In a battle of elite defenses in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Panthers proved to be better than Tigers Saturday at O’Brien Field.

The Eastern football team beat Tennessee State 28-3, fueled by Anthony Goodman’s 46-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter, as the Panthers improved to 3-1 in the OVC, with their Homecoming victory.

Eastern coach Kim Dameron saw his defense shutout the Tigers in the first half and surrender only 287 yards, as Tennessee State only managed to score a 42-yard field goal by Lane Clark early in the third quarter. The Panthers’ defense was well prepared.

“They just kept fighting and fighting and fighting and we gave up some things, but as a group they really put it together,” Dameron said. “It was a heck of a performance.”

Holding on to a narrow 7-3 lead, with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Eastern’s defense stepped on the field with the Tigers’ offense starting near midfield.

Tennessee State coach Rod Reed began the second half, replacing Michael German for Ronald Butler, as the starter was injured in the first half. It did not make a difference for the Tigers’ offense.

Butler took the snap from the 46-yard line and faked a hand off to his running back, then threw a pass to Ryan Mitchell, but Goodman snatched the ball from mid-air and raced to the end zone for the touchdown, giving Eastern a 14-3 lead — the turning point of the game.

“Anytime you get a turnover on defense and you score on defense, it’s a huge play,” Dameron said. “That had to be the play that propelled us because it was really a tight game.”

Up until that point, the two highly ranked defenses in the conference were living up to their reputation. The only touchdown before Goodman’s return came with 13:33 left in the second quarter, when Jalen Whitlow threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Adam Drake.

At halftime, both offenses combined for 267 yards and only 14 first downs.

Tennessee State squandered a great opportunity late in the second quarter, when the Eastern defense stopped the Tigers on fourth down and goal from the one-yard line. Dino Fanti wrapped up Stephen Hopkins for a loss of two yards on the fourth-down attempt, with 4:06 left in the first half.

“The fourth and one stop was a huge goal-line stand,” Fanti said. “Everybody knew they were going to try to run it up the middle, so we just lined up where we were told and we wanted it more.”

Eastern contained the struggling Tigers’ rushing attack the entire game, allowing 3.3 yards per carry. The Panthers rushed for 294 yards, opposed to the 107 from Tennessee State.

The Panthers did not record any sacks on German or Butler, but they got enough pressure at the right time to force the costly interception that led to Goodman’s touchdown. Fanti was able to get past his blocker and get a hit on Butler a split second before he released the ball, which floated in the air, allowing Goodman to undercut Mitchell’s short route and get the turnover.

“I have to see it on film, but pressure always helps,” Fanti said.

The simple formula of getting turnovers and not turning the ball over was in display once again for Eastern, as Tennessee State threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, while the Panthers’ offense was able to get over its slow start and did not turn the ball over.

The Eastern running game put the game away in the fourth quarter, when Whitlow scored a 67-yard rushing touchdown and then Shepard Little iced the game with a 50-yard rushing touchdown with 4:04 left to play. Little only played in the second half, carrying the ball 12 times for a game-high 130 yards. Dameron did not disclose why Little did not play in the first half.

“I wish he would have been there in the first half, but he wasn’t and that’s between us and him and this football team – that’s family business,” Dameron said.

Little helped the Panthers run out most of the fourth quarter, when Eastern recorded 183 rushing yards and had the ball on offense for 9:22.

Tennessee State’s three points were the fewest since Nov. 2, 2013, when Eastern Kentucky shutout the Tigers 44-0, in Richmond, Ky.

Eastern has the No. 1 scoring defense in the OVC, giving up 14.8 points through its first four conference games.

“It fires up our defense a lot – I feel like we have a great defense,” Goodman said. “Going out there and holding them to three points that really shows how good our defense is and how strong our defense is. It felt good to outplay their defense.”

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.

Blake Nash contributed to this article.