Florida Tech Records First Shutout In School History, Defeats Warner 37-0

By Florida Tech // September 20, 2015

ABOVE VIDEO: Coach Englehart talks about Florida Tech’s great performance vs. Warner on Saturday night at Panther Stadium. The victory was the program’s first-ever shutout.

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech (1-2, 0-0 GSC) put to rest its two-game losing streak Saturday night, defeating Warner in dominating fashion with a 37-0 score line at Florida Tech Panther Stadium.

For the second consecutive game the FIT defense showed out, holding the Royals to a mere 198 yards of total offense en route to the first shutout in program history.

“I’m proud of them,” said head coach Steve Englehart.

“They played so great last week. Really they played well enough for us to win last week and it was a heartbreaker that we didn’t. They came out and played really well tonight.”

The straw that stirred the drink for the Panther offense was the rushing attack, which racked up 299 yards and 6.8 yards per rush. True freshman running back Atwuan Haynes was a major catalyst, needing only nine carries to garner 107 yards and a score.

Antwuan Haynes

“We have kind of eased him in slowly,” Englehart said of Haynes.

“One thing we didn’t want to do was put him in a bad situation to where he wasn’t successful and then lost confidence… We thought that this was a great opportunity to get him in the game and he showed that he is capable of being an explosive and dynamic player for us.”

Quarterback Mark Cato returned from injury to make the start for FIT, opening the scoring with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter with a 28 yard pass to Collin O’Neal.

Cato extended the lead to 21-0 at the half with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone and a toss to T.J. Lowder from 30 yards out.

Haynes furthered the gap with a 32-yard touchdown scamper to open the fourth quarter.

ABOVE VIDEO: FIT’s Antwuan Haynes’ 32-yard touchdown run vs Warner.

ABOVE VIDEO: The Panthers connect on a scoring pass in the second quarter of Saturday night’s game vs. Warner at Panther Stadium.

The final nail was driven in with a team safety and a Landon Galloway scoring rush from the 2-yard line.

Gary Holmes also enjoyed a big game rushing, taking 17 carries for 96 yards. After scoring on his first career carry a week ago, Josh Denton took the second rush of his career in Crimson and Gray for 25 yards, delivering a shot to a Royal defender to finish off the play.

ABOVE VIDEO: Tech QB Mark Cato talks about his team’s dominating performance against Warner.

Mark Cato ended the day with 134 yards and a pair of touchdown tosses through the air. Lowder was the primary target, hauling in three passes for 51 yards and a trip for six.

Trai Cadore continued his productive start to the season, leading the team with seven tackles. Chris Stapleton, J.J. Sanders and Andrew Adair each finished close behind with six stops. Overall, the FIT defense registered 10 tackles for loss, including three from Devan Kinlaw.

Though the Warner offense largely struggled, running back Tory Myers did manage 5.5 yards per carry with 33 yards on six rushes. Loronza Smith was a workhorse for the Royal defense, garnering a game-high 13 tackles and picking off Cato for the game’s only interception.

ABOVE VIDEO: Florida Tech DB Manny Abad leads defense to school’s first-ever shutout.

The Panthers now focus their attention on Gulf South Conference play, opening the conference schedule next Saturday at 7 p.m. ET with a trip to Florence, Alabama for a battle with defending GSC co-champion No. 10 North Alabama.

As the GSC-TV Game of the Week, a live video broadcast of the game will be available on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.

Additionally, Jerry Durney and Paul Van Scott will call the game on WFIT 89.5 FM. The broadcast will also be available at WFIT.org and through the free TuneIn Radio app.

ABOVE VIDEO: Florida Tech defensive coordinator Willie Tillman talks with Space Coast Daily’s Zach Clark after his Panther defense threw Florida Tech’s first-ever shutout against Warner.