MARTIN, Tenn. – Eastern secured its first-ever Ohio Valley Conference championship and a Division I-AA playoff berth here Thursday night 56-16 win over Tennessee-Martin.

“It’s a relief obviously, and a great satisfaction,” head coach Bob Spoo said. “We got done what we needed to get done.”

The Skyhawks (1-8, 0-4) opened the scoreboard with a 47-yard field goal by Brent Harris just five minutes after kickoff for its only lead of the game. But the No. 6 ranked Panthers (8-1, 5-0) quickly took control of the game with a J.R. Taylor touchdown with 8:30 on the clock in the first half. Bill Besenhofer complimented the touchdown with an extra point to move the Panthers ahead 7-3.

Taylor came back on Eastern’s next possession with a rush for 22 yards and the Panther’s second touchdown of the night, ending the first quarter 14-3.

With 9:31 on the clock in the second quarter, Taylor ran three yards into the endzone for his third touchdown of the night, putting the Panthers ahead 21-3.

But the Skyhawks found an opening less than two minutes later with quarterback Shane Williams throwing a 79-yard pass to Travis Parker at their three-yard line. Kendrick Williams finished the job with a one-yard rush, moving the scoreboard to 21-9.

Senior wide receiver Frank Cutolo highlighted the remainer of the second quarter with two touchdown receptions. The first came from a 17-yard pass from Tony Romo while the second was on a 77-yard punt return. Both extra points were good to elevate the Panthers to a comfortable 35-9 lead before halftime.

Eastern rallied out the locker room as junior Andre Raymond ran a 53-yard touchdown less than three minutes into the half, moving the Panthers to 42-9. Taylor came back with 8:38 on the clock with his fourth touchdown of the night on a 21-yard run.

Romo, Raymond and Taylor all stepped off the field for the remainder of the game following Eastern’s seventh touchdown.

With 52 seconds left in the third quarter, Skyhawk’s Preston Pease caught a four-yard pass from Williams for Tennessee-Martin’s second and final touchdown of the night. Harris’ kick was good for a 49-16 score.

Eastern found room for one last hurrah on the field as second-string running back Justin Morris rushed for 38-yards into the endzone for the

Panthers’ eighth and final 56-16 score of the night.

“So many guys did so many good things tonight,” Spoo said. “We were able to empty the bench and give just about everyone a chance to play.”

The Panthers finished with 382 rushing yards, with Raymond acquiring almost half of those yards after 15 carries with 165 yards. Morris finished with 114 in a quarter and a half. Romo completed 9-of-13 passes for 121 yards.

While the weekday game ended with Spoo drenched, resting on the shoulders of his players, the Panthers suffered several injuries which could potentially hurt Eastern next weekend in Florida.

“We got hit hard today, and we just hope they can finish up the season.

This was the downside of this,” Spoo said. “We can’t afford a lot of those.”

Fullback Andre Jones left the field in the second quarter with a bad ankle

sprain. The Panthers also lost two linebackers as well. John Williams may

have a broken bone in his arm and Nick Ricks needs an X-ray on his arm in addition to an injured knee.

“We had a couple of guys get battered up, but we have two games left, so we hope they come back for us,” Raymond said.

Eastern will take the weekend off before heading back to practice next week for the Florida Atlantic battle Nov. 10.

“A win is a win and this win is behind us now,” Raymond said. “We have a team run in the morning and weights too. It’s going to help us out. If we’re a national team, we have to get ready. We can always celebrate Friday night.”