LaGrange College's second half comeback came up short as Huntingdon College hung on for a 35-28 win Saturday at Callaway Stadium. The Panthers fell to 3-6 on the season, as Huntingdon ended its season 6-4.
It was Senior Day for 13 Panthers. Drew Carter, Andrew Christie, Ben Crumbley, Jeremy Davis, Nick Griffin, Tim Hill, George Lankford, Andrecus Lindley, Drew McAdams, Jon Milner, Josh Stripling, Stephen Tuck and Joe White were recognized in pre-game activities.
Tuck had a game-high 124 yards receiving on five catches with a touchdown. He became the Panthers' all-time leading receiver with 1,225 career yards. Lindley led the Panthers with 88 yards rushing and a touchdown. McAdams had six tackles, forced a fumble and had a quarterback hurry.
Huntingdon led 35-7 at halftime. The Hawks rolled up 397 yards of offense in the half. Trevor Manual ran for 112 of his game-high 153 yards. Quarterback Neal Posey threw for two scores and ran for another, coming with 1:33 left in the half.
The LaGrange defense stiffened in the second half. The Hawks were held to 67 yards of offense and four first downs in the second half. The Panthers forced a fumble and five punts in the second half.
Malcolm Young had a game-high 10 tackles to lead the Panthers' defense. He also recovered a fumble in the third quarter to set up the Panthers' third touchdown.
The Panthers had 267 of their 366 yards of offense in the second half. Panther quarterbacks Michael May and Ed Russ combined for 175 yards passing and 94 yards rushing.
May started the LaGrange comeback with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Tuck to make it 35-14 in the third quarter. Russ finished the next two drives with touchdown runs from the 8 and the 1 to close the gap to 35-28 with 9:34 left in the game.
Huntingdon's defense came up with interceptions on the Panthers' last two possessions to stop the comeback. Justin Brown intercepted Russ on the game's final play to seal the win.
The Panthers end the 2010 season at Centre College in Danville, Ky. next Saturday. Kickoff is 1 p.m.
