This past weekend, the Greenville Panthers football team were coming off a bye-week and traveled 12 hours one way to face their conference rival, College Of St. Scholastica (CSS) on a cold Minnesota Saturday night. Coming into this game, the Panthers were looking forward to spoiling CSS’s homecoming weekend and finally ending the losing streak. Unfortunately, they came up short losing 47-13 putting the Panthers at a 1-5 record for the season.
Media by Dana Fitch.
There are many negative things that can turn into a positive. Despite the loss of this game, there are some things that stood out from both sides of the ball. The defense was able to force a couple of 3 and outs and managed to force two turnovers. Both of these turnovers were interceptions. One was forced early in the first half by senior safety, Ransom Cochran who also leads the team with a total of 10 tackles. Another interception came to from freshman linebacker, Lakari Benjamin. On the offensive side of the ball, freshman running back, Courtney Mitchell lead the team in rushing with 27 carries for 161 yards and was able to score his first collegiate touchdown, as well.
After the game, junior offensive lineman Scott Woker stated that he felt, “I am disappointed. I feel that we didn’t play to our full potential and we were not disciplined in certain areas. However, coming into the Crown game, I feel that if we do our job and we hold each other accountable, we will definitely improve in many areas of the team.”
Media by Dana Fitch.
In this week, the Panthers will be facing another conference foe, Crown College. In this game, things are looking pretty even with both teams having a lot to fight for. Crown is coming off a heartbreaking 27-21 loss in overtime due to a key pick 6 to win the game that unfortunately got called back due to a holding call. Crown is looking forward to trying to spoil the Panther’s homecoming weekend. With just 4 games left in the season, the Panthers plan to come into this game focusing on the main things that need to be fixed from both sides of the ball. On the defensive side of things, their main focus is to practice more effort and discipline due to the different schemes that Crown likes to run. They also want to be able to eliminate the big plays, and do their best to put the offense in position to win the game. As for the offense, their main is to focus is to fix the little things just as aiming points on block protections and executing at a higher level. If the Panthers manage to hit those goals this week, then Saturday should be a successful day all-around.
If you are looking for something to do this upcoming weekend and are in need of plans, you should definitely come out to the game and support your Greenville Panthers football team as they take on Crown College this homecoming Saturday at noon!
