After securing its first-ever outright Ohio Valley Conference Championship with a 37-6 win over Murray State Nov. 17, Eastern’s football players doused their coach, received their trophy and then tore down their goalpost.

“I was just hoping no one would get hurt,” Panther head coach Bob Spoo said of his players’ celebratory acts following the win. “But that – that’s fine with me. How often is this going to happen in our lifetime? It’s just unbelievable.”

After a slow start and a pair of turnovers, the Panthers buckled down to outscore the Racers (4-6, 2-4) 20-0 in the second half.

“I think our defense played their asses off. I think our offense played their asses off, and we won this football game,” Spoo said. “I’m pleased with this football team and all that they’ve been through. They’ve overcome everything. Injuries were paramount, but we overcame them. Guys have stepped up, and I’m so happy for them, and I’m so happy for these coaches.”

While the Panthers had already secured an automatic bid to the Division I-AA playoffs, which they’ll begin at home 12:30 p.m. Saturday against No. 7 ranked Northern Iowa (9-2), Spoo said he wanted no part of a shared championship.

“I wanted that OVC outright. I really did. And that’s a credit to our team to rise up again like that,” he said. “There was talk that the game was anticlimatic in a sense because of the automatic bid. But we had none of that. Whatever we’ve been challenged with this year, we’ve risen to.”

Eastern’s defense rose to the task in the 31-point thrashing, allowing Murray State just a pair of field goals while forcing two turnovers. On the other side of the ball, junior quarterback Tony Romo was on the mark all afternoon. The nation’s No. 1 efficiency passer completed 15-of-21 passes for 305 yards, while not even attempting a completion in the fourth quarter.

Junior J.R. Taylor led the rushing attack with 134-yards on 22 carries. But the story wasn’t the statistics, but the big win.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” senior defensive back Kourtney Young said. “For me, it took five years and we’re finally here. Every year was close, but this year we finally got it, my last year. It’s just unexplainable right now. I honestly don’t think it’s hit me. I’m just really glad right now.”

So was his coach.

“We’ve answered every challenge, and we deserved this championship and we got it,” Spoo said. “I think this is the greatest thing that has happened for me in my 15 years here.”

And now the focus has shifted to another championship – the national one.

“This feels good. We were close last year. It’s sweet. We came into this season expecting this,” Romo said. “We fulfilled it. It’s great, but at the same time we’re not done.

“We have one more title to go win.”