Coming off a double overtime loss to in-state rival Illinois State, Eastern found itself in another overtime battle against Ohio Valley Conference foe Murray State. This time, the Panthers got the 50-49 win on a two-point conversion call by first-year head coach Dino Babers.

“(The two-point conversion call) wasn’t something that was automatic,” Babers said. “I think conference games are different than non-conference games, and when you are at home it’s different than being away. I’d rather try to win it with our offense than with our defense, and I thought it was the right thing to do.”

The two-point conversion was a reverse play that had red-shirt junior wide receiver Erik Lora finding red-shirt senior Von Wise in the corner of the end zone for the game winning play.

“I was in the tight end spot, and I ran a simple corner route and the defender outside of me bit on the play, and just that split second he came in gave me enough time to get inside of him,” Wise said. “Erik (Lora) made a good throw. It may have not been a pretty throw, but it got there and we made the play.”

Along with throwing the game-winning pass, Lora shattered multiple school records and OVC records in the receiving game, totaling 269 yards and three touchdowns on 21 receptions.

“I am so proud of (Lora),” Babers said. “The guy never gives up and never surrenders. He’s everything you would want in a football player. If you get 95 players like that, you are going to win a lot of ball games and a lot of championships.”

The 21 receptions set a program record and broke a 43-year old OVC record for catches in a game. His 269 receiving yards also set a program record for the most receiving yards in a game.

“Honestly, I never thought I would set a record,” Lora said. “I set pretty high standards for myself, but never would I have thought I would break school and conference records. I have to give all the praise to the o-line, Jimmy (Garoppolo) and all the receivers.”

Although Lora received the majority of the praise for his record-breaking performance, red-shirt senior running back Jake Walker made a crucial play that kept the Panthers drive going in overtime.

On 4th and 1, the Panthers elected to hand the ball to Walker in the hope of getting the first down. Walker was met behind the line of scrimmage by the Racer defense, but fully extended his body and the ball to give the Panthers the first down that set up the game-winning play.

“That fourth down effort, are you kidding me,” Babers said. “You talk about Erik Lora’s performance, but if Walker doesn’t get that fourth down, we aren’t having this conversation. What an effort, unbelievable effort on fourth down to get us six more inches. Wow.”

Along with converting a crucial fourth down conversion, Walker rushed for 102 yards and became the 25th running back in Eastern history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for his career.

Junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo also put up career-highs in the win, throwing for 393 yards and five touchdowns. He completed 39 of his 60 pass attempts.

With the win, the Panthers move to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play. They will be back in action when they host Austin Peay at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at O’Brien Field for Family Weekend.

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