Panthers Overcome by No. 16 West Alabama

MELBOURNE, Florida –The Florida Tech Panthers got an up-close view of the type of football program they are aspiring to become when No. 16 West Alabama rolled into town Thursday night for the NCAA Division II Game of Week, shown live nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Though the Panthers would fall to the defending Gulf South Conference champions 45-3, FIT head coachSteve Englehart saw plenty of positives for his first-year team to build upon in the GSC opener for both teams.

“I’m still proud of our guys,” Englehart said. “The score doesn’t look real good, but I know that we’re not far off. We’re really not that far off.”

West Alabama, which was coming off a two-point loss to McNeese State (which opened the season with a 32-point win against South Florida) showed plenty of offensive firepower in this one. Running back Javae Swindell ran for a 76-yard touchdown on the game’s second play and finished with 170 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries.

The Tigers had 637 yards of total offense, including 389 yards on the ground.

However, FIT had its share of moments in front of a national television audience as well.

* KickerBrion Ashley nailed a 29-yard field goal on the final play of the first half for his fifth field goal of the season. The freshman has now scored in all three games Florida Tech has played. Ashley also punted well Thursday night, pinning the Tigers down inside their 20 three times.

*Jake Holsinger blocked a West Alabama punt.

*Tyler Rosenblatt intercepted a pass by West Alabama’s Gary Johnston in the end zone and returned it 32 yards. The pass was tipped by FIT’sManny Abad.

* Return manDavis Fluker had a 32-yard kickoff return.

* Wide receiverXavier Milton had four catches for 79 yards, including a 47-yard reception near the end of the first half to help set up the Panthers’ only score.

*Chris Stapleton had 11 tackles while Trai Cadore had eight and Justin Arcune had eight.

“There were a lot of positives,” Englehart said. “I don’t think the scoreboard shows, really, how good our football team can be.”

To get there, the Panthers are going to have to solve a few problems, particularly on offense where they were able to move the ball well all the way up to their opponent’s 30-yard line when the drive would stall.

That was the case on FIT’s opening drive when the Panthers moved the ball into West Alabama territory before the drive stalled out and Ashley was forced to punt.

Later, FIT would drive to the Tigers’ 25-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass and failed quarterback run on fourth-and-1.

“We’ve got so much talent on this team, it’s just (a matter of) putting it all together,” said junior co-captainRamsey Sellers. “We’ve just got to figure out a way to gel. We’ve got to. There’s just too much talent for us not to put up any points.”

The Panthers (1-2), who will travel to play Delta State next Saturday, got a scare at the end of the first half when quarterbackSean Ashley was hit while delivering what would be a 47-yard pass to Milton and landed on his shoulder.

Bobby Vega played the second half at quarterback for the Panthers, withDan Masteller getting in for a few plays as well.

West Alabama led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and 28-3 at halftime. But as Englehart pointed out, the Panthers certainly had their chances to generate some offense in the first half, but came up short.

Though the Panthers have quite a young team, neither Englehart or Sellers were worried about what Thursday’s loss would do to the team’s psyche.

“I think we can bounce back for sure,” Sellers said.

Englehart said he thinks the Panthers are a resilient bunch.

“They know they’ve got to get better, but they also know they played one of the best teams in the country tonight,” Englehart said. “… We caught a team that’s a dang juggernaut right now on a bad night. We just didn’t tackle them very well. That was the biggest thing. (But) there were a lot of positives. We’ll get better.”

FIT and Delta State will kick off at 7 p.m. ET next Saturday in Cleveland, Miss.

 

By Carl Kotala of FIT Sports

 

Box Score:http://www.floridatechsports.com/media/2013-14/football/Stats/fit03.htm

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Florida Tech Drops First Road Game

NEWBERRY, South Carolina – Florida Tech drove down the field late and had a chance to score the go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes remaining, but Newberry’s Latavious Williams sacked Bobby Vega on 4th-and-5 to preserve a 23-19 win Saturday afternoon at Setzler Field.

