The Eastern football team dropped to a record of 1-5 overall and are still seeking their first Ohio Valley Conference win.

Losing streak continues

The loss marks the Panthers fifth straight of the season, having not won since their week one win over rival Illinois State. Last season, the team’s longest losing streak was eight straight losses.

Last season the Panthers finished with a record of 2-9, with their only two wins coming against OVC opponents. This year, they have yet to beat an OVC team.

Only a trio

of tackles for loss

The Panther defense had only three tackles for a loss in the game against Eastern Kentucky.

Senior linebacker Gordy Kickels, red-shirt freshman defensive back John Wurm and red-shirt sophomore Alex McNulty were the only three players to register a tackle for a loss. The Panther defense surrendered a total of 507 yards to the Colonel offense on Saturday.

Most points

come against worst team

The Colonels defeated the Panthers by 32 points, the most Eastern has been defeated by all season.

The Colonels entered the game with a record of 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the OVC. Prior the game with the Panthers, the Colonels had lost to Austin Peay, who before beating Eastern Kentucky, was in the midst of a 10 game losing streak dating back to last season.

Colonel offense ignites

The Eastern Kentucky offense scored on eight of their nine offensive possessions.

Fullback H.B. Banjoman had two touchdowns, while running back Matt Denham had one. Running back Jeremiah Williams had one touchdown and kicker Luke Pray made two field goals.

Ricks remains

only injured Panther

Sophomore quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, sophomore defensive back Tavares Crawford and junior defensive lineman Artavious Dowdell all went down with injuries in the game against Eastern Kentucky, but all eventually returned to action. All are expected to play in this weekend’s game on the road against Murray State.

Red-shirt senior wide receiver Lorence Ricks remains the only Panther questionable by Head Coach Bob Spoo and his staff. Spoo said Ricks will miss considerable time and a timetable for his return is unclear.

Panthers hope to spoil Racer homecoming

This weekend’s road game against Murray State will be the Racer’s homecoming match-up. The Racers are 1-4 on homecoming games since the 2007 season. The Panthers will have their homecoming on October 22 when they host Tennessee-Martin.

Around the OVC

The OVC Offensive Player of the Week was junior quarterback Derek Carr of Tennessee-Martin. Martin threw for 387, completing 24 of 36 passes. He threw for a school record six touchdowns, which was also one shy of being an OVC single game record. Carr led the Skyhawks to a 61-23 win over Austin Peay.

The OVC Defensive Player of the Week is also from Tennessee-Martin, with sophomore linebacker Ben Johnson. Johnson had nine tackles, a sack and an interception.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.