Florida Tech Drubs West Georgia 44-10 at Panther Stadium in Gulf South Conference Game
By Space Coast Daily // September 29, 2019
offense got off to swift start in front of the home crowd, now holds a 6-1 record in home openers
SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Florida Tech defeated West Georgia 44-10 in college football action. After the game, Florida Tech head coach Steve Englehart discussed the win.
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – The Florida Tech football team rode the excitement of its home opener and gave its fans a show as the Panthers dominated West Georgia, 44-10, for their first Gulf South Conference victory of the season Saturday evening at Panther Stadium.
With the win, Tech moves to 1-1 in conference play and 3-4 all-time against the Wolves. Tech now holds a 6-1 record in home openers.
Such has been the norm for the Panthers in 2019, the offense got off to a swift start in front of their home crowd.
On just its second play from scrimmage, Drezyn Parson broke through the defense and darted for a 66-yard touchdown, his first career score as a Panther.
With Parson’s touchdown, Florida Tech has now scored on its opening drive in five straight games.
CLICK HERE for the game stats.
Mike Diliello capped off a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown run, his fifth of the season, to put Tech up 13-0 with 6:16 left in the first.
However, UWG trimmed the Panthers’ lead to one score on a three-yard pass from Willie Candler to Thomas Lester with less than two minutes left in the opening quarter.
Daniel Richardson ran it in from two yards out to increase Tech’s advantage to 20-7 in the second. West Georgia answered with a 19-yard field goal by Omar Cervantes with 9:38 to go in the first half.
Tech responded with a quick 7-play, 70-yard possession that spanned less than two minutes and ended with a six-yard touchdown connection between Diliello and Damien McGhee. This gave the Panthers’ a 27-10 lead that they took into halftime.
SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Florida Tech quarterback Mike Dilielo (227 yards passing, 95 yards rushing and four total touchdowns) and linebacker Patrick Banks (8 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks) each had big games in the Panthers’ big 44-10 win over West Georgia on Friday night.
McGhee and Diliello teamed up again for a six-yard touchdown in the third quarter to push Tech’s edge to 24 points.
Diliello recorded his second touchdown on the ground with a five-yard run with 5:23 to go in the third and Trey Schaneville knocked in a field goal from 31 yards out to increase the Panthers’ lead and cap off the scoring at 44-10.
The Panthers, who have struggled with stopping opposing offenses in the second half this season, held UWG scoreless over the final 39:38 of game time.
The 34-point victory is Florida Tech’s largest in the series with West Georgia.
The Panthers outgained UWG 510-325, including a 303-134 edge in the rushing department. Tech also dominated possession time racking up almost 39 minutes during the contest.
Diliello continues to impress in his freshman campaign as he set a new single-game record with 94 rushing yards, the most by any Florida Tech quarterback in program history. He ran the ball in twice for scores and went 15-of-27 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the win.
Florida Tech worked many players into the backfield as eight different running backs carried the ball in the game.
Parson was Tech’s second-leading rusher in the game with 74 yards and a touchdown on four carries. Corey Lane added 57 yards on the ground while Derrick Wright added 20 yards.
Wright was the leading receiver in the game with 74 yards on three catches. McGhee finished with 20 yards and his two touchdown grabs. Simon Williams caught two passes for 47 yards. Six other Panthers also recorded catches in the win.
Patrick Banks led the defensive effort with eight tackles, including six solo stops, 1.5 sacks and three tackle for loss.
Malachi Timberlake and Marquise Lewis each had six tackles. Timberlake also added an interception and three pass break-ups to his impressive stat line.
Evan Thompson recorded 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and one interception. Dezmond Morgan also picked off a pass in the contest to go along with three pass break-ups.
Florida Tech remains at home next weekend as the Panthers host Fort Valley State in a non-conference showdown at Panther Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5. That game will kick off at 7 p.m.
