Eastern dropped out of the Ohio Valley Conference race Saturday when they lost an emotional overtime game 40-37 to Tennessee Tech.

The Panthers (4-5, 3-3) trailed the Golden Eagles (6-3, 3-2) 34-13 halfway through the fourth quarter. But Eastern scored three touchdowns in the final eight minutes to send the game to overtime.

“Considering how poor of a fourth quarter team we’ve been this season, it was exciting to have a come back like that,” Eastern coach Bob Spoo said. “You can’t knock these kids’ effort. They didn’t give up and they kept fighting.”

The first score of the comeback came on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Matt Schabert to receiver Charles Owens. The touchdown capped a 50-yard drive. The next touchdown came off an 85-yard drive that lasted just under two minutes and ended with an 8-yard Matt Schabert run.

The Panthers tying score was setup by a Chad Cleveland interception that gave Eastern the ball at Tennessee Tech’s 10 yard line. The next play Schabert hit receiver Justin Duhai for a touchdown that tied the game after a successful extra point.

“In the fourth quarter our offensive line did a superb job blocking,” Spoo said. “Matt (Schabert) got hot and was hitting just about everything.”

In the fourth quarter Schabert was 17 of 23 passing for 169 yards and two touchdowns.

In overtime the Panthers went on offense first. Eastern moved the ball down to the Tennessee Tech 12 yard line but couldn’t convert on third down and six.

“One pass I know Matt (Schabert) wishes he had back was the one to (Ryan) Voss on third down in overtime,” Spoo said. “Voss was wide open in the end zone, but he just missed his mark.”

The Panthers had to settle for a field goal.

When the Golden Eagles got the ball it took them 6 plays to reach the end zone and close the game out. Eastern had two offside penalties on the drive. The first came on a third-and-six play that moved the Golden Eagles to third and one instead.

“We had two penalties that just killed us in overtime,” Spoo said. “Whether it was just a lack of discipline or focus, it just hurts.”

Tennessee Tech was the first to score in the game with a field goal on its opening drive of the game. The next score didn’t come until the second quarter when Eastern tied the game with a field goal by Steve Kuehn.

The Panthers’ only lead of the game came when Eastern defensive tackle Tim Kelly intercepted a Tennessee Tech screen pass and ran 10 yards for the touchdown to put the Panthers up 10-3. Tennessee Tech rattled off 14 points before half, however, to head into the locker room with a 17-10 lead.

In the third quarter the Panthers struck first with a field goal, but the Golden Eagles responded on their first play of the drive with an 86-yard touchdown pass. Tennessee Tech would score once more before the Panthers made their comeback.

Eastern running back Vincent Webb sat out for portions of the first half and only carried the ball 10 times in the game for 29 yards. Webb also caught eight passes for 44 yards.

Receiver Ryan Voss, who was questionable for Saturday’s game, led the Panthers with 62 yards receiving.

Eastern quarterback Matt Schabert was 32-45 on the day for 317 passing yards. He had two touchdown passes as well as one running and rushed for a team high 40 yards.

“This was an extremely disappointing game,” Spoo said. “To make a comeback like that and then lose it in overtime just hurts.”