Sports Lowdown

Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Following their big win over then 18th ranked West Alabama last Saturday, Florida Tech head coach Steve Englehart took a little time to enjoy his teams' victory, but it wasn't long before he was back to the coaching grind.   “It was good that it was a day game because then you had the rest of the day to savor it,” he said. “Went home, hung out with the family and had some friends over. It was fun, but back to work on Sunday to start preparing for a good Valdosta State team, who had a good win as well.”   Valdosta is coming off a 34-13 win over Delta State that saw the Blazers force four turnovers and scoring on all of them, to the tune of three touchdowns and a field goal.   “That was a huge win for them,” Englehart said. “They lost a close one early in the year to Albany State, they lost a close one to North AL and they lost to West Georgia. They're getting back on track now, won a couple in a row and they feel li...

Mark Cato - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers scored a huge upset Saturday, beating the #18 West Alabama Tigers 41-39 in a Gulf South Conference contest. It was the first loss for West Alabama in the conference.   “We knew we were gonna get their best shot through the entire game,” said Panthers quarterback Mark Cato . “We just had to stay tough through it and convert on the gameplan that we had and everything would come to fruition.”   “We didn't play clean but we played hard,” said Florida Tech head coach Steve Englehart after the game. “This was a great team victory.”   This game went back-and-forth throughout, with Cato going 22-for-40 throwing for 345 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for the game-winning touchdown, an 11-yard scamper, with 51 seconds left. This followed a 325-yard performance from Cato last week, against North Greenville .   Statistically, this game couldn't have been more even and it p...

Sekai Lindsay - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography After breaking their two-game losing streak last Saturday with a 42-31 win over North Greenville last week, the Panthers were in good spirits on Wednesday, as they gear up for a showdown with the best team in the Gulf South Conference on Saturday, in West Alabama.   In this edition of Gridiron Lowdown Panthers coach Steve Englehart summed up the win over North Greenville and talked about the task ahead of his team this weekend.   “Obviously it was huge for us to kind of get our confidence back and go on the road and beat a good football team, a team that beat us in the playoffs last year in the playoffs. I thought we did a lot of really good things on offense, got the ball downfield a lot and had a lot of big explosion plays and that loosened the North Greenville defense up for us to run the ball.”   The Panthers (4-3, 2-2 GSC) scored just seven points in the fourth quarter, but they controlled ...

Adonis Davis #48 - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Quarterback Mark Cato and defensive lineman Adonis Davis were key players in the Panthers 42-31 victory at North Greenville on Saturday. Monday, the Gulf South Conference recognized their efforts, naming them the Offensive and Defensive Player of the week, respectively.   Cato finished 20-of-33 for 325 yards and four passing touchdowns. He carried the ball seven times for just 11 yards, but added a rushing touchdown in the second quarter, a one-yard scamper that finished off an 11-play, 81-yard drive.   Through six games, Cato has completed 78-of-133 passes (58.6%) for 1,026 yards. He has eight touchdowns and six interceptions and is averaging 171 yards a game through the air.   This is Cato's second Offensive Player of the Week conference award. He last won the award the week of September 8, 2014.   Davis did his part on defense, as he has all season long. He had a team-high eight ta...

Antwuan Haynes - Photo Credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers overcame a tough third quarter on Saturday, taking down the North Greenville Crusaders 42-31 and snapping a two-game losing streak in the process.   “I really loved the execution of our offense and what they did,” said Panthers head coach Steve Englehart in his postgame interview with Jerry Durney and Paul Van Scott on WFIT Radio.  “Defense played well too, they shut 'em down when they needed to shut 'em down. Whatever the yards and points are I don't care,  we win the football game. I don't care if we win 2-0 or 49-48, it was a great team win.”   Big offensive efforts from quarterback Mark Cato , who completed 20-of-33 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns and Antwuan Haynes who carried 22 times for 155 yards and a touchdown, got the Panthers a big win over a team that ended their season last year in the first round of the playoffs.   After a tough fi...

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 bloc...

Mark Cato - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography After what could easily be called the most heart-wrenching loss in program history, Florida Tech coach Steve Englehart took the blame for his teams' 23-21 loss to West Florida on Saturday at Florida Tech Panther Stadium.   “Ultimately our kids did enough to win the game, yeah we could've made a few more plays when you look throughout the course of the game,” he said. “Especially in that fourth quarter we had chances to put the game away on offense and didn't do that and that led to the series of things that happened in the last two minutes of the game. I take full credit for us not getting that win.”   “It was a series of things in the last two minutes,” Englehart continued. “All from the officials having it at 3rd-and-1 and changing it late as we went out there to a first down. Not really understanding that. That part of things is on coaching, we gotta be better at that.”   That was just one in a ser...

Antwuan Haynes rushed for 170 yards on Saturday - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography For the second straight year, the West Florida Argonauts took home the Coastal Classic trophy, beating the Florida Tech Panthers on a last-second 44-yard field goal by Austin Williams, sending the visitors home with a 23-21 come-from-behind victory.   To say this was a wild game is a huge understatement. To say this game had bad officiating calls is also an understatement, but the Panthers and the officials let West Florida hang around, just long enough to give the Argos their second victory over the Panthers in just their second year of existence.   The final drive was key, but in order to get the full picture, it is best to go play-by-play. Even then, it may not be believed as you sit and read it.   Florida Tech (3-2, 2-1 GSC) started their last drive with 2:53 left on the clock and Antwuan Haynes who finished the night with 170 yards on the ground got two yards...