Tornados Look to Storm Back Against the LaGrange Panthers
Brevard, N.C. – The Brevard College football team will look to bounce back from a 30-7 loss last week versus the Tusculum College Pioneers as they prepare this week to host the Panthers of LaGrange College on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Brevard Memorial Stadium.
The Tornados are 1-6 on the season, with four of those losses coming to South Atlantic Conference members. Against non-SAC opponents, BC is 1-2 and will look to pick up their second win of the season this weekend.
LaGrange comes into Saturday afternoon’s game with a record of 0-7 in 2007. Like the Tornados, the Panthersa member of NCAA Division III, are in only their second year of existence, having first started their program in 2006.
Although Coach Hamilton and his staff were pleased that the offense had no turnovers versus Tusculum last week, the Tornados will look for a more balanced offensive attack versus a Panthers defense that has given up a total of 2,797 total yards and 239 points in their first seven games of the season. Last week, the Tornados were forced to be one dimensional, as they rushed for 179-yards on 48 attempts, while only passing 13 times for 14-yards.
Sophomore quarterback Colby McCoy will be asked to shoulder more of the offensive responsibilities this week, as Coach Hamilton would like to put forth more of a consistent and balanced offensive game plan for the quick Panthers defense.
Again the rushing attack will be led by junior running back John Taylor, as Taylor leads the team in attempts with 118 and in rushing yards, with 515-yards on the season. Taylor also leads the Tornados with nine rushing touchdowns, which is good enough to place him in a tie with two other players for third-place in the South Atlantic Conference.
For the third straight week, the BC defense will face an offense that is capable of moving the ball through the air, as LaGrange has passed for 1,190-yards on the season. Panthers’ quarterback Drew Carter has completed 94 passes of his 212 attempts for 1,059-yards and four touchdowns.
LaGrange runs a one-back offense spearheaded by two running backs, Brandon Crawford and Mario Wallace, who split time in the backfield for the Panthers. Crawford has rushed 85 times for 264-yards, while Wallace has 388-rushing yards on 71 attempts. Each has rushed for two touchdowns.
The Tornados defense, however will look to force some turnovers on Saturday afternoon, as LaGrange has turned the ball over 14 times, with nine fumbles and five interceptions. The BC defense on the season has forced 14 turnovers, with eight fumbles and six interceptions.
This is the second meeting between the two schools, as Brevard College defeated LaGrange, 35-27, last season in both teams’ inaugural season.
The kickoff time is slated for 2 p.m. at Brevard Memorial Stadium in Brevard, N.C. The shuttle buses begin running at 12 p.m. and the gates will open at that time as well, two hours prior to the opening kickoff.
You can catch the game via live broadcast brought to you by the “Voice of the Tornados” Matt Mabe and Bill Wilson over the radio at WSQL 1240 AM or over the Internet at
www.redzonemedia.com. You may also visit the Brevard College Athletics website at
www.brevard.edu/athletic/, where you can go to the football schedule page and click on the links to the live broadcast.
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