Sports Lowdown

Photo credit: James Ragan Photography T he Florida Tech Panthers have gone through spring practices, training camp and all the grueling work that goes with it. This Saturday, all that hard work will pay off, as the Panthers open their season at home, against Virginia University of Lynchburg.   “We've had a good camp, a tough camp,” said Florida Tech head coach Steve Englehart. “We've asked a lot of them and you can talk about wins and talk about championships all you want, but what it really comes down to is focusing on the process of getting there. You gotta love the practice if you're on this football team and you gotta love coming out here and try to get better every day and that's what our guys have done.”   Englehart admits that he's not sure if his team is where he wants them, but they are getting there. “We don't know a lot about Lynchburg, but we gotta get out there and play a game and we'll evaluate from there.”   Other than th...

Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers will open the 2017 schedule at home, against the Virginia University of Lynchburg on September 2. That will be the first of five home games at Florida Tech Panther stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. It also kicks off the fifth season of football at Florida Tech, with the Panthers coming off their first playoff appearance in 2016. The team finished 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Gulf South Conference. The Panthers will have quite a mountain to climb in week two, when they visit FCS opponent McNeese State, in Louisiana. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. The team returns home on September 16, to take on the Shorter Hawks in their GSC opener. The Panthers took down Shorter 40-0 last season in Rome, Georgia on what was a record-setting night. It was the site of the first shutout in school history and marked the first time the Panthers got off to a 2-0 start in the conference. The conference schedule c...