Sports

Although Furman’s Southern Conference Championship in football is behind us, one player is continuing to enjoy football success as the Paladins’ very own Dakota Dozier impresses scouts on his way to the NFL. Dozier, a senior offensive lineman, garnered FCS First Team All-American honors this past season and has continued to impress in his off-the-field workouts since the formal season has ended.

Furman’s men’s lacrosse team has wasted no time seizing the opportunity to jump right into the fire. Last weekend, in the first varsity lacrosse game in Furman history, the Paladins fell 13-6 to Lehigh University, who are ranked 19th in the official NCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

Warm afternoons beginning to replace early sunsets can only mean one thing — baseball season is almost here. The Paladins open the 2014 season at Latham Stadium Feb. 14 versus Norfolk State. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

The Lady Paladins are back on track just in time for a huge conference showdown. After a brief two game road skid to Western Carolina and App State, the Lady Paladins came back with a huge win on the road against Wofford.

Although the Paladins have had a rough start to conference play with a 1-5 record, one player has really stepped up his game. Despite a slow start to the 2013-2014 campaign statistically, Kendrec Ferrara has started the new year with a bang, becoming a primary scoring option for the Paladins.

This past weekend the Furman men’s lacrosse team played Lehigh (ranked 16th nationally), beginning not only the season but a new era in Furman athletics. Furman also added a women’s lacrosse team, though they will not compete at the Division I varsity level until next year.

The following interview with Dakota Dozier, an offensive tackle for Furman’s football team and a prospect in the upcoming NFL draft, is edited from a recent interview for the Dixon and Fowler radio show.

Our sports editor’s thoughts on the NCAA conferences.

With a promising end-of-season surge, the Furman Paladin football team finished 21st in the national coaches’ poll.

2014 has not been a good year for the Paladins thus far. Since the beginning of the New Year, the men’s basketball team has stumbled into conference play, dropping its first five games against conference foes.

With the conclusion of the college football season, the best upperclassmen in the country have begun their journey to the NFL draft. A series of interviews, workouts, and tests await these players, but in the meantime, football fans can speculate on who is going where. This week I’ve compiled a mock draft for the first round of the upcoming NFL draft.

This past week Major League Baseball suspended Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez for his connections to the Biogenesis clinic and evidence of his interfering with the MLB’s investigation of charges that he took performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). The suspension was reduced from 211 to 162 games (one full season) plus the 2014 playoffs.

After a fall season highlighted by SoCon tournament championships in football, women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s cross country, Furman’s sports teams will look to maintain their success going into the spring.

Big plays were the story of the homecoming game, as Furman beat SoCon rival Samford 35-17. It was Furman’s third straight conference win and kept the Paladin’s conference title hopes alive. Furman also beat West Carolina to move above .500

1. Which MLB team has the most games won since their inception? How many? 2. Which NFL team holds the record for most points in a single game? How many? 3. Which NHL player holds the record for most goals in a game? How many? 4. Which NFL player holds the record for most rushing touchdowns in a season? How many? 5. Which NFL team scored the most points in a season? How many?

The rugby team is fairly new, it debuted in 1998, but rugby — a physically demanding team game that originated in England — has become one of the sports at which Furman consistently excels. Furman’s club team competes in Division II of Rugby USA and is nearing the end of a winning season in which the team went 3-1 and had the opportunity to compete in the playoffs.

For the first time in a while, the Furman basketball faithful have something to get excited about. It has been a successful early season thus far under first-year head coach Niko Medved. The Paladins have jumped out to a 2-0 start to the 2013-2014 season with wins over Sewanee and Gardner-Webb.

When one thinks of Furman athletics, soccer greats like Clint Dempsey, Ricardo Clark, and Walker Zimmerman usually come to mind. But in the coming years, the soccer legends may have to share the spotlight with a surging cross country team, which under new direction has the potential to gain national prominence.

With a 1-0 victory over Wofford on Sunday Elon’s Men Soccer team took home the SoCon Championship trophy for the 2013 season. The tournament was an exciting event for those soccer fans willing to brave the cold, wet weather as it rained through every game.

A look at the 2013 fall season

In a low-scoring battle, big plays ruled the day as Furman (4-5) beat SoCon foe Georgia Southern (4-4) 16-14 on Saturday. Furman jumped ahead on the first play from scrimmage when Tanner Skogen completed a 75-yard pass to Andrej Suttles for a touchdown.

It’s too bad Furman’s blowout win last Friday night against North Greenville was an exhibition game. Wins were often hard to come by last season as the injury-depleted Paladins finished with a dismal seven wins overall and a 3-15 record against conference opponents — good enough for last place in the SoCon.

The World Series came to an end Wednesday with the Boston Red Sox taking home the trophy after a resounding 6-1 victory over the Cardinals to take the series in six games. After a dismal 2012 season which saw the team play to a 69-93 record, they made a complete turn around this year to win it all.

I remember waking up at four in the morning to make the drive to Chattanooga for the 2001 National Championship game against the Montana Grizzlies. Even though the team came up short, those were much better days for Furman football. Under the direction of Bobby Johnson from 1994-2001, the Paladins experienced a lot of success.

Women’s soccer entered Saturday’s Southern Conference tournament quarterfinals match against Western Carolina as the top-seeded team, posting the best regular season record at 14-3-2 and 8-1-1 in conference.