By MONTE DUTTON

For the first half of a quarter and the first three minutes of the second half, Furman was better than Mercer.

Unfortunately, a college football game is more than 10 minutes and change; almost six times more. The Bears dominated the rest of a 52-28 victory on Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.

It was the most lovely of days to spend in a house of horrors. The sky was almost cloudless, the temperature mild, and the fall colors were starting to change in the backdrop of the venue.

Mercer’s high-powered offense did what it wanted. Precious little was left for Furman head coach Clay Hendrix to say other than to salute the opposition.

Hendrix was a straight shooter who lacked firepower. He was gracious, offered no excuses and acknowledged that the Paladins were mauled for most of the game on offense and defense.

Furman had 105 yards of offense the first 7-1/2 minutes and 118 yards the next 52-1/2. Mercer had 13 yards for the first 7-1/2 and 615 the rest of the way.

Freshman Braden Atkinson threw for 426 yards and four touchdowns to lead 13^th-ranked Mercer (7-1, 6-0 SoCon). The conference’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs will be determined next Saturday when the Bears visit Western Carolina (6-3, 5-0) at 2:30 p.m.

Furman (5-4, 3-3) visits Chattanooga (4-5, 3-2) next Saturday at noon.

How different it started. The Furman defense forced a punt. Taylen Blaylock returned it 35 yards to the Mercer 20. Three plays later Trey Hedden hit Evan James for a 14-yard touchdown. The Bears were offside on the kick, inducing Furman to go for two. Jayquan Smith didn’t get in, and the Paladins led, 6-0.

Mercer reached midfield but had to punt again. A pass interference penalty gave the Paladins a first down at their own 33. C.J. Nettles, a freshman from Pensacola, Fla., streaked 67 yards down the right sideline with 7:33 remaining in the first quarter, and Ian Williams’ kick gave Furman a 13-0 lead.

All that was before the deluge.

Atkinson tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Malik Simmons and an 18-yard scoring strike to C.J. Miller to put the Bears in front 14-13. Mercer added a touchdown run by Miller and 44-yard field goal from Reice Griffith to score 24 consecutive points and carry a 24-13 advantage into the locker room.

Caleb Easterling, a freshman from Richmond Hill, Ga., took the second-half kickoff and returned it 100 yards for Furman’s third touchdown.

Atkinson answered with a 63-yard touchdown to Adjatay Dabbs to put Mercer back up, 31-20.

Furman then scored its final points on Hedden’s 64-yard scoring pass to Ja’Keith Hamiton, and Hedden’s conversion pass to Kerry King narrowed the Bears’ edge to three with 12:41 remaining in the third quarter.

The early rallies in both halves were, in hindsight, merely a façade. Mercer scored on short rushing touchdowns on its next two possession, driving 79 and 45 yards, respectively.

The Bears capped the rout with Atkinson’s fourth touchdown pass, 37 yards to Adonis McDaniel, in the fourth quarter.

Mercer gained 628 yards of total offense and converted 36 first downs while holding Furman to just 227 total yards and eight first downs. The Bears’ defense sacked Hedden four times and made seven tackles-for-a-loss.

Nettles rushed 15 times for a career-high 105 yards and a score to lead the Furman offense. Hedden threw for 155 yards. He was 12/18 with a touchdown and an interception. FIve of the completions went to James for 39 yards and a score.

Take a look at the stats here.

Meanwhile, men’s basketball begins in earnest with a neutral-site game at Rock Hill Sports & Events Center on Monday at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Field of 68 Tipoff Marathon, matching the Paladins against reigning Big South champion High Point.

The game is to be streamed live on the event’s YouTube page. Dan Scott and Tom Van Hoy are on the air at The Fan Upstate (97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM/ 1490 AM in Spartanburg).

The Paladins, picked to finish second in the Southern Conference in preseason voting by the league’s 10 head coaches, return two starters and eight letter winners from a 2024-25 squad that posted a 25-10, reached the finals of the SoCon Tournament and received an at-large bid to the NIT. Furman’s 25 wins tied for the second most in school history while the NIT berth, the third for the program, marked its first at-large selection.

Coach Bob Richey, now in his ninth season as head coach at Furman, welcomes back preseason All-SoCon selections Cooper Bowser and Tom House, along with returning starter Ben Vander Wal.

The season opener marks the fifth all-time meeting between the Paladins and Panthers with Furman holding a 3-1 series lead. High Point captured the victory in the most recent meeting on Dec. 6, 2022, at Timmons Arena, 85-82.

The Panthers, coming off a 29-win season and NCAA Tournament appearance, are the preseason favorite in the Big South Conference and ranked eighth in CollegeInsider.com’s preseason mid-major top 25. Furman is No. 14 in the preseason poll.

Following Monday’s matchup in Rock Hill, Furman returns to Timmons Arena for its home opener at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, when it plays defending Sun Belt Conference champion Troy.

Kudos is in order for retiring head coach Doug Allison, whose team wrapped up its record 22^nd SoCon regular-season title with a 2-0 victory at Wofford.

Wilfer Bustamante and Diego Hernandez scored the goals.

Furman, (12-1-4, 4-0-1 SoCon}, locked up a first-round bye in the SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship and will host the winner of Friday’s first-round match between Wofford and ETSU in semifinal round action at Stone Soccer Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m.

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