Eastern’s football team remained on top of the Ohio Valley Conference with a 31-24 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday.

The Panthers moved to 5-1 in the OVC, and are tied for first place with Tennessee-Martin.

Against Tennessee Tech, the Panthers found themselves in an early 10-0 hole at the end of the first quarter, but outscored the Golden Eagles, 31-14, in the final three quarters to escape Cookeville, Tenn., with their second road win of the season.

“We just came out in the second half and played the way we knew we could,” junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said.

Following two fourth down stands by the Golden Eagle defense, the Panthers found the end zone for the first time on a 61-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo to red-shirt senior wide receiver Chavar Watkins.

Watkins had seven catches for a career-best 140 yards in the win.

The Panthers would take their first lead of the game on the opening drive of the second half.

Garoppolo connected with freshman wide receiver Keiondre Gober for the two-yard touchdown to give Eastern a 14-10 lead.

Following a 19-yard field goal by junior kicker Cameron Berra, the Golden Eagles responded with a 14-yard touchdown pass from back-up quarterback Darian Stone to former Tennessee Volunteer wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers to tie the game at 17.

The highly touted wide receiver finished the game with five catches for a team-best 49 yards and a touchdown.

The Panthers quickly answered as Garoppolo tossed his third touchdown of the game, finding senior wide receiver Chris Wright downfield for the 73-yard touchdown strike.

Wright finished the game with 102 yard and a touchdown on four receptions.

Sophomore running back Taylor Duncan added the eventual game-winning touchdown, running it in from 10 yards out to give the Panthers a 31-17 lead.

In the closing minutes of the game, Tennessee Tech running back Doug Page recorded his second touchdown of the day to make the score 31-24 with 2:27 remaining in the game.

Following the touchdown run, the Golden Eagles elected to attempt an on-side kick, but red-shirt junior wide receiver Erik Lora recovered the kick, eliminating all hopes of a Tennessee Tech win in the process.

For the game, Garoppolo threw for 376 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. The Arlington Heights native completed 27 of his 41 pass attempts, and opened up the game completing 15 of his first 18 pass attempts.

“It’s funny that we have come to expect great things from Jimmy (Garoppolo), and watching the game unfold on the field it appeared he didn’t have the numbers he put up,” head coach Dino Babers said. “He did a great job moving our offense and making adjustments to get us the win.”

In the receiving game, both Watkins and Wright eclipsed the 100-yard mark, and Lora added 75 yards on seven catches. It was the second consecutive game where Lora was held under 100 yards after starting the season with seven straight games with 100 receiving yards or more.

On the ground, red-shirt senior running back Jake Walker and Duncan combined to total 116 yards and one touchdown. Walker totaled a team-leading 61 yards on 14 carries, while Duncan added 56 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

Defensively, the Panthers allowed 222 rushing yards as duel-threat quarterback Darian Stone totaled a team-best 100 rushing yards. Former Fighting Illini running back Bud Golden added 50 yards on 10 carries, and Doug Page contributed 30 yards and two touchdowns on 11 attempts.

In the passing game, the Panthers limited the Golden Eagles to a season-best 153 yards. Tennessee Tech was without starting quarterback Tre Lamb as Stone threw for just 153 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the losing effort.

The Panther defense was led by sophomore defensive back Jourdan Wickliffe as he totaled a team-best 13 tackles and an interception. Sophomore linebacker Robert Haynes contributed 12 tackles.

Eastern will be back in action at 11 a.m. Saturday at O’Brien Field when it hosts Southeast Missouri for a chance to earn a share of first place in the OVC.

“The team is feeling good right now,” Garoppolo said. “We just need to remain focused and hungry in order to reach our goal on Saturday.”

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