Gridiron Lowdown - Week 4

Thursday's Football Practice

The Florida Tech football team is coming off a convincing 31-6 home win over Shorter last Saturday and will now head to Mississippi College to take on the Choctaws. 

“Practice was really good this week, we simplified some things both offensively and defensively, hoping to help with the execution we're looking for,” said head coach Steve Englehart. “I don't think that we've played great yet and haven't played at a high enough level. We simplified some things down, hoping to play better and play more mistake-free football.” 

One of the mistakes Englehart was talking about was the Panthers early turnovers in the last couple games, both against McNeese State and Shorter, they turned the ball over on the first possession. McNeese took advantage, but the Florida Tech defense was able to keep Shorter from capitalizing. 

“We have to make sure we put the kids in the right position, especially early in the football game,” Englehart said. “Other than that you don't do anything different than you've always done. As soon as you start making a really big deal about it, then it gets in the kids' heads and it just makes the problem worse.” 

As was the case against Shorter, Englehart has never lost to Mississippi College in his time at Florida Tech, but the coach knows that you can't take anything for granted. 

“Every year is different. It's one thing if they have the same team and you have the same team, but their team is different, our team is way different,” Englehart said. “I think they (Mississippi College) are better on offense and they can have a clock control ground game and they throw the ball good enough to make some plays. I think that's the biggest difference now, from a year ago.” 

One thing that isn't different for the Panthers is their running back Antwuan Haynes, who is coming off a 188-yard rushing performance against Shorter, which earned him the Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Week.  

“He's a dynamic player and does it all and he's a great teammate,” said Englehart of Haynes. “I'm happy for him with that recognition because he'll be the first to tell you that recognition is not just about him, it's about our team being successful.” 

Haynes rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns against the Choctaws last season on just nine carries. A performance that mirrors that in Saturday's game would go a long way in getting the Panthers a very important conference victory. 

Paul Van Scott and Jerry Durney will have the call Saturday on WFIT. The pregame starts at 7:30 p.m., with kickoff at 8:00.  



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