By MONTE DUTTON

All is well. Furman’s 48-7 victory over Stetson on Saturday was just what “the doctor” ordered.

Doctors are prevalent on campuses.

The Hatters are, well, Hatters. They play in the Pioneer Football League, which means Stetson doesn’t award football scholarships. Presbyterian is also in the PFL. It was a national league before spanning the nation became cool.

Furman (1-2) dominated, as it should, but did so with class.

“I just think we got better,” said head coach Clay Hendrix. “There’ll be a lot of things we’ve still got to fix. We’ll be challenged in several different ways.

“You better keep moving. You have success, and it makes you feel comfortable. What I’m enjoying most about this team is they’re good workers. They come to practice, and they work. We’re doing the things we have to do.”

The Paladins committed no turnovers and intercepted three passes, two by red-shirt freshman Billy Lewis and one by red-shirt senior Evan DiMaggio. Red-shirt freshman Joshua Stoneking blocked a field goal.

Red-shirt senior Ian Williams kicked a school-record 57-yard field goal and another from a mere 48.

Freshman quarterback Trey Hedden completed 20/27 passes for two touchdowns and 267 yards. Carson Jones, a red-shirt sophomore, hit 6/8 for a TD and 72 yards. Senior Joshua Harris caught seven passes for 164 yards and two scores.

The touchdown passes were for 51 yards (Ben Ferguson), 50 and 30 (Harris).

“It’s all about concentration,” said Harris. “When the lights go out, and you get down. … The first [touchdown catch], he (Hedden) called it, and I was one-on-one, and I thought, this is an opportunity I need to take advantage of. When Trey threw it, I was, like, oh, yeah, I could run into this one.”

Hedden, from Tampa, Fla., began the game tossing the ball out to sidelines, and it worked like a tasty recipe. Hedden took the gimmes short, and when the Hatters reacted, he and Jones dug them a bit deeper well.

“Coming into the game, we really wanted to start out doing the little things well,” Hedden said. “I think it was really important to establish the run and get some easy completions, move the sticks and get us in a rhythm.”

The Paladins scored 17 points apiece in the second and third quarters, didn’t give up a point until the fourth and eased into the locker room with a victory over Stetson that was about as convincing as a victory over the Hatters should be. They even let Stetson (2-1) return to DeLand, Fla., feeling reasonably good about themselves.

Vintage Furman. Wrapped in good, old purple jerseys with white helmets and trousers. The Paladins needed a comfortable, confidence-enhancing conquest. The Emperor Charlemagne likely had such an outcome in mind when he dubbed his peers Paladins.

The contemporary version performed its duties with suitable heroism and class. After taking heavy losses in Mississippi and a Charleston Southern ambush at Paladin Stadium, Furman established order. Its young team showed signs of maturity. It needed a Stetson with a nice crease.

Stetson quarterback Matt O’Connor completed 14/32 passes for 114 yards. Leading rusher Donovan Snyder gained 42 yards in 10 carries. The Hatters never scored until 8:28 remaining in the fourth quarter when its third quarterback, Trip Maxwell, found Aanjay Feliciano for an 11-yard score, the final one of the game.

The Paladins collected 11 more first downs (27-11), 70 more rushing yards (171-101), 196 more through the air (339-143) and, unfortunately, 63 more in penalties (108-45).

Not only did Williams provide a school-record field goal. He averaged 44.3 yards on five punts.

Furman (1-2) limited Stetson to 3/16 third-down conversions.

Seven Furman runners made carries. Nine receivers made catches.

“I’m most proud, really, of how we responded after last week, really the last two weeks,” said Hendrix. “We had really good practices, the focus has been really good and we got better.”

The Paladins visit William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., The Tribe defeated Wofford, 28-21, in Spartanburg, on Saturday. Game time next week is 6 p.m.

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