Prior to its Ohio Valley Conference opener, the Panther football team hadn’t gotten a lot out of freshman wide receiver Adam Kesler, senior cornerback Terrance Sanders and freshman fullback Chip Keys.

All three found themselves buried on Eastern’s depth chart. In the three preseason games, Kesler had one reception, Sanders had four tackles and Keys had a single carry.

But by halftime of Eastern’s 43-14 win against Samford at O’Brien Stadium, all three had made an impact.

Sanders made his impact first, stopping a wide receiver screen for a two-yard loss. Later during the same drive, the Bulldogs again tried to run a wide receiver screen. This time, Samford sophomore quarterback Jefferson Adcock’s backward pass wasn’t caught, and Sanders picked up the live ball and returned the fumble 30 yards for the touchdown. After an extra point, Eastern (2-2, 1-0 OVC) led 10-0, and Samford (1-3, 0-1) would never trail by a single-digit margin again.

Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said Sanders, the team’s third cornerback, stepped into the lineup because of an injury to starter, junior B.J. Brown. Sanders, who has had his own injury problems, made the most of the opportunity.

“We’re fortunate to have Terrance Sanders,” Spoo said. “Thankfully, his knee’s holding up.”

Sanders said the defense as a whole has the capability to change the momentum of a game.

“Who doesn’t want to make a big play? Everyone wants to make big plays,” he said. “Everyone on our defense doesn’t care who gets the credit. We just get it done.”

The Panthers were able to make big plays on offense, too.

Kesler led the Panthers with five catches for 38 yards. Four of those catches and 34 of those yards came in the first half, when Eastern jumped out to a 34-7 lead.

“Adam Kesler is just a guy we