The Panthers fought until the very end to get the win over Garden City Community College this past Saturday, Sept. 8 but fell a touchdown short in the 16-8 loss.
The first half of the game was all Garden City going into half-time up 16-0 over the Panthers but ECC wouldn't go down without a fight. The Panthers defense held Garden City scoreless in the second half of the game and got on the board with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Tariq Young (Lakeland, FL) to Jordan Foster (Columbia, SC). With the two-point conversion from Mark Wright (Carrollton, GA) to Donald Brown (Des Moines, IA), ECC would put 8 on the board.
In the fourth quarter both teams were held scoreless. The Panthers had a chance when Wright had to longs runs with 23 and 14 yard back-to-back plays that pushed ECC to just over midfield. Garden City was able to get two stops to hold the final score at 16-8.
Penalties plagued the ECC team with ten panalties and 110 yards.
ECC is trying to find the quarterback that will help get them the wins they need. Wright, Byron Jarrett (Des Moines, IA) and Josh Shim all played at the QB position with Wright leading the way with 55 yards. Wright also lead the team in rushing with 29 yards.
Julius Coates (Rockford, IL) led the team in receiving with 46 yards and was followed closely by Foster with 32 and Brown with 21. Tyler Amundson (Menomonie, MN) had 253 yards punting averaging 42.2.
Ali Shockley (Rock Hill, SC) was a huge defensive presense for the Panthers. He had 20 tackles with 18 of them being solo. He also had 3 tackles for a loss. Isaiah Childs (Greenwood, MO) had 11 tackles and .5 sacks as well as 3 tackles for a loss. Marchaelo Judge (Tampa, FL) and Roland Williams (Memphis, TN) each had an interception for the Panthers.
ECC will be on the road for their next game traveling to Dodge City Community College on Saturday, Sept. 15 with kick-off at 1 pm.