 

The loss, FIT’s first of its inaugural season, drops the Panthers to 1-1. Newberry remains unbeaten at 2-0.

 

The Panther defense forced two fumbles and two interceptions. The first interception, hauled in by Trai Cadore inside FIT’s goal line, was returned for a 100-yard touchdown. The score gave FIT a 13-7 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

 

FIT’s offense, although it didn’t commit a turnover, was held to 231 yards. Its run game, which totaled 206 yards in its first-ever game exactly one week ago, accumulated 75 yards.

 

“I don’t think there’s been very many times that I’ve been part of a game where we don’t turn the ball over, our defense gets four takeaways and scores a touchdown, and we lose,” head coach Steve Englehart said. “Percentages and odds say that you don’t lose that game. It’s disappointing. We deserved to win the game. Our kids played extremely, extremely hard. Their coaches were very complementary in how we played.”

 

Newberry scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to go up 21-13. Trevor Sand helped break a string of three-straight three and outs with a 16-yard touchdown run with 9:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.

 

On the ensuing possession, Newberry looked to be going for a first down on 4th-and-10 from FIT’s 30 until a false start sent out the punting unit. Kyle Clark pinned the Panthers at their seven following a 28-yard punt.

 

Vega was then sacked for a safety on the third play of the following drive to make the score 23-19.

 

The defense stood tall one final time to give the offense an opportunity for a late score. The Panthers methodically moved the ball and appeared to be in a good position with a 3rd-and-5 on Newberry’s 16-yard line. However, Vega’s pass intended for Aaron George was incomplete and Williams ended the Panthers’ hopes with a sack on fourth down.

 

“It hurts when you’re that close and know that you had that many chances,” Englehart said. “Our field position hurt us. (Davis) Fluker caught the kickoff and stepped out of bounds. He’s young, he made a mistake and he’ll learn from it. We were just backed up a lot and the defense had to play in their territory a lot. If you look at it, I would guess their average starting field position was around midfield. Our average starting field position was probably inside the 15-yard line.”

 

Chris Stapleton led the defense with 13 tackles. Justin Arcune forced one of the fumbles and Steven Thomas came up with the game’s second interception. Stapleton and Tyler Grow both had two tackles for a loss.

 

“We played hard-nosed football,” Cadore said about the defense. “Everyone did their assignments, stayed humbled and hungry throughout the game. We had four defensive turnovers. You can’t get any better than that. We need to stay hungry and continue to have the passion to win.”

 

“I knew the quarterback was going to throw that pass,” he said about his touchdown interception return. “I bit on it and it was right in front of me. All I then saw was the end zone.”

 

Vega finished 9-of-19 with 99 passing yards. Sand carried the ball 14 times for 64 yards. Jarvis Giles averaged eight yards per carry on four touches. Newberry’s defensive line held the Panthers to an average 2.1 yards per rushing attempt.

 

“They were good upfront in their defensive line like we thought they would be,” Englehart said. “We learned a lot about our team and what kind of team we have. They’re tough, they’re resilient. We need to simplify some things on offense and get back to basics. We had our chances. I know we were one play away from winning that football game. When you’re that close it stings.”

 

The Panthers have a short week ahead as they will host defending Gulf South Conference Champion West Alabama in a nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network Thursday at 8 p.m. ET at Palm Bay High School’s Pirate Stadium. As of Friday, over 1,000 single-game general admission tickets were available for the GSC opener for both teams.

 

Tickets are just $10 for adults and $5 for FIT faculty and staff with school ID, seniors ages 65 and above, children ages 5-16 and active duty military with ID. Children under five years of age are free. Tickets can be purchased online at FloridaTechSports.com, by dialing 321-674-6228 and at the Clemente Center Ticket Office Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

 

 

 

 

This story was supplied to Brevard Times by Ryan Jones, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications at FIT.

