The athletic department continutes to search for teams to fill two empty spots on the 2002 football schedule.

After nearly two weeks of searching, the football team is still without opponents after the University of Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois canceled its Sept. 7 and Sept. 14 dates.

“We’ll probably be able to announce something sometime in the future,” said John Smith, assistant athletic director.

Although the dates are still open, Smith has been in contact with two schools that look to discuss contract negotiations with Eastern, but the details will not be finalized until later in the week.

Sam Houston State is also no longer in consideration for the 2002 season.

Eastern is looking to leave the Sept. 7 date open as the team will be returning from Hawaii earlier that week.

“We’ve had schools interested in scheduling the Sept. 7 date, but if at all possible, we’d like to stay away from the 7th and give the team time to readjust,” Smith said.

That leaves the possibility of scheduling games on Sept. 17 and on Oct. 26, originally scheduled to be an open date for the Panthers.