GREENVILLE, S.C. – Scott Riddle threw for a Southern Conference record of 534 yards and Terrell Hudgins established new Elon single-season milestones for receptions and receiving yards, but the No. 14 Phoenix fell to Furman 52-49 during Homecoming and Senior Day festivities in front of 11,476 fans on Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.
Jerome Felton, a senior, ran for a career-high 154 yards and four touchdowns as the Paladins (4-5 overall, 2-3 SoCon) kept their bid alive for a ninth consecutive winning season. The Phoenix (6-3, 4-2) retained a first-place tie with Wofford (7-3, 4-2) and Georgia Southern (7-2, 4-2) in the league standings, one-half game ahead of Appalachian State (7-2, 3-2).
Playing in the final home game of his career, Felton scored on runs of one, seven and 10 yards before finishing off his performance with a career-long 60-yard touchdown bolt to give the Paladins a 52-42 lead with 4:16 remaining in the contest.
Elon made it 52-49 with a 14-yard touchdown strike from Riddle to Hudgins with 2:02 left in the game, but Furman's Ryan McKie recovered the onside kick and the Paladins ran out the clock.
"It was good to get the win and send these seniors out with a victory in their final home game," Furman coach Bobby Lamb said. "We made some plays in the first half and got up 24-7, but even then we knew it was far from over. Elon has a great offense, but we figured out a way to make just enough plays to win."
In addition to setting the new single-game plateau for both Elon and the SoCon in passing yards, Riddle registered new program single-season records for passing attempts (425), plays of total offense (523) and yards of total offense (3,071). Wes Pope had established the previous top marks in all three categories, tallying 375 passing attempts, 462 total plays and 2,607 net yards last season.
Hudgins tied his own program single-game record with 16 receptions to go with his 207 yards and two touchdowns. His 1,184 receiving yards and 14 touchdown catches top Richard McGeorge’s 1,061 receiving yards in 1968 and 13 TD receptions in 1969.
Along the way, Hudgins became the first Southern Conference player to ever post three or more consecutive contests of 100 or more receiving yards twice. Western Carolina's Gerald Harp (1980), Western Carolina's Lamont Seward (2000), Chattanooga's Alonzo Nix (2003) and Appalachian State's DaVon Fowlkes (2004) all fashioned three straight games of 100+ receiving yards once each. Hudgins recorded a league-record five consecutive games of 100 or more receiving yards last year.
Riddle completed 38 of 52 passes and threw for three touchdowns while also rushing for three scores, marking the second time this season that he was responsible for a program-best six touchdowns in a single game. He was picked off three times and suffered four sacks.
Riddle's 534 yards topped the previous top SoCon single-game mark of 532 yards set by Chattanooga's Chris Sanders in a 40-35 loss to Furman during the 1999 campaign. The total also eclipsed the previous Elon milestone of 386 yards by Heath Hewett at Catawba during the 1990 season.
"The disappointing thing is we got off to a bad start and turned the ball over three times," Elon coach Pete Lembo said. "If you want win games in November, you've got to play your best football. If you turn it over, you won't win any games in this conference."
The victory was Furman's eighth straight over Elon and 10th in the 11-game series. The 101 combined points marked the highest scoring game in Paladin Stadium history, eclipsing the 96 points Furman and The Citadel tallied in 1994.
The collective 101-point outburst marks the highest scoring contest in the 86-year history of Phoenix football. Elon has been involved in a pair of 91-point games before. The Phoenix dispatched Norfolk State 65-26 on Oct. 11, 1980 en route to claiming the first of the program’s back-to-back NAIA championships. Elon ran to a 56-35 Homecoming triumph over Liberty on Nov. 9, 2002.
At 49 points, Elon scored its highest point total since putting up 59 in a 59-16 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan earlier this season. The Phoenix last surrendered 52 points in a 52-14 loss to Appalachian State on Nov. 19, 2005.
Felton's four touchdowns gave him 65 for his career and moved him into second place on the Southern Conference career scoring ledger with 402 points.
"They (Furman) pretty much came out and attacked us the way we thought they would with old-school power football,” Lembo said. “They did a great job of executing."
Furman's William Middleton set up the game's first score with a 27-yard interception return to the Elon 14. Two plays later, Felton scored on a 10-yard run to stake the Paladins to a 7-0 lead.
Later in the first half, Furman stretched its lead to 17-7 when Felton capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. Renaldo Gray wrapped up the first-half scoring with a one-yard scoring plunge with 47 seconds to go before the break to give the Paladins a 24-7 halftime advantage.
The Phoenix got back in the game with a pair of early third-quarter scores – a one-yard run by Riddle and a five-yard scoring toss from Riddle to Hudgins – to draw within 24-21.
Furman answered with the help of a 68-yard kickoff return by Mike Brown that set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from Gray to Larry Hedden, and a one-yard plunge by Felton with 2:22 remaining in the third quarter for a 38-21 advantage.
Elon clawed back and made it 45-42 following a pair of one-yard touchdown runs by Riddle and a 44-yard scoring toss to Bo Williamson, but Furman got the game's decisive points from Felton, who took a handoff off left guard and outran Phoenix defenders for a 60-yard burst to stake the Paladins to a 52-42 lead with 4:16 to go.
"Any time you dig yourself a big hole in a conference game against a very good opponent, it's going to be hard to make that ground up,” Lembo said. “I'm proud of how our kids battled back, but to win games in November, you need to play mistake-free football for 60 minutes. Obviously, we didn’t do that as we committed three turnovers and gave up a lot of yards defensively. It's tough to win games like that."
Michael Mayers hauled in 137 yards on nine catches and amassed another 133 yards on four kickoff returns – 33.3 yards per return – on his way to piling up 268 all-purpose yards for the Phoenix.
Williamson snagged six receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown while Furman's Patrick Sprague made eight catches for 104 yards. Gray completed 14 of 22 passes for 160 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran for 77 yards and a score.
Making his second collegiate start, Elon's Brandon Wiggins led all defenders with a career-high 17 tackles to go along with a sack, a TFL and a forced fumble.
Furman faces Georgia Southern next Saturday in Statesboro in a 3:30 p.m. game while Elon travels to Charleston to face The Citadel in a 1 p.m. contest.
–ELON–
