JJ Wilcox, the Eagles converted a 4th and 1 as well as well as a third and seven and with 8:05 to go in the third quarter, the Eagles pull ahead 9-3. Jerick McKinnon carried the ball across the goal-line for the score and Alex Hanks had his extra-point attempt blocked.

The Paladins ate up 4:15 of the clock and kicked a 48-yard field goal but the Eagles were not discouraged.

On their first offensive play of their next possession, the Eagles and McKinnon completed a 75-yard pass to sophomore reciever Zach Walker to bring the score to 10-15 Eagles. Monken and his staff decided to go for the 2-point conversion and Darreion Robinson took the ball across the ball and the score was set at 17-10, GSU on top.

Furman held the lead going into halftime. 7-3

Furman responded to the Eagle field goal by putting together an impressive drive but it would prove that the story from the first quarter seemed to remain relevant to how the day was going to go.

Once the Paladins got to the GSU 25-yard line, they failed to convert a third down so they decided to punt the ball and pin the Eagles to their 1-yard line.

Both teams exchanged drives that provided little gain until Furman looked at the clock and realized they needed to score before they went into the half. Especially since they’d be kicking to GSU to start the third quarter.

With 3:35 left in the half, Furman made a completion to Hank McCLoud for a 33-yard gain. This set up a first and goal for the Paladins.

With 1:50 to go in the half, The Paladins took the lead 7-3 off a touchdown by Ernie Cain on a third and two.

Sophomore Ezayi Youyoute came into the game at quarterback for the final Eagle drive of the half. Youyoute came in and started throwing the ball for big completions down the sidelines.

The Eagles almost made the best of the time they were given to work with. While effectively using timeouts, the Eagles battled to the Furman 10-yard line until Youyoute fumbled a snap that the Paladins jumped all over.

Both defenses protect their red-zones. Eagles up 3-0

To start the game, both teams threatened but movement of the ball was only allowed between the 20’s. Once an opponent was in the red-zone, both defenses held the other team to a field goal attempt. The Eagles ended their drive from the first quarter on the first play of the 2nd quarter with a field goal, to take a 3-0 lead.

The Paladins pushed the ball until they got to the Georgia Southern University 17-yard line. The Eagle defense hunkered down and held the Paladins to a kick attempt, the kick had enough power but it bounced off the top of the goal post for a failed attempt.

GSU took over at the 20 and struggled during their first drive. They took an early sack and never recovered positive yards on the 3-and-out drive.

Furman freshman quarterback Reese Hannon balanced their offensive play selections and the GSU secondary was caught off-guard for a few short gains.

Eagle starting quarterback, junior Jerick McKinnon converted a 41-yard pass on a big third and 12 to junior T-back Johnathan Bryant.

The end of the drive was finished on the first play of the 2nd quarter when the Eagles kicked a go-ahead field goal.