After the Skyhawk football team’s offense struggled in a 10-14 loss to Murray State in Week One, the team rebounded against Eastern Illinois (EIU) (1-1), beating the Panthers in UTM’s home opener.
Unlike last week, the Skyhawks were treated to a sunny, more hospitable 61-degree Sunday to face off against the Panthers. With the better weather, sophomore quarterback (QB) John Bachus III improved greatly from last week, throwing for 259 yards and three touchdowns against one interception. Fellow QB Dresser Winn also stepped in, completing both of his pass attempts for 10 yards.
On the ground, senior running back Peyton Logan led the way with 41 yards on 13 carries, averaging 3.2 yards. Senior wide receiver (WR) Rodney Williams II proved to be Bachus and Winn’s best offensive weapon, picking up 95 yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions.
Defensively, junior defensive back (DB) Crishun Jackson and junior safety Deven Sims both led the way with nine tackles each, with both players combining for 1.5 tackles-for-loss and Sims recording three pass breakups. Junior linebacker (LB) John Ford also recorded a pick-six that put UTM up three scores.
The first quarter saw a plethora of turnovers and punts. The Panthers’ aggressive offensive strategy proved ineffective, as EIU’s first three drives resulted in turnover-on-downs. Though the Skyhawks initially failed to capitalize on these defensive stops, the Skyhawks led a six-play, 72-yard drive to the end zone after EIU’s third turnover. From the Panthers’ 21-yard line, Bachus connected with Williams to send the receiver to the end zone with a little over three minutes left in the quarter.
The Panthers’ woes continued at the start of the second quarter. At UTM’s 28-yard line early in the quarter, RB Jaelin Benefield was taken down for a seven-yard loss, setting up an EIU field goal on fourth down that ultimately missed. The Skyhawks found their way back into the end zone on the next drive. Bachus completed six of his eight passes on the drive to the likes of Logan (eight rushing yards, five receiving yards), Williams (39 yards), senior RB Lamarcus Young (eight yards) and junior tight end (TE) Colton Dowell (five yards). The drive was capped off with a 16-yard completion by Williams that put UTM up 14-0 after a successful extra point.
Ford’s 50-yard pick-six occurred on the very next drive. Followed up with another successful extra point, the Skyhawks quickly earned 14 points on two back-to-back drives, going up 21-0 over the Panthers. EIU was able to get on the board later in the quarter, trailing 7-21 going into halftime.
The Skyhawks kicked off the third quarter with another touchdown, as Bachus connected once again with Williams to set the Skyhawks up with a comfortable 28-7 lead. After an uneventful third quarter, the Panthers kicked off the final quarter with a touchdown that closed their margin some at 13-28, though the subsequent two-point conversion was unsuccessful. The next drive for UTM ended poorly, as the Skyhawks’ run game was tackled for a total loss of 12 yards. The Skyhawks attempted to punt the ball from their 23-yard line, but it was blocked by EIU and recovered by the Skyhawks in their end zone for a safety, establishing the final score of 28-15.
With the win, the Skyhawks improve to 1-1, and will attempt to defend their home turf once again against No. 10 Jacksonville State (2-0 OVC, 5-1 overall) on Mar. 14.
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