EIU football wins share of OVC crown
By: Matt Wettersten
Updated: November 10, 2012
EIU Sports Information:
CHARLESTON, Ill. -
Erik Lora broke one Ohio Valley Conference record. Head coach Dino
Babers joined a select group of OVC coaches. Eastern Illinois returned
to the top of the OVC as the Panthers won at least a share of their
sixth OVC crown
since 2001 with a 39-20 win over Southeast Missouri on senior day Saturday afternoon at O'Brien Field.
EIU improved to 7-3 on the season, 6-1 in the OVC. The Panthers can win the title outright with a UT Martin loss against
Tennessee Tech or Tennessee State in the final two weeks. SEMO fell to 3-7, 2-5 in the OVC.
Lora caught 15
passes for 178 yards as he broke the OVC record for receiving yards in a season passing SEMO's
Willie Ponder (2002). Lora now has 1,479 yards this season which ranks 14th all-time on the FCS single
season list. He has 115 catches on the season which is tied for 5th all-time on the FCS single season list.
Of Lora's 15
receptions his biggest was a 43-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo with 40 seconds left in the third
quarter which gave EIU a 23-20 lead and momentum to close out the game.
"Erik's
TD catch was at a time when we needed it," said Babers.
"That
touchdown helped us flip momentum especially when we scored going into
the wind. I have to credit Chavar Watkins for a great block on that
play that helped spring the individual effort Lora made to reach the end
zone."
As
for Babers he became only the fourth coach in OVC history to win the
league title in his first season as a collegiate head coach. He
joins Boots Donnelly (Austin Peay, 1977), Jason Simpson (UT Martin, 2006) and Dean Hood (Eastern Kentucky, 2008) in that select group.
The Panthers opened the game with some momentum as
the defense stopped SEMO's running attack with a 3-and-out. The offense
drove down the field covering 60 yards in 10 plays with Jake Walker capping the drive with
an
8-yard run. EIU settled for a Cameron Berra 24-yard field goal with
1:27 left in the first quarter after a pass was broken up in the end
zone
on third down by SEMO.
The
Redhawks battled back and trailed 16-14 at the half as Renard Celestin
scored on a 4-yard run and Scott Lathrop had a 1-yard run in
the second quarter. EIU scored on a Sam Hendricks touchdown reception after the pass was tipped at the goal
line and dropped in Hendricks hands. The extra point was no good.
SEMO
took the lead to open the third quarter with back-to-back field goals
by Drew Geldbach of 30 and 22 yards. The Panthers defense which
had allowed SEMO to rush for 163 yards in the first half limited the
Redhawks to only 31 yards on the ground in the second half. Lathrop ran
for 102 yards to lead SEMO on the day. Levi Terrell had
96.
"We knew that SEMO was a really good running team, a team that likes to run
the option," said linebacker Adam Gristick. "They
were able to get some big yards in the first half. At halftime we talked about
making adjustments and filling gaps to allow our D-Line
to make plays."
The defensive line did help make plays for the Panthers as they
recorded ten tackles for loss for 47 yards and five sacks
for 35 yards. Gristick was among three players tied for the team lead with nine tackles. Greg Mahan posted two sacks and 2.5 tackles
for loss along with a quarterback hurry and seven tackles.
The EIU defense
responded to Lora's go ahead score as they held SEMO to two straight 3-and-outs with another series ending after five plays. EIU's
offense answered the call to each defensive stop by putting points on the board.
Berra knocked home his
second field goal of the day from 40 yards out with 12:47 to play.
Taylor Duncan and Walker both tacked on fourth quarter rushing touchdowns. Walker had 132 yards rushing. Duncan added 53. Jimmy
Garoppolo was 25-of-35 for 257 yards and two touchdowns.
