Western Carolina scored twice in the 4th to edge Furman 43-42 on Saturday. The Paladins got a career best performance from RB Dominic Roberto in the losing effort. Furman's defense had issues all day, as Western gained over 500 total yards and threw for 386.
Western took a 10-7 lead after the one quarter of play. The Catamounts struck first, scoring on a 41 yard pick 6 by Jacob Harris. Furman then answered with Roberto's 1st TD run of the day to tie it at 7. Western took a 10-7 lead after a 32 yard FG late in the 1st quarter.
The second frame was a back and forth affair. Furman's Roberto scored again on a 3 yard TD run to put the Paladins up 14-10. Western answered with a 5 yard TD pass to re-take the lead at 17-14. The Paladins then scored on a Devin Abrams run to lead 21-17. Furman extended the lead to 11, when QB Hamp Sisson found TE Ryan Miller for a 2 yard TD pass. The Catamounts scored qith 18 seconds left in the half on a T.J. Jones TD run. That cut Furman's lead to 28-24 at the break.
Western struck first in the second half, they reclaimed the lead on a 33 yard TD run from QB Rogan Wells. The Paladins answered with two late 3rd quarter TD's. Dominic Roberto scored both, one from 11 yards out and the other on a scamper of 35 yards. That gave Furman a 42-31 lead heading into the 4th.
Western would go on to take the lead and the game with two TD drives in the 4th. T.J. Jones got his 2nd rushing TD , this one from 1 yard out. Western failed on the two point try and the Furman lead was 42-37 with 10 minutes left in the game. Western got the ball back and hit on the game's biggest pass play. The Catamounts took the lead on a 85 yard scoring strike from QB Rogan Wells to WR Kenny Benjamin. That put Western up 43-42 and they would go on to take the game by that score.
Dominic Roberto had a career best for Furman with 196 yards and 4 rushing TD's on 24 carries. Catamount QB Rogan Wells was 22 of 33 for 386 yards, 2 TD's and 2 picks. He also carried the ball 13 times for 91 yards. With the loss, Furman falls to 4-5 on the season and 2-4 in SoCon play. They'll host a VMI squad that is 4-2 in conference play this week. Kickoff is set for Saturday at 2 PM in that one. You can hear every play of Furman Football on ESPN Upstate.




