By MONTE DUTTON

On Saturday I was duly impressed by Vanderbilt’s upset of top-ranked Alabama. I was saddened by Presbyterian’s late implosion in San Diego, Calif.

It was nice to have power restored at my home after nine days without it. On Sunday morning, I enjoyed the first hot shower in 10 days. I still don’t have access to TV and wi-fi at home, but I hope to get it back on Monday.

I watched the victory of Furman over The Citadel on this laptop at Zaxby’s. Helene was hell, but the fourth quarter at Johnson Hagood Stadium was heaven.

Don’t ever count the Paladins out unless, of course, Ole Miss is up by 76 points.

On this lovely Sunday, I don’t care about the storm wrecking my garage door. I don’t care that my glasses are held together by Super Glue. I don’t care that, while I was gone to Greenville for a Furman game that wasn’t played, someone broke into my house and stole enough to hamper my efforts but not enough to meet the insurance deductible.

I care about beating The Citadel. Having been to games in Charleston in which the Paladins were not playing, the stadium, named after a Confederate brigadier general and S.C. governor, is a harder place for Furman to play than it is for any other school.

Some say the rivalry isn’t what it once was, that Wofford has supplanted The Citadel as Paladin most wanted. Nonsense. To the best of my knowledge, no buttoned-down Terrier has ever kidnapped and blinded the Paladin’s horse. I was a child when it happened, but Pat Conroy, my favorite cadet, wrote about it in Beach Music. Sometimes truth is best recorded in fiction.

Truly, I respect military discipline. I respect The Citadel, and that is all.

I don’t much care for Wofford, either, but Furman-Citadel is Athens versus Sparta. Furman-Wofford is Athens versus Athens. Citadel-VMI is Sparta versus Sparta.

Opposites repel.

Those damned Bulldogs had me thoroughly humiliated for three and a half quarters. The final eight minutes had roughly the same effect as Francis Scott Key watching a star-spangled banner still flying over Fort McHenry.

The Furman (+15) women’s golf team placed three players among the top eight to finish as runner-up Sunday at the Evie Odom Invitational, which was hosted by Old Dominion at Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach, Va.

Sophomore Audrey Ryu (E) of Dublin, Ohio, birdied three out of four holes from No. 5 through 8 and added a fourth birdie on 16 to card a 1-under 69 in the final round.  She paced the Paladins in fourth place, finishing 10 strokes behind medalist Emma Schimpf (-10) of College of Charleston, who smoked the field with a three-round total of 68-66-66=200.

Freshman Jenna Madden (+1) was one stroke behind Ryu in a tie for fifth place after carding a 72 with four birdies, including consecutive birdies on Nos. 5 and 6. Senior Alise Knudson (+2) tied for eighth after leading Furman with a 2-under 68 and a team-high five birdies on Sunday.

College of Charleston (-2) led the field with a 275 to win the tournament by 17 strokes. The Paladins (+15) took second, followed by Sacramento State (+20) in third.  Miami (+21) and Notre Dame (+27), finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Furman concludes the fall season at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C., Oct. 25-27.

Tara Katz converted from the penalty spot in the 69^th minute as Furman fought to a 1-1 draw versus Samford in Southern Conference women’s soccer action Sunday afternoon at Shauna Yelton Field in Birmingham, Ala.

With the tie, Furman extended its unbeaten run to seven matches while moving to 5-4-3 overall and 1-0-2 in league play. Samford moved to 6-6-2 overall and 3-1-1 in the SoCon.

Following a scoreless first half that featured just three total shots on target, Furman broke the scoreless tie at the 68:19 mark. Katz, a graduate student and transfer from the University of Tennessee, was tripped on the left edge of the box and fired her penalty kick into the left-hand corner moments later to put Furman on the board.

Samford evened the match less than six minutes later off a set piece. The Bulldogs won a free kick on the left wing and Whitaker Buchanan served a free kick towards the nearside of the six-yard box that Fleming Dean headed into the net at 73:59 after goalkeeper Addison Corn attempted to come off her line and punch the ball away.

Samford and Furman each recorded six shots on goal while the Bulldogs managed an 18-14 edge in total shots. Corn notched five saves for the Paladins and Peyton Hull saved five for the Bulldogs.

Furman returns home on to host UNC Greensboro on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Furman’s Clark Akers (-5) fired an opening-round 67 to tie for third Sunday and lead the Paladin men’s golf team in round one of the Trinity Forest Invitational, hosted by SMU at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas.

A junior from Nashville, Tenn., Akers teed off on No. 10 and birdied five out of seven holes from No. 12 through the turn. He sits three back of individual leader Jack Buchanan (-8) of Southern Cal, who led the field with a 64 on Sunday.

Junior Harris Barth (-3) carded a 69 with five birdies to tie for 16th. Freshman Ludvig Josefsson (+3) and senior Will Morlan (+3) are tied for 65th after each recorded a 75 in round one.

Southern Cal (-15) smoked the field with a 273 on Sunday to take a three-stroke lead over Loyola Marymount (-12).  UNLV (-11) and Louisiana (-11) are tied for third, while SMU (-9) completes the top five. The Paladins (-2) are in ninth place.

The 54-hole tournament continues beginning at 10:55 a.m. on Monday.

Men’s tennis got its fall season underway at the Mercer Gridiron Classic in Macon, Ga.

The Paladins were one of 10 teams participating in the three-day tournament along with Alabama State, Clemson, Jacksonville State, Georgia College, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Mercer, Middle Georgia State, North Florida, and Troy.
Furman sent eight players in Walker Allen, Cole Burnam, Nicolas Dispas, Sam Fancutt, Theophile Joly, Connor Laymon, John Rado and Nico Snyder.
The opening day on Friday saw the Paladins collect singles wins from Dispas, Joly and Laymon.

In Friday’s doubles action, Laymon and Cole Burnam went 2-0 playing at Flight C. The duo began the day with a 6-2 victory versus Olschansky and Gianmarco Pitotti of Middle Georgia State. The teammates followed with a 6-0 win against Middle Georgia State’s Pedro Tence and Austin Aquino.
Furman recorded a total of seven victories Saturday including four in singles and three in doubles.
The Paladins return to action Oct. 10-14 in Cary, N.C., for the ITA Carolina Regional Championship.

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