The Panthers finally caught a break.

And it happened at just the right time.

Eastern needed to win this game. Not many scenarios had the Panthers losing to Tennessee State and getting into the postseason.

Realistically, there was no chance.

Eastern would have been two games behind both Tennessee-Martin and TSU with only two games left to play.

But then the Tigers lined up with a new quarterback.

At the beginning of the game, TSU had Richard Hartman line up under center.

After a week of preparing for Antonio Heffner, the all-everything quarterback who is the main reason the Tigers are contending for a conference title, the Panthers discovered Heffner wasn’t playing.

“He’s an outstanding player,” said Panther acting head coach Mark Hutson. “If the tables were turned, we’d miss a player of his caliber on our side.”

Heffner has thrown for nine touchdowns this season and run for five.

He has passed for more yards, 1,506, than Hartman did the entire season last year as a starter.

Recognizing that Heffner wasn’t starting was all Panthers defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni needed to change his game plan to a simple one: stop Javarris Williams.

The plan was executed brilliantly.

From the start of the game, Eastern was living in TSU’s backfield.

In the first half, the Tigers had the ball seven times. On five of those drives, they were held to a three-and-out.

In another drive, they turned the ball over on the drive’s third play.

Williams came into the game leading the conference in rushing yards per game.

In this game he was held to 38 yards on 15 carries.

He had nowhere to go as the Panthers dared the Tigers to throw on them.

TSU finished with just 162 yards passing.

“If you can run the football, your offense is not handicapped,” TSU head coach James Webster said. “We really couldn’t run the football.”

Not that Eastern is going to give TSU any sympathy for the loss of Heffner.

“A benefit for us and their loss,” Hutson said.

Hutson has been on the other side of that coin all season.

From the first play of the season, when preseason all-conference linebacker Clint Sellers went down with a shoulder injury, the Panthers’ roster has been riddled with injuries. Every play it seems somebody goes down or is slow to get up.

Hutson has dealt with questions about who is playing and who might not play on a week-to-week basis.

A football season is a long one and injuries happen to every team.

This week, however, the Panthers benefited from an injury, rather than being forced to overcome one.