ELON, N.C. – Ingle Martin passed for 203 yards and the contest’s lone touchdown as No. 7 Furman staved off Elon 10-0 Saturday night at Rhodes Stadium, handing the Phoenix a rare shutout loss.
Elon (2-5 overall, 1-3 Southern Conference) had not been blanked in its last 48 games, dating back to a 23-0 home loss to Western Kentucky on Sept. 16, 2000 at Burlington Memorial Stadium.
At 10 points, the Paladins posted their lowest offensive output in a Furman victory since claiming a 10-7 triumph at Chattanooga on Nov. 5, 1988, a month before the Paladins captured the national championship.
Furman (6-2, 3-1), which entered the contest ranked third in the country at the NCAA-IAA level in total offense (492.0 yards per game) and 10th in scoring (38.0 points per game), ended up with 330 total net yards to 235 for the Phoenix. The Paladins represented Elon’s third top-10 opponent in four games.
All of the evening’s points were posted in the second period. Scott Beckler booted a 25-yard field goal to open the game’s scoring, putting the Paladins up 3-0 with 12:44 left in the second quarter. Jerome Felton snagged a three-yard pass from Martin to extend the Furman advantage to 10-0 with 2:59 remaining before intermission.
“We’re glad to get the win,” said Furman coach Bobby Lamb. “That’s what we came for, and our defense was outstanding. We’re obviously disappointed in the way we performed offensively, not making the big play and putting it in the end zone. I think a lot of that was due to Elon. You have to tip your cap to coach Hamilton. They really got after us.”
The Paladin defense held Elon’s John Taylor to 60 yards rushing on 20 carries. Taylor began the night as the league’s leading rusher and leading scorer with 119.3 yards and 10.0 points per contest.
Kye Hamilton completed 22 of 39 passes with one interception on his way to career-high 145 yards to pace the Phoenix offense. Martin connected on 24 of his 35 passes with Isaac West receiving eight for 78 yards.
“We didn’t score any points, but our offense moved the ball and kept pressure on them,” said Elon coach Paul Hamilton. “The intensity that our kids are playing with right now is really special. We’re playing incredible defense. The thing that our kids do: they play from goal line to goal line. Lots of times, it looks like they’re (Elon’s opponent) going to score and we don’t quit.”
The Phoenix’s Chad Nkang, the Southern Conference’s leading tackler, amassed a game-high 18 total stops to pace all defenders. That tally equaled his career-high performance in Elon’s 27-13 setback to then-No. 8 Wofford two weeks ago.
Next Saturday, Elon hosts Western Carolina for its 2 p.m. Homecoming contest. Meanwhile, Furman will use its open date next weekend before hosting No. 2 Georgia Southern on Nov. 6.
Game Box Score
– ELON –
