By MONTE DUTTON

Surely Saturday’s game between Furman and Chattanooga will not be as, uh, nettlesome as the first one.

A lot went wrong that turned out to be so right.

The Paladins’ 17-14 victory, at Max Finley Stadium on Nov. 4, was the season’s shining afternoon. Furman wrapped up the Southern Conference’s automatic playoff berth under adverse circumstances.

In the first quarter, SoCon Offensive Player of the Year Tyler Huff went down with a shoulder injury, and second-team all-conference safety Hugh Ryan was ejected for targeting. Redshirt freshman Carson Jones came off the bench to expertly spell Huff.

The Mocs scored in the fourth quarter on a freak play – a batted pass went for a 70-yard touchdown – but Jones directed a game-winning drive and threw a touchdown pass to Wayne Anderson Jr., with 1:44 remaining.

Chattanooga (8-4) won its opening-round game at Austin Peay, 24-21, on a last-second 35-yard field goal by Clayton Crile, and the Mocs get their second shot at the Paladins on Saturday at Paladin Stadium. Kickoff is 1 p.m. Furman (9-2) drew a first-round bye.

A new quarterback, Luke Schomberg, led the Mocs past the Governors. He completed 21/36 passes for 259 yards, but the Chattanooga running game also pierced APSU for 163 yards.

Schomberg has played in six games, but the bulk of the work went to Chase Artopoeus (187/298, 2,672 yards, 20 TD, 7 int.), whose availability is unknown. Artopoeus was the holder on the winning field goal.

It’s a familiar matchup, though not in the playoffs. Furman and Chattanooga are playing for the 54^th time in a series the Paladins lead, 32-21.

Several busloads, full of angry Mocs bent on vengeance, will spill onto Furman’s artificial green trying to do in the playoffs what they couldn’t achieve in the regular season. It’s a testy visit of annoying relatives.

“When you get to this point in the season, everybody’s got a good team. Everybody’s been through a ringer. Everybody’s been in close games,” Furman head coach Clay Hendrix said. “We’ve kind of been playing playoff games since the beginning of the [season], especially with the target that’s been on our back.

“We knew what our goals were. Every game’s a new game, and now it’s a new season.”

Huff hasn’t played a down since the injury, but he’ll be in the lineup on Saturday with personal assurances that he’s healthy and ready. In slightly more than eight games, Huff passed for 1,489 yards and rushed for 488. The graduate transfer from Presbyterian is resourceful and adventurous, adept at finding ways to win. In two seasons, Furman has lost only to Clemson, South Carolina and Incarnate Word in games Huff started. He’s 17-1 against FCS opposition.

“I think people give me too much credit,” Huff said. “There were all these guys working before I got here. They throw that record out and think it’s all me. I promise you it’s not. These guys who were here … there’s a reason everybody stuck around.”

Leading rusher Dominic Roberto is also set to return after missing the upset loss at Wofford.

“You don’t know how many of these moments you’ve got left,” grad defensive tackle Matt Sochovka said. “This last month and a half, you realize that you’re together with your brothers and it’s not going to last forever.

“It’s about winning games, but it’s about let’s not end this moment, these moments we have together as brothers. I think that’s what fuels me in these playoffs. We don’t want to not be together anymore.”

Some say they intend to make a contribution to keep the site alive. Several have done so recently. I reckon some just don’t get around to it. I used to list an address to send a check (DHK Sports, P.O. Box 768, Clinton, S.C. 29325). I finally got it through my thick head that not that many people write checks nowadays. For example, me. A more convenient means might be sending a reasonable amount to DHK Sports on Venmo.

Support the advertisers, and help keep the site – the game stories, the blogs, the photos – alive by making a monthly donation via Patreon. The Laurens County site is here. The Furman site is here.

Another way I can make a little is if you purchase my books at MonteDutton.net. They’re quite entertaining in spite of the fellow who wrote them. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions. The latest, The Latter Days, is about baseball.

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