By MONTE DUTTON

Furman embarks on the annual bid for a miracle on Saturday afternoon at 4:30.

Not much is riding on it. No national rankings or playoff hopes rest on its outcome. It’s just a big school, Clemson, against a little school, Furman, both playing mainly for pride.

The Paladins make the short 30-mile trek to Clemson on Saturday to face the Tigers in the season ender.

Furman (6-5) of the Southern Conference visits Clemson (5-5) of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Paladins have won twice as many games as last season. What the Tigers seek modestly is bowl eligibility, with their final game at South Carolina to spare.

No pressure. Clemson has tamed Furman 32 straight times. This potential mismatch is to be televised locally on the CW 62.

“They’re still Clemson, one of the best programs in the country,” Furman head coach Clay Hendrix said. “They have lots of talent.”

Three years ago Furman outgained Clemson in total yards, 384-376, but as games are decided on the basis of points, not yards, it’s just a footnote. The score was 35-12.

Furman is Clemson’s oldest football foe, having provided the opposition on Oct. 31, 1896, in Greenville in a game the Tigers won, 14-6.  Saturday’s game will mark the 59th football meeting in a series Clemson leads 44-10-4.

Furman posted a 32-14 win over VMI on Saturday at Paladin Stadium to complete its Southern Conference schedule with a 4-4 record. Clemson is coming off a 20-19 victory over Louisville.

“It’s a great opportunity,” said inside linebacker Raleigh Herbert of Cumming, Ga. “I really wouldn’t want to be playing anybody else. These are the games you look forward to playing as a little kid. I’m really excited at the opportunity to go play them.”

For the Paladins to put up a respectable showing, their offense will have to rely heavily on its passing game. Sophomore Trey Hedden has passed for 2,788 yards and 16 touchdowns. That’s 172 yards shy of Ingle Martin’s school record of 2,959 yards, established in 2005.

Hedden’s primary target has been freshman wide receiver Evan James, who last week caught nine passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns to establish new school freshman standards for receptions (59) and receiving yards (760). His six touchdown grabs is a Paladin freshman record.

The return of redshirt sophomore wideout Ja’Keith Hamilton (38 catches for 521 yds., 5 TDs) from injury has also been a plus.

 Furman enjoyed its best rushing outing of the season last Saturday versus VMI, totaling 174 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman C.J. Nettles (357 yds., 4 TDs) and redshirt junior Ben Croasdale (282, 2) have helped fill the void following a season-ending injury (fractured wrist) sustained by Gavin Hall in a 24-13 win over The Citadel. Jayquan Smith has a team-leading six rushing touchdowns.

Historically, Furman success has been grounded in, which is to say it has featured a sound rushing foundation.

“To be an elite program, you’ve got to be balanced,” Hendrix said. “If you look at our league and go back several years, there’s a crazy difference. I think that’s true at a lot of places. We’ve got to have more balance. We’ve had more than we did last year. We’ve still got to learn that a little bit. You’ve got to look at your personnel. I’m happy with our passing game, but if you look at a year from now, we’ve got to be more balanced.”

Looking to slow down Clemson’s attack will be the FCS leader in tackles for loss (20) and sacks (13-1/2), redshirt sophomore defensive end Joshua Stoneking, who also paces Furman with 73 tackles.

The Paladins boast one FCS’s top three-way specialists in graduate Ian Williams, who has converted 12/18 field goals, averaged 44.4 yards per punt, and recorded touchbacks on 45 of his 56 kickoffs this fall.

“I’m really looking forward to playing on a stage like this,” Williams, a Raleigh, N.C., product. “This is our last game here. We’re going to lay it all out on the field, do our best and have a lot of fun doing it.

“I love it here. It’s unfortunate seeing it come to an end.”

