The Eastern football team fell just short of snapping its seven game losing streak against Tennessee-Martin last weekend, falling 24-23 on Homecoming. The loss drops the Panthers to an overall record of 1-7 and 0-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks improve to an overall record of 4-3 and 3-2 in the OVC.

The Panthers will take to the road next weekend when they face the Austin Peay Governors, while Tennessee-Martin will host Southeast Missouri. Austin Peay was handed its fifth of the season by Southeast Missouri last weekend.

Austin Peay quarterback to miss Saturday’s game

Junior quarterback Jake Ryan is expected to miss Saturday’s game against Eastern. Ryan suffered a sprained MCL in the first quarter of the Governors’ last game against Southeast Missouri. This season, Ryan has completed 115 of 210 passes, throwing for 1,275 yards and two touchdowns.

Ryan is set to be replaced by freshman quarterback Landon Curtis. Curtis has only played in one game so far this season, completing six of his 12 pass attempts for 36 yards in his appearance against Southeast Missouri. The Governors lost that game by a score of 17-13, falling to a record of 2-5 overall, with a record of 2-3 in the OVC.

Curtis was an All-State quarterback at Calhoon High School in Calhoon, Ga., throwing for 2,560 yards and 32 touchdowns in his senior season.

Eastern to try to spoil

second Homecoming

After nearly spoiling the Murray State Racers’ Homecoming game two weeks ago, the Panthers will get another shot this weekend, as the October 29 match-up will be the Governors’ Homecoming game.

The Governors’ are 28-37-1 all-time in Homecoming games. Last season, Austin Peay lost its Homecoming game to Tennessee Tech by a score of 34-21. The Governors won both their 2007 and 2008 Homecoming games, but have lost their previous two.

Around the OVC

Junior running back Matt Denham of Eastern Kentucky was named OVC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Tennessee State. Denham rushed for a career-high 226 yards on 35 carries. Averaging 6.5 yards per carry, Denham scored two touchdowns to help the Colonels take down the Tigers by a score of 33-22.

Eastern sophomore quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was also nominated for the honor.

Junior nose guard Montori Hughes of Tennessee-Martin was named OVC Defensive Player of the Week for this performance against Eastern. Hughes had 10 tackles, four of which were solo tackles, one sack, 5.5 tackles for a loss, and a quarterback hurry, along with a forced and recovered fumble. Freshman return specialist Gabriel Chambers of Jacksonville State was named OVC Specialist of the Week for his performance against non-conference Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponent Kentucky. Chambers had a 99 yard kickoff return in the Gamecocks’ loss. The return marked the fourth longest in not only Jacksonville State history, but also in Football Conference Subdivision (FCS) history.

Freshman cornerback Tim Hamm-Bey of Southeast Missouri was named OVC Newcomer of the Week for his performance against Austin Peay. Hamm-Bey recorded two interceptions in the Redhawk’s win.

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