Panthers Fall to Tigers

Panthers Fall to Tigers

by Robert Wallace

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November 01, 2009 – Birmingham, Ala (Cable Muse Network) -- The DePauw University Tigers scored in every quarter enroute to a 35-21 win over the Birmingham Southern College Panthers Saturday afternoon at Panther Stadium.

DePauw improves their record to 6-1 and tie for the lead in the SCAC standings while BSC fall to 4-4 on the year.

DePauw won the toss and elected to receive to open the game. Beginning at their own 37 the Tigers wasted no time moving the ball to the BSC two yard line in only five plays. On the sixth play of the drive Derrick Karazsia took the handoff the final two yards for the score. With the PAT from Jordan Havercamp the Tigers took a 7-0 lead with 11:54 remaining in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kick-off it looked as though BSC was going to answer the DePauw score but after 8 plays the drive stalled at the Tiger 36. The Kyle Sebestyen punt rolled into the end zone for a touchback and the Tigers took over on their own 20 yard line.

After a few short gains quarterback Spud Dick connected on a 62 yard touchdown pass to Alex Koors and the Havercamp PAT made the score 14-0 with 4:50 remaining in the opening quarter.

BSC got on the board by putting together a 9 play 79 yard drive with the touchdown coming on a 33 yard run by quarterback Joe Thigpen. Cody Hutchins PAT made the score 14-7 with 1:10 to go in the 1^st quarter.

DePauw’s next drive ended when BSC’s Chris Reeves intercepted a Dick pass at the BSC 24. However, BSC was unable to capitalize on the Tiger mistake and had to punt the ball back to DePauw.

DePauw took over from their own 27 and had several short gains to move the ball to the BSC 36 yard line. Dick was sacked on the next play and then had a pass broken up by Cole Rudder before connecting on a 17 yard gain to Jon Ellis for a first down at the BSC 22. The Tigers moved the ball to the BSC 7 when Dick connected with Mark Branigan for their third score of the afternoon. Havercamp’s PAT was on target and the Tiger’s moved out to a 21-7 lead with 2:12 remaining in the first half.

The Panthers and Tigers exchanged punts to begin the 2^nd half. On the Panther’s next possession Thigpen would throw an interception to the Tigers Ryan Preuss who returned in to the BSC 37. The Tigers would capitalize in the mistake as Dick tossed another strike to Alex Koors for his 2^nd TD on the day and after the PAT the score stood at 28-7.

The Tigers would kick-off to the Panthers Wesley Arrington who would return the kick-off 36 yards to the DePauw 44. Thigpen and Arrington would run and pass their way to the Tiger 8 yard line before a pass interference call against DePauw would give them the ball two yard line. On the next play after the penalty BSC’s Thigpen would take it into the end zone for BSC’s second score of the day.

BSC would pull to within one TD in the 4^th quarter on a 22 yard Shawn Morris TD run with 14:03 remaining in the game. That wouldn’t last long as DePauw answered with a 12 play 67 yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock. The final score came on a 3 yard Jon Ellis run to put the game away with 7:43 remaining.

BSC did manage to threaten another score late in the game when they drove to the Tiger 6 yard line but came up short and turned the ball over on downs. DePaul ran out the final 1:43 for a final score of 35-21. BSC’s Wesley Arrington would be the games key player with 226 all purpose yards. The Panthers will host Huntingdon College next week for Homecoming before traveling to Millsaps for their final game of the year.

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