“We’ve got a lot of improving to do, which will take place in the offseason,” Herbert, a redshirt sophomore, said. “We’ve just got to put it all out there. We’ve got a bright future, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Freshman Ryan Reid tucked away a rebound in the 107^th minute to lift No. 1 seed Furman to a 1-0 victory over No. 3 seed UNC Greensboro as the Paladins secured their second straight Southern Conference men’s championship crown Sunday afternoon at Stone Soccer Stadium.

With less than four minutes left in the second 10-minute overtime period, Connor Stout played a long ball into the center of the box that Wilfer Bustamante headed towards the left side of goal. UNCG goalkeeper Seth Wilson made a diving stop, but Reid swept the rebound into the open side of the net with a left-footed shot at the 106:16 mark to secure the Paladins’ 16^th SoCon Tournament title.

The victory clinched Furman (14-1-4) its 13^th NCAA Tournament bid while extending the Paladins’ winning streak to eight matches and their unbeaten run to 11 games. UNCG fell to 12-4-4. Furman is ranked fifth in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 and No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

“It feels really good to win on our own field in front of all these fans, and the student section was unbelievable,” said Paladin head coach Doug Allison, who led Furman to the SoCon tournament title for the 11^th time in his 31-year career. “I’m so happy for our kids to win this game on their home field.

“The resilience that they had was just incredible. We got that chance there at the end, and I was hoping we could take it, but we had been practicing penalty kicks, too.  It’s one of those situations where the kids are so resilient right now.  Ivan (Horvat) had to make an unbelievable save to keep us in the game, and once he did that, then there was the buildup for the second half. The atmosphere from the students was amazing.  Having that many students in this venue means a lot to me, and we were supported by an amazing number of student-athletes from other teams.” 

The match between SoCon heavyweights featured few clear-cut chances. Furman’s Grayson Travis missed just wide in the opening moments of the match and Luke Munson struck a long range shot that forced a save by Wilson in the first half while Issah Haruna’s shot, the only shot on goal by the Spartans in regulation, was turned away by Furman redshirt freshman Horvat in the 29^th minute. Neither team managed a shot on goal during the second half or in the first overtime period.

Furman finished the match with a 9-7 edge in total shots and a 3-2 advantage in shots on goal. Horvat and Wilson each posted a pair of saves. Horvat, the SoCon Goalkeeper of the Year, notched his sixth shutout of the season.

Midfielder Diego Hernandez was named the tournament’s most outstanding player and was joined on the all-tournament team by Horvat, Braden Dunham and Ryan Wagner. Furman’s Jack Travis received the Pinnacle Award, given to the athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team.

Sunday’s second-round NCAA Tournament match between No. 16 seed Furman and the winner of Thursday night’s Clemson-Western Michigan match will kick off at 1 p.m. at Eugene Stone III Stadium.

Admission to Sunday’s match is $10 for all fans, students, faculty and staff.

The roles are reversed on Wednesday night at Timmons Arena, where Furman men’s basketball plays the Ohio Christian Trailblazers at 6:30.

Ohio Christian (5-1), a member of NAIA and the River States Conference. The Trailblazers defeated Miami University (Hamilton) on Saturday. Sophomores Parker Penrod and Caleb Schmelzer lead Ohio Christian in scoring.

Furman enters Wednesday’s home game at 1-3 following a 70-54 setback at Northern Iowa last Friday night. Cooper Bowser paced the Paladins with 16 points and Charles Johnston notched his third double double in four games with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but Furman managed to connect on just 4/30 three-point attempts. Trey Campbell led UNI with 18 points and the Panthers converted on 14/7 trips to the foul line.

Freshman Alex Wilkins leads the Paladins, averaging 15.8 points and four assists per game, while Johnston has posted 10.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Bowser has contributed 10.8 points per game, 7.0 and rebounds.

The Paladins conclude the brief two-game homestand on Sunday when they host the Queens Royals as part of a men’s and women’s doubleheader at Timmons Arena. The Furman women’s team entertains Clemson at 2 p.m. before the men host Queens at 5 p.m.

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