Panther football completes inaugural season
Nov. 7, 2006

The LaGrange College Football Team stormed into the arena for its inaugural season and battled its way through 10 contests. And though by year’s end the win column registered a cipher, the debut season for the Panthers was a success.

Accompanying the new program was a fresh spirit that permeated the campus community on crisp fall Saturdays—an excitement in the air—as students, alumni, friends and parents mingled together on asphalt campsites, talking and laughing before filtering into the stadium to watch the team play.

And the team played with vigor, every contest a David and Goliath affair. The youthful Panthers, composed primarily of freshmen with a sprinkling of sophomores, took on veteran squads for the most part. They were overwhelmed on occasion, but they also showed flashes of what they can become.

At the Homecoming game against Washington University in St. Louis, LaGrange could have won, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter to pull within a touchdown before falling 31-21.

At the Oct. 21 game against Brevard, the Panthers perhaps should have won. They led much of the contest before stumbling late in the game to take a 35-27 loss.

There are additional ways to gauge the success of a first-year squad, outside the win-loss record. There’s the booming new tradition of tailgating. There’s a renewed school spirit, and there’s noticeable progress on the field of play.