Turnovers Doom Panthers in Loss at North Alabama

Braly Municipal Stadium - Photo Credit: Jerry Durney

North Alabama (2-3, 2-2 GSC) made their last Division II meeting against Florida Tech a memorable one on Homecoming Saturday, using 21 third-quarter points to pull away from the Panthers, 30-7.

“It was just a horrible third quarter, can't-do anything about it,” said Florida Tech coach Steve Englehart in his post-game interview with Jerry Durney and Paul Van Scott of WFIT Radio. “Told our guys in the locker room you gotta do the little things right from Monday to Friday, you can't just expect to do them on Saturday and we gotta get better.” 

On a night when the Panthers won many of the statistical battles handily, defending Gulf South Conference champion North Alabama took advantage of four turnovers, turning that into 20 points and sending the Panthers home with their second straight conference loss. 

“Too many bad things happened,” Englehart, said. “Offensively, not really executing, couldn't block them up front, couldn't run the ball like we normally do and should have and got us into where we have to throw the ball.” 

Despite the offense sputtering all night, the Panthers did manage to take a 7-3 lead into the locker room at the half. Their only touchdown of the game came after the Lions used a great kickoff return to get a field goal and go up 3-0. 

It took the Panthers (3-3, 2-2 GSC) just two plays to answer, as they got an 11-yard run from starting quarterback Mark Cato, who on the next play, found wide receiver Kevin Purlett wide open in the middle of the field and he beat the defense, taking it 50 yards for the score. 

That was all the excitement the first half would produce, as the two teams combined for 10 punts and Cato finished 8-for-10 for 99 yards. Antwuan Haynes, who has been one of the best running backs in Division II over the first six games was held to 14 yards on five carries. His longest rush of the half was four yards.  

The defense had done their part as they have all year, holding the Lions to 79 total yards in that first half, but in the third quarter, it all came crumbling down for Florida Tech. 

The Panthers got the ball to start the third quarter and were held in check by the North Alabama defense, forcing a punt by Kyle Gullickson. The Lions were able to get pressure up the middle, as Will Evans got both hands on it and Jamal Jackson picked it out of the air, returning it for a 22-yard score. That gave the home team a 10-7 lead. 

After a three-and-out for both teams, Florida Tech got the ball back and was driving but Cato threw a ball intended for Kevin Purlett, who had it go off his hands and into the waiting arms of Christon Taylor, who returned it 59 yards.  A taunting penalty during the return brought it back to the 34, but Dre Hall had a 21-yard catch on the drive and finished things off with a two-yard run for the score, making it 17-7, with 6:22 to go in the third. 

Cato would be intercepted again on the following drive, this time on a pass intended for Romell Guerrier, who attempted to make a sliding catch and had it go in and out of his hands. Maurice Carnell was in the right place at the right time, got the rebound and got one foot down, before going out of bounds at the 34 of FIT. 

An unsportsmanlike conduct call against the Panthers helped North Alabama on the drive and Hall scored from two yards out, making it a 24-7 lead for the Lions. 

“There were three tipped balls, two of them in our guys' hands and another that was tipped at the line, bad luck there,” said Englehart. “We gotta pull in those balls, we gotta catch them.” 

The final points of the game would come late in the fourth quarter when Trent Chmelik came in to finish things up with 3:24 to go in the game. He was greeted rudely by Carnell, who jumped the route for a pick-6 covering 28 yards. The Lions would miss the extra-point after a bad snap, making it a 30-7 game. 

For more info: Florida Tech @ North Alabama Box Score 

The 211 total yards in this game were a far cry from the over 400 the Panthers had in last week's loss to West Florida, but they held North Alabama to 134. Florida Tech ran 13 more plays and had the ball for nine minutes and they had more first downs. 

Unfortunately, the four interceptions were the story, compounded by the fact that the Panthers again failed to force a turnover. They have only one in six games.  

“Our defense played outstanding, We just put them in bad positions all night, said, Englehart.“They (North Alabama) didn't have 200 yards of offense but the offense put us in bad positions, special teams put us in bad positions and we didn't capitalize. We gotta figure it out on offense because for us to score seven points is unacceptable, it's not who we've been. I don't know what we need to do to fix it, but there's gotta be some kind of changes made.” 

Cato finished 13-for-25 for 129 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Haynes carried the ball 16 times for 53 yards, with his long run being eight. Sekai Lindsay carried six times for 43 yards. Purlett was the Panthers leading receiver, with four catches covering 61 yards and one touchdown. 

Florida Tech has another tough test ahead next week, as they travel to North Greenville on Saturday. The Crusaders (3-3) ended the Panthers 2016 season with a 27-13 victory in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs. They are coming off two straight losses. Kickoff is scheduled for noon. 

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