 

 

 

 

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Fan Traditions Begin For Florida Tech Faithful

 

MELBOURNE, Florida – While Florida Tech will be starting many new traditions with its first year of college football, one as important to fans as the game perhaps is tailgating.  And FIT held its own.

With a section of its campus dedicated to the time-honored tradition, grills, corn hole and cold adult beverages were plentiful.

Jim Hughes – FIT Class of 1974 – noted the significance of the day as he relaxed pre-game with members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.  “You can’t live forever,” Hughes said.  “But you can create things that can.  And that’s what this day is all about.”

Hughes fronted 150 season tickets for the Pikes – a fraternity he helped found in 1968. 
Fraternity member James Helmburger said he was excited.  “It’s great to be here at the beginning of this tradition.”

At Palm Bay High School stadium, which will be home for FIT Panther football games for the immediate future, fans lined up to get in at 5:30 pm for the 7:00 o’clock game.

Defensive Coordinator Willie Tillman – a former coach at Merritt Island High School – said the team was ready.

“They’ve been waiting two years for this,” he said.  “I hope they get the nerves out in the first couple of series and then settle down and play like we’ve taught them.  They will be okay.”

Florida Tech won their inaugural contest 20-13 over Stetson.

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Florida Tech Wins First-Ever Opener 20-13

MELBOURNE, Florida – Before their inaugural game Saturday night, many Florida Tech fans were wearing t-shirts emblazoned with “Still Undefeated.”  This moniker rang true when the final bell sounded with the Panthers notching a come-from-behind 20-13 victory over the Stetson Hatters (0-1) Saturday night at Palm Bay High School’s Pirate Stadium.

Florida Tech (1-0) outscored Stetson 17-3 in the second half, including a 6-yard run with 1:09 left in the fourth quarter by quarterback Sean Ashley to cement the victory.

 

The touchdown followed an 11-play, 83-yard drive, which lasted 5:13 and included five first downs.  Running back Jarvis Giles and fullback Trevor Sand both had several impressive runs in the drive.

Florida Tech Head Coach Steve Englehart said, "The defense played their dang butts off and on offense we found a way to come up with the plays we needed."  Englehart was presented with the game ball by Offensive Coordinator Jayson Martin at a midfield celebration after the game.

In the first quarter, the teams traded punts in the first four possessions.  Then, at 3:57, Florida Tech tried a fourth down sneak that failed.  This gave Stetson the ball on their own 45-yard line.

The Hatters then drove 55 yards on eight plays for the game’s first score.  Quarterback Ryan Tentler hit Devon Garnett for an eight yard strike.  Tentler went 5-5 during the drive.  After the PAT, Stetson led 7-0 with 0:33 left in the first quarter.

After exchanging two more punts as the second quarter started, Stetson intercepted a Panther pass in the end zone from the Hatter 8-yard line.

Stetson then drove 72 yards on 11 plays, ending with a 25-yard field goal by LaGamma James to extend their lead to 10-0 with 4:48 left in the half.

Florida Tech got on the scoreboard – the school’s first football points – as time expired in the half with a 49-yard field goal by Brion Ashley.  The half ended at 10-3.

 

The Panthers began their comeback early in the third quarter as Ashley made a 40-yard field goal at 11:35.  The 4-play drive to set-up the kick included a 33-yard run by Giles.  This score – the only points by either team in the third quarter – made the score 10-6.

The two teams battled back-and-forth for several possessions until Stetson kicker James made a 33-yard field goal at 10:25 in the fourth quarter.  The play was set up by a 45-yard punt return and a disputed 15-yard penalty for sideline interference.  The score was 13-6.

Florida Tech, however, answered on the next drive with a 34-yard touchdown strike from Sean Ashley to Xavier Milton to tie the game at 13-13 with 6:25 remaining.

Stetson almost took another lead, but a 101-yard kickoff return was nullified by a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  The Hatters then fumbled, which set-up the Panthers final touchdown drive.

Florida Tech’s next game is at Noon on Saturday September 14 at Newberry.

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