Amid all the festivities, a 100-yard American flag used by the Dallas Cowboys, a firework show at halftime and a quick-hitting offensive display, the Dino Babers era began with a trick play en route to the 49-28 win over in-state rival Southern Illinois-Carbondale.

The first scoring drive of the season came on a 40-yard touchdown pass by Sam Hendricks, red-shirt sophomore tight end and former high school quarterback, to senior wide receiver Chavar Watkins. The trick play capped off an 11 play, 99-yard scoring drive that gave Eastern a 7-0 lead.

“No risk, no reward,” head coach Dino Babers said. “If you want to win, you have to go win it. Just know our style is going to be wide open, and we are going to try and win the game.”

The Panthers got a legendary performance out of junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. He surpassed his career-high in yards and touchdowns in a single game, throwing for 369 yards and five touchdowns.

“I thought Jimmy (Garoppolo) led us well,” Babers said. “If you had an idea of how much he has to handle out there and how right he has to be, I thought he did a fabulous job with the offense in the first time out.”

Garoppolo’s favorite target, red-shirt junior Erik Lora, had a memorable performance in his first game since the 2010 season, recording a team-high 13 catches and 151 yards.

“Erik played the way he practices,” Babers said. “He comes to work every day with his lunch pail and he has a smile on his face. That’s the way Erik Lora plays. All out, all the time. He deserves the credit he gets.”

Although Lora proved to be a pivotal piece in the passing game, he may be remembered for what he did with his arm.

Lora capitalized on a trick-play opportunity where he hooked up with Chris Wright for a receiver-to-receiver touchdown. Lora found Wright in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown completion that was highlighted by a one-hand grab by Wright.

“I threw a touchdown pass,” Lora said. “I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.”

Along with a strong performance from Lora, the rest of the Panther offense showed just how dominant it can be.

Eastern had seven receivers make a catch, with five receivers hauling in touchdowns in the winning effort. Wright and Lora each hauled in a team-best two touchdowns, and senior Chavar Watkins, red-shirt senior Jake Walker and red-shirt sophomore Sam Hendricks each recorded touchdown receptions in the winning effort.

On defense, the Panthers gave up 21 points in the first half, but turned in a dominating performance in the second half, limiting the Saluki’s to just seven points in the final 30-minutes of play.

The 21-point first-half performance was largely a result from multiple personal fouls that continually gave the Salukis good field position. The Panthers committed 11 penalties for 97 yards in the first half.

In the second half, following an opening drive touchdown by Southern running back Mika’il McCall, the defense turned up the intensity and shutout the Saluki’s in the final 26 minutes of play.

Garoppolo credited his offensive performance in part to the effort the Panther defense displayed.

“It’s a contribution from everyone,” Garoppolo said. “The defense was getting the turnovers. We’re not going to get as many possessions without them. Everyone around me is helping me look good.”

The Panthers certainly looked good on the field, but the general consensus around the team was that they left a number of scoring opportunities on the field that could have resulted in the game being virtually decided at halftime.

“I thought 49 points was low, to be honest,” Lora said. “We should’ve put it in (the end zone) a few more times, but I can’t complain with 49 points. We did our thing, and we got the win.”

The Panthers got the win, and the Dino Babers era started on a good note in Charleston.

“I’m really happy for the guys,” Babers said. “We wanted to win this. Not only for us, but even as a late compliment to Coach (Bob) Spoo. I’m really happy about the way we fought tonight.”

Jordan Pottorff can be reached at 581-2812 or jbpottorff@eiu.edu.