Sports Lowdown

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...

2016 playoffs - North Greenville - Photo credit: James Ragan Despite another good performance out of the defense, the Florida Tech Panthers suffered their second straight loss last Saturday falling to North Alabama 30-7. North Alabama got a blocked punt for a touchdown and a pick-6, turning what was a close game at the half, into one of the most lopsided losses in program history.   “It wasn't turnovers that were anything that they did to create the turnovers, it was our own fault,” said head coach Steve Englehart on Thursday. “We had two passes that hit our wide receivers right in the hands that popped up and they end up picking them off and obviously the blocked punt had a big part to do with the game.”   Outside of those turnovers, the Panthers held the North Alabama offense in check. They allowed the Lions 134 yards of total offense, including 56 through the air. This is not a surprise, as the Panthers defense has come up big all season.   “Defens...

The North Greenville Crusaders came into Florida Tech Panther Stadium as the underdog on Saturday, but they certainly didn’t play like it. They used a 24 point second half to upset the Panthers 27-13 in an NCAA Division II first round game. “North Greenville’s a really good football team, that’s what it comes down to,” said Panthers head coach Steve Englehart after the game. “They controlled a lot of the clock, especially in the first half and they were great on third down offense.” Things started well for the Panthers, who blocked a 44-yard field goal on the Crusaders first drive. Freshman quarterback Brandon Ziarno , who was making his first start under center, drove Florida Tech down the field on their opening possession, but he was forced to quick kick it on fourth down, pinning NGU at their own eight-yard line. Ziarno was backed up by Ryan Singer , who saw his fair share of snaps in this game as well. North Greenville quarterback Will Hunter put together a nice dr...

The Florida Tech Panthers will not only play the first postseason game in their four-year history next Saturday, they will host it. The Panthers were given the three seed in Super Region 2 and will welcome North Greenville to Melbourne on Saturday, November 19, at 12:00 p.m. North Greenville went 7-4, including losses to The Citadel and North Alabama, the number one ranked team in the region. They are coming off wins against Wingate, Carson-Newman and finished with a 37-0 win on the road Limestone College.   The Panthers (8-2, 5-2 GSC) were ranked fifth in the regional rankings that came out November 7. They were going to need a win over Delta State on Saturday and a bump from the selection committee on Sunday, to get a home game. They got both. Head coach Steve Englehart talked about the Panthers road to the playoffs, following Saturday’s win over the Statesmen. “Four weeks ago we said we had to win three out of the last four to make it to the playoffs and ...