Ferrum Falls in a Game of Firsts

Friday night marked one of many firsts in recent memory, if not ever. Let's start with the obvious.....

It was the first game since the 2019 season ended. This of course was due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The fall football schedule was shelved due to this, and there was no way to know when the Panthers would re-take the field. This was the first game for new head coach Cleive Adams. Coach Adams is a former Blackhat, and Ferrum Hall Of Famer who served as defensive coordinator for many years before going to Averett as head coach. The departure of Rob Grande gave him the opportunity to return to campus and take the reins of the Panther program.

This was a Friday night game, and while I would have to check, I think there have been Friday night games, but there has never been one at Ferrum.......I seem to recall Methodist coming to Rocky Mount to play a Friday night game on one occasion. In fact, this was the first scheduled night football game, ever at Ferrum as there have only been lights at Adams stadium for a short time.

Junior Quarterback Titus Jones was the named starter for the Panthers this season, and this was his first game with that designation. He had started from a backup roll, but this is his team to lead. While this game did not shine a huge light on the Panther talent, I did pick up on some positives from the contest.

Titus Can Toss It

In his new role, I saw a emerging quarterback that will have success. He has a very strong arm, and what appears to be a couple of very capable receivers. Look for Jones and the passing game to be more of a force to be reckoned with as time goes on. Tmahdae Penn in his first ever college game, got off to a great start. The 6'3" Freshman from Martinsville racked up over 100 receiving yards on 5 catches. (over 20 yds. per catch)

Defense Gets The Picture 

Although the Panthers came out on the short end of the score, the defense showed a lot of improvement as the game went on. The running back for Emory and Henry, Grayson Overstreet, was a transfer from University of Richmond. He was a very powerful running back, and hard to bring down, but the sledding became tougher in the second half. He could easily be the top running back in the conference, but I believe the defense made adjustments and he had less success as time went on.

Billy Higgins lead the team with 11 tackles ( 5 solo), as his presence kept what is a very powerful offense, much more suitably contained.

Ferrum will need to go back and look at the films and try to find ways to get the running game jump started. It had issues to say the least, but I think there is nowhere to go but up. 

One Last First

Lastly I was sorry to see the offensive output so anemic. It had happened before, but it has not happened often. This was the first time in 20 years that a Panther team was shut out. It was September  9th, 2000. Ferrum fell 10-0. Oh, and you guessed it..........it was to Emory and Henry.......at Ferrum.

Take it and learn guys!

Go Panthers!