By MONTE DUTTON

Back in the previous decade, when Clinton High School was going through hard times, it occurred to me that being a fan is not a fantasy. It’s short for fanatic.

Back then, I decided that whether the team, my team, your team, is good or bad, it’s still yours, mine and ours, for better or worse.

Such thoughts were heavy on my mind as I drove home from Paladin Stadium on Saturday, feeling sorry for myself and Furman. In some ways, athletes and fans misunderstand each other. The athletes do the hard work and deservedly reap the benefits, but the fans have a long-term commitment. They look at what happens with the weight of the ages on their shoulders. Thus were mine slumped after Chattanooga’s 41-10 victory.

Partly we live vicariously. Partly we live in a broader expanse of years.

It still gives me pause – hell, it causes my eyes to moisten – because a great friend,  Bruce Fowler, failed as head coach at his alma mater, and no one ever worked harder or loved Furman more.

Few are the fans who do not believe in manifest destiny. Another friend, Clay Hendrix, gave Furman back-to-back 10-3 seasons of great distinction.

Hendrix is as Furman a man as Frank Selvy, C. Dan Joyner or Lyles Alley. He knows Furman. He knows football. His players respect him and his staff. The seeds of inexperience will become the tall, tall trees of next season.

As injuries and adversity mount, none of this should be a surprise. Hendrix couldn’t coach the Kansas City Chiefs to three Super Bowls, but I doubt Andy Reid could do any better with the Furman Paladins. Not that he’d want to.

The students were on break. Attendance (6,987) was sparse.

As I walked from the football players’ tent, about 45 minutes before kickoff, the band was assembled in the entertainment area, playing the fight song.

Breathes there a man with soul so dead / Who never to himself hath said / This is my home, my native land … — Sir Walter Scott

I thought, what could be better?

As it turned out, a lot.

Before five minutes expired in the second quarter, Furman freshman quarterback Trey Hedden threw his third interception. Backup Carson Jones later threw a fourth. They were four of the Paladins’ five turnovers.

The halftime score was 20-3, and it didn’t get better. The Mocs compiled 10 more first downs, 69 more rushing yards, 141 more passing yards and 210 more altogether. They possessed the ball 14 minutes, 38 seconds longer.

Furman’s offense faced third down 11 times, and eight times the drive ended right there.

Chattanooga quarterback Chase Artopoeus completed 17/25 passes for 232 yards. Hedden and Jones combined were 12/20 for 103 with four interceptions, which were four more than Artopoeus, a senior from Circuit, Calif., who once wore a lighter blue at UCLA.

One Mocs receiver, junior Javin Whatley, caught more passes, 13, than Furman’s seven catchers combined.

It happens. It hurts.

“Our kids will hang in there,” said Hendrix. “We’ve got some talent.

“You talk about effort and execution. We had one and not the other. You make your breaks. We’re not making any right now.”

The Furman running game wasn’t ineffective. Myion Hicks, a junior from Desoto, Texas, rushed for 67 yards and the lone TD. It just didn’t matter. The Paladins fell too far behind to make it relevant.

Injuries are mounting. A valuable receiver, Joshua Harris, has been lost to off-the-field indiscretions. Furman (2-4, 1-1 SoCon) can make something of the season, but it doesn’t have Chattanooga (3-3, 2-1), which it defeated twice a season ago, to kick around anymore.

“We let them play the exact game they wanted to play,” Hendrix said. “We’ve got to do our job.”

Leading 7-3 after the opening quarter, UTC’s Jude Kelley connected on a pair of second-quarter field goals and Justus Durant ran 14 yards for a touchdown with 1:55 left in the half to put the Mocs ahead, 20-3.

Chattanooga found the end zone on each of its first two drives in the third quarter before Marquise Freeman intercepted a Carson Jones pass and rumbled 47 yards to extend the Mocs’ lead to 41-3.

The Paladins are back at home on Saturday, October 19, to host Western Carolina at 2 p.m. for homecoming at Paladin Stadium.

Take a look at the stats here.

Wellpilgrim.com is trying its best – translation: I’m trying – describe the highs and lows and avoid the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Highs and lows are inevitable because all the games have a loser and a winner, and when it’s done, they are the same number.

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