When Panther senior quarterback Tony Romo looks back at his career at Eastern he’ll remember many touchdown passes.

But it will likely be his last-second 8-yard shuffle and stretch into the end zone in Saturday’s game that he’ll look back most fondly on.

The scramble clinched Eastern’s 25-24 win over Eastern Kentucky in front of a Homecoming crowd far less than the 8,397 who stayed for the first three quarters at O’Brien Stadium.

But those who left missed what may have been one of the most dramatic comebacks in Eastern history.

“There were definitely moments where I thought about what I was going to say when we lost,” Panther head coach Bob Spoo said.

Spoo became Eastern’s all-time winningest coach with the win, No. 97 of his 16-year career.

The Colonels nearly put the Panthers offense at a history-stopping cease-fire.

Romo fumbled and Eastern Kentucky recovered with 2:25 left in the game on the Panther 32-yard line. The Colonels went three and out and left Eastern with 42.8 seconds to move the ball from its own 25-yard line.

That would be all Romo and the Panthers would need.

Romo’s run capped an 8-play,75-yard drive powered by a pair of quick slant routes to junior flanker Devon O’Neal and a 45-yard pass to Alfred Osborne, which he bobbled but ultimately contained, putting Eastern (4-2, 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference) at the 8-yard line with 20 seconds left.

“That play wasn’t really even meant for me,” Osborne said. “I just ran hard and it seemed like when Tony did throw the ball up high it was like the crowd got really silent. I got my finger dislocated on the play.”

After four unsuccessful tries including two penalties that moved the Panthers to the 3-yard line and then back to the 8, Romo broke loose and ran around the left side and stretched the ball just beyond the goal line before he was shoved out of bounds as time ran out.

“I felt pretty quick on that play,” said Romo, who is not known for his ability to run. “I had thought about it on the plays before, but we were trying to go with some things we thought would work.”

They didn’t, forcing Romo to take matters on to his own feet.

“We expect to win,” Romo said. “The defense made an unbelievable stop and that got me going. We just had an aura about us and I knew we were going to win.”

Romo said his team has moved further down field in less time in practice. The Panthers practice a hurry-up style offense every Sunday.

“This isn’t surprising at all,

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we’ve gone something like 90 yards in 10 seconds before,” Romo said. “We actually wanted to start out the game in our hurry-up offense, but because of our field position and other things we didn’t.”

Eastern Kentucky gave the Panthers plenty of help on its final drive. The Colonels went 3-and-out and were starting plays with plenty of time left on the play clock.

It was uncharacteristic play for the Colonels (3-2, 1-1) who stuck with their running game-based offense and had plenty of success.

While Walter Payton Award candidate C.J. Hudson was held to 16 carries for 59 yards, junior tailback Terry Ennis carried the ball 25 times for 112 yards and one touchdown.

“They executed extremely well,” Spoo said. “They just really run the ball well.”

The running game made the Panther defense misses many times early in the game. At the same time, the Colonels showed Eastern why they have the league’s best defense.

“We had plenty of mental mistakes,” Romo said. “We messed up about 10-15 times on offense today.”

Romo completed 19 of 38 passes for 359 yards and two touchdowns, but Eastern Kentucky scored a touchdown and a field goal on his two interceptions. The Colonels contained the Panther running game 62 yards. Senior tailback J.R. Taylor led Eastern with 15 carries for 46 yards.

Eastern Kentucky drew first blood with a touchdown on a 3-play, 14-yard drive in the first quarter after Romo’s first interception.

Eastern answered in the second quarter with a 71-yard pass to senior split end Will Bumphus and a 37-yard Obino Coley fumble recovery.

“(Junior linebacker) Nick Ricks busted in there and it dropped right into my hand,” Coley said. “I just looked over my shoulder and ran it in. But it was really Nick Ricks who made that play. Coach Spoo could’ve ran it downfield on that one.”

Ricks had 15 tackles and was named the OVC defensive “Player of the Week” Sunday for his efforts. Romo earned OVC offensive “Player of the Week” honors.

The Colonels scored on a 5-yard Enis run late in the second quarter, which Eastern answered with a 17-yard pass from Romo to O’Neal to give the Panthers a 19-14 lead.

The Panthers didn’t score in the third quarter and fell behind 24-19 after the Colonels scored on a touchdown and a 32-yard field goal.