Lightning, downpours and 542 yards of Furman University offense combined to bury the visiting Phoenix 57-7 Saturday night at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, S.C.

Furman quarterback Billy Napier put the Phoenix behind early, scoring a 78-yard touchdown pass to Isaac West on the first offensive play. Napier followed with two more touchdown strikes to West before giving way to backup Bo Moore in the second quarter.

Napier finished the day with eight passes for 237 yards and led the Paladins to a team record 35 points in the first quarter. West hauled in touchdown passes of 71 and 11 yards to lead the team in receiving and move into a tie for most touchdowns by a Paladin receiver in a game.

The Phoenix offense stalled early and often, sluggish after a two hour rain delay. Quarterback C.W. Singletary finished the day with 36 passing yards and 35 yards on the ground. Backup James Murdaugh made his season debut in the game’s final series, driving the Phoenix 80 yards for their lone score of the game.

Murdaugh completed five passes for 63 yards and found Big South Offensive Player of the Week Kyle Belkoski on a 23-yard touchdown pass with less than two minutes to play in the game. Running back Rashaud Palmer garnered co-Offensive Player of the Week honors with a 36-yard rushing effort. Mike Warren led the defense with seven tackles. A bright spot from Saturday night was that, despite the drenching rains and the weather delay, six busloads of Elon students stayed to cheer on the team. Phoenix coaches were impressed with the enthusiasm of the students, saying the response following the Phoenix touchdown at the end of the game was "like we won the Super Bowl."

This weekend the Phoenix face a more comparable matchup against Johnson C. Smith University at home in Rhodes Stadium.

The Golden Bulls, whose 2-8 record in 2001 nearly mirrors that of last year’s Phoenix campaign, enter Saturday’s contest on the heels of a 23-19 loss to Virginia State University.

Freshman quarterback Donja Goodson performed well, completing 16 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns. Craig Brown finished the game with 199 yards receiving on nine receptions with two touchdown catches.