The Paladin Walk Blog

1 Day Till Kickoff! Meet #1 William Middleton

William Middleton  | CB
5-11  190  | JR
Marist

Well I started 99 days ago, and it ends today with William Middleton. I believe William is set to have a big year. I wouldn't call it a breakout year because I think Middleton played well as a first year starter at corner and he started to prove to be an explosive special teams player. Middleton and Holmes should have plenty of opportunities to make plays this season with a more athletic and mobile defensive line applying more pressure to opposing quarterbacks.

William make us proud, have a great season.

Richard Mounce – QB Blythewood

Phil Kornbluth is reporting that Richard Mounce(#12) is is still committed to Clemson for baseball but he will entertain offers for football. Richard's former coach Jeff Scott now at PC has offered and now Furman is expressing interest. I watched Mounce play in the championship game last season and he was impressive. Mounce will be hurt this season by the penalties imposed on the Blythewood program by the High School Football League.

Photo courtesy Ryan Johnson/Blythewood

Peyton Watch; Jerome Felton

Congrats to Jerome on making the initial Walter Peyton Watch List, you can follow it here. Below is the player capsule on Jerome.

Jerome Felton, Senior, Fullback, Furman
Considered by many experts to be the top fullback in all of college football, Felton is one of the most versatile performers in FCS. In an era where most teams limit the duties of fullbacks to blocking and occasionally catching passes out of the backfield, this hard-working, 6-0, 246-pounder excels at running, blocking and receiving. Despite suffering a badly sprained ankle in 2006, Felton rushed for 707 yards and a 4.4 average yards per carry. He had 23 TDs on the ground, including four against North Carolina and six against Western Carolina in back-to-back weeks. He has 51 TDs and 1,947 yards rushing in his career. Ran for 940 yards, 18 TDs and a 5.2 average in 2005 as he helped carry the Paladins to the playoff semifinals before losing to eventual national champion Appalachian State. Had 300 yards and 10 TDs as a freshman as Furman advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to James Madison, which won the NCAA title. Has 36 catches for 280 yards and three TDs as a receiver, and has converted five two-point conversions on five attempts in his career. 

2 Days Till Kickoff! Meet #2 Adam Mims

Adam Mims  | Flanker
5-9  183  | RSFR
Spain Park HS

Adam appears to have recovered from last season's injuries, and that's good news for the Paladin receiving corp. Mims and Hicks made the roster last season as true freshmen. Unfortunately a leg injury at UNC ended Mims season. Yes, Adam is a speedster, but don't let his size fool you. Mims is a solid, compact player and he will be a terror in the open field. Mims speed is the reason he has capture the eyes of fans, but Mims ability to run after the catch will make him a weapon on short passes as well as deep routes.

3 Days Till Kickoff Meet #3 John Castleberry

John Castleberry  | SS
6-0 190  | SO
Gainesville HS

John made the switch from cornerback to strong safety in the spring. Listed third at strong safety behind returning starter Andrew Thacker and Julian Hicks.

High School; 2005 graduate of Gainesville (3A) High School...football coach was Bruce Miller...saw action at defensive back, running back and wide receiver...played his junior and senior seasons at Gainesville after two years at North Forsyth (Ga.) High School...scored 21 touchdowns and totaled 91 tackles, 38 assists, 12 interceptions, and 12 pass deflections in his prep career...served as team captain, scored 12 touchdowns, and notched eight interceptions on the way to earning Gainesville High MVP, all-area, and all-state honors in 2004. Play in the Georgia North-South All-Star Game.

Furman vs PC Countdown; Game Notes Update

Presbyterian has released their Game Notes for the Furman Game. You can find it here. PC might should have waited a bit. The two-deep roster for Furman has several errors, like Rico Scott as a backup safety.  So I will wait a bit before I put the two deep charts for the game.

The Furman Game Notes is now available on furmanpaladins.com.  The official roster list one true freshman… drum roll… Seth Skogan. Other roster news;

Stephone LaFrance listed as backup to Cedrick Gipson … no surprise Brown will still get to see plenty of early season action. This is due to the fact that LaFrance came to play and has looked very good in the pre-season.

The punt returner will be Masharn Austin… go Masharn. And Middleton and a beefed up Thomas Twitty are kickoff returners. Twitty by the way is now listed at 226. I think that offically makes him the biggest free safety we've had.

On the line Scott Shuford and Thomas Slaughter are still in a battle for starter. And it's good to see Menocal and Landers listed as backups, good news for the Paladins.

4 Days Till Kickoff Meet #4 RJ Webb

RJ Webb  | Split End
6-2  202  | SO
Pickens HS

After one season of play RJs stock has risen dramatically. It says a lot that on a team with a potential draft pick fullback, RJ could be the playmaker of 2007. Why? RJ has the ability to make any catch a touchdown. RJ has excellent size, speed and great hands, and with one season under his belt a more seasoned Webb should mean a lot of points to the Paladin offense.

In 2006 Webb set a receiving record for a freshman last season 28 catches for 407 yards and a touchdown. So what will RJ do in 2007? RJ can do many things for Furman, and with his ability to run with the ball. I would look for the coaches to get him as many touches as possible. RJ is valuable enough to get ten plus touches a game, if he does I could see RJ with 60+ catches and runs this season and total yards approaching 800. Webb's biggest contribution should be getting in the endzone.

5 Days Till Kickoff Meet #5 Patrick Sprague

Patrick Sprague  | Split End
6-1  191  | SR
Mountain Brook HS

I don't know if it's fair to say that Patrick has played in the shadow of Justin Stepp for the last 3 years. Patrick has made some big catches for Furman, but this season he will be the leader of the receiving corp.

This season Patrick should really improve on his numbers,33 catches for 481 yards and two touchdowns in 2006. I wouldn't be surprised to see numbers like 700 yards and 6-8 touchdowns in 2007.

As a Furman fan we always seem to expect all Furman players to be nice, friendly young men.  Patrick is an example of this. I have actually had him buzz by me on the sideline of a practice, and say hello when he walked back on the field after making the catch.

Good luck Patrick in 2007.

Furman vs PC Countdown

Presbyterian College football coach Bobby Bentley's radio show debuts tonight. Bentley's show will air at 7 pm and will be broadcast from Fatz Cafe on I-26 at exit 54 next to the Hampton Inn in Clinton.The hour-long show will be broadcast every Monday during the season. You can hear the show throughout Laurens County on WLBG 860 AM and it can also be heard on the Internet at www.wlbg.com.

Sunday Ramble: August 26th

Today’s a special Sunday, the last Sunday before the start of the college football season. Furman kickoffs the 2007 Saturday at 7 pm against the blue Hose of Presbyterian. My plan this week is post news and a review of each weeks game.

This week’s poll question was “which true freshman will make the 2007 roster?” The voters agreed with me 62.9% chose Seth Skogan, 28.6 % Kadarron Anderson, 11.4 % Brandon Boykin, 8.6% Tank Baker, and no one showed any love for Adim Obata. To all who voted thanks and if you have an idea for a poll question, send it.

This week’s question is “ which Furman player will score the most points in this week’s game against Presbyterian?”