Panthers down Greenville to celebrate first ever home win
Oct. 11, 2008

LaGrange College celebrated the third-year program's first ever home win by downing Greenville (Ill.) College 20-6 on Saturday at Callaway Stadium. The win was the fourth straight for the Panthers, now 5-1 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Greenville fell for the second straight week, dropping to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the SLIAC.

Sophomore quarterback Drew Carter threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns in the game. All of his passing yards came in the first three quarters. He had touchdown passes of 10 and 34 yards to Nick Langley.

Langley's only catches of the day were the touchdowns. Erik Hardison had four catches for 82 yards, including a long reception of 44 yards that led to a first half field goal. The Panthers had eight different receivers make receptions.

Greenville got the first break of the game, recovering a Mario Wallace fumble at the Panthers' 40 in the first quarter. The defense stiffened, stopping Greenville on downs at the Panthers' 22.

Later in the quarter, the defense came up with a takeaway of its own. Kyle Storey knocked the ball loose from Mark Mitchell, with Chris Prewett recovering the ball at Greenville's 27-yard line.

The Panthers cashed in the opportunity, needing only three plays to score. Carter hit Colt Shope for 17 yards on the first play down to the 10. After an incompletion, he found Langley in the end zone for the touchdown. Josh Stripling added the extra point to make it 7-0 with 3:19 left in the half.

LaGrange put together a sustained drive at the end of the quarter and into the second quarter. Starting at their own 24, the Panthers moved down the field. Carter's 44-yard completion to Hardison on a third-and-18 gave the Panthers a first down at Greenville's 26-yard line.

Back-to-back first down completions to Devin Billings and Tripp Duke put the Panthers first and goal at the three-yard line. The drive stalled after a short run and two incompletions. Stripling came on and booted a 20-yard field to make it 10-0 with 11:57 left in the half.

The Panthers closed out their scoring in the third quarter. The Panthers took the second half kickoff and marched 53 yards in nine plays, after Nathan Masters' 20-yard kick return gave them good field position.

After getting to the Greenville 30-yard line, the Panthers began to back up. A penalty and a sack of Carter left the Panthers facing a third-and-22. An eight-yard reception to Shope got some of the yardage back, but left the Panthers facing a fourth-and-18 at the 34. Carter again went to Langley,  who out jumped Greenville's Edgar Townsend and stayed in bounds for the touchdown to make it 17-0 with 10:56 left in the quarter.

The Panthers made it 20-0 on their next possession. Carter hit Riley Hill for 16 yards and a first down to the Greenville 16 yard line. Two straight penalties backed the Panthers up to the 31. Townsend was flagged on an interference call on a second-and-25 play, giving the Panthers a first down at the 16. The drive stalled after three straight incompletions and Stripling was good from 33-yards out up the lead to 20-0.

Greenville avoided the shutout in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Dominic Kegel hit Zach Friedrich from 24-yards out for the touchdown with 7:42 left. The play finished an 11-play 75-yard drive.

The Panthers forced three turnovers on defense. Jeremy Pickens and Tim Hill each had an interception. Pickens led the defense with 10 total tackles, including seven solos. Hill and Josh Britt each had six total tackles.

The Panthers host Westminster (Mo.) in a SLIAC game for Homecoming next Saturday.