Birmingham-Southern tops Panthers 28-19 in 2010 season opener

Posted: Sep 04, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Birmingham-Southern jumped out to a 21-0 lead and held off a LaGrange rally for a 28-19 win Saturday at Panther Field. It was the 2010 season opener for both teams.

It was the first win for the host Panthers over LaGrange. The visiting Panthers had won the first two meetings in the final seconds of both games by 34-31 and 30-27 scores.

"It's tough to win giving up two special team touchdowns, but I'm proud of the way the guys came back when it was 21-0." LaGrange coach Todd Mooney said. "We were not consistent moving the ball in the first half but I thought we more consistent in the second half.

"But the special teams were the difference in the game, I thought our defense played well enough to win. We'll go look at the film and work on correcting the mistakes we made today."

Senior quarterback Drew Carter threw for 265 yards, 181 in the second half, for LaGrange. Backup quarterback Michael May added 66 yards as the Panthers finished with 331 yards in the air.

The Panthers were limited to just 28 yards on the ground. Sophomore Aaron Duncan led the team with 34 yards on 11 carries. Senior Andrecus Lindley had two short touchdown runs on three carries.

Birmingham-Southern had 265 yards rushing in the game. Walter Arrington rushed for 137 yards and Shawn Morris added 97 yards with two touchdowns.

Senior David Langston had a record day for Birmingham-Southern. Langston returned a punt and a kickoff return for touchdowns. He would have finished with three touchdown returns had it not been for a penalty wiping out the return.

Langston finished the game with 242 return yards and a total of 255 all-purpose yards, both school single-game records. He left the game in the third quarter after getting injured on an 18-yard run.

Birmingham-Southern led 7-0 at halftime on the strength of Langston's 86-yard punt return with 4:54 left in the half. Langston avoided a tackle after fielding the punt and broke free down the home sidelines for the score.

Langston struck again on the second half kickoff. He went 89 yards up the middle to make it 14-0. Morris scored the first of his two touchdowns to up the host Panthers' lead to 21-0 with 9:16 left in the third quarter.

The Panthers answered with a 9-play 67-yard drive for their first score. Jordan Magaw finished the drive with a 20-yard reception from Carter for the touchdown. The ball was tipped off a defender's hands right to Magaw in the corner of the end zone.

Birmingham-Southern came flying down the field on the ensuing kickoff. Wide receiver John Lawroski headed for the end zone after a completion from quarterback Joe Thigpen, but was stripped of the ball at the 1-yard by Tim Hill. The ball went into the end zone as the Panthers took over on the touchback.

The Panthers needed only six plays to cover the 80 yards. Riley Hill covered 35 yards with a one-handed catch down to the Birmingham-Southern 7. Two plays later, Lindley bulled in to make it 21-13.

On the ensuing kickoff Jo Jo Sweet jarred the ball loose from Lawroski with Josh Stripling recovering at the Birmingham-Southern 35. Lindley completed the short drive with his second touchdown from four yards out to bring the Panthers within two, 21-19.

Birmingham-Southern padded their lead to 28-19 with a four-play 41-yard drive in the fourth quarter. Morris finished the drive with a 1-yard plunge with 8:20 remaining. The Panthers' last threat ended as Dustin Massey intercepted a deflected pass from May at the Birmingham-Southern 10 with 2:20 left.

The Panthers host Millsaps College next Saturday. Kickoff is 1 p.m.

Football

Birmingham-Southern tops Panthers 28-19 in 2010 season opener