They had it in their grasps, and they lost it.

The Panthers had every opportunity to secure an outright Ohio Valley Conference Championship. They controlled their own destiny.

The goal was simple: Beat the Tigers. Beat a team on a four-game losing streak.Beat a team whose coach announced his resignation after the game.

Do that, and you can sit back and relax until the playoff positions are announced.

Now the Panthers must sit back – but not in a relaxing fashion.

They’ll sit on the edge of their seats with Jacksonville State Gamecocks’ pennants in their hands. Cheering, hoping, praying the Gamecocks dispose of Eastern Kentucky Saturday.

A loss by the Colonels, and all is virtually forgiven.

The Panthers will waltz their merry way into the playoffs without a second thought. But a Colonels victory gives them the automatic playoff bid, leaving the Panthers on the outside looking in. Again, hoping, praying they get one of the eight at-large bids the NCAA gives out.

“I’m a No. 1 Gamecocks fan right now,” senior free safety Seymour Loftman said. “We’re looking forward to them playing EKU and hopefully knock them out so we can get the outright (championship).”

Loftman said the team doesn’t have any plans to get together and watch the outcome of Saturday’s Eastern Kentucky-Jacksonville State showdown.

He said he might not even pay attention to it and instead catch the score on ESPN later.

But one can rest-assure the Panthers will be eager to find out the outcome of that game.

The OVC doesn’t have a strong history of winning in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, leaving doubt that the selection committee would give them one of the at-large bids.

Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said he hopes the committee would look at the team’s success throughout the season when determining if they get a shot, but wouldn’t speculate on the chances.

But none of that matters if the Gamecocks take care of business Saturday.

While the Panthers might initially hang their heads over a demoralizing, Senior Night loss. But they have to take solace in the fact that the loss doesn’t end their season.

“It’s unfortunate,” Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said. “We had our destiny in our own hands and we couldn’t make the plays to win the game tonight. Now we’ve got to let the chips fall where they may.”

The odds are with the Gamecocks Saturday. Jacksonville State’s only conference loss this season is to the Panthers. They have the most dominant offense in the OVC and will be playing at home, in Jacksonville, Ala., on their Senior Day.

Of course, that story seems all too familiar.

Panther fans can expect the Gamecocks to save the Panthers’ season. It’s expected to happen.

But as Thursday night proved, expectations don’t always pan out.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

The men’s soccer team did not make the Missouri Valley Conference playoffs for the first time in four seasons, but freshman forward Jerry Maddi said this season was far from a disappointment.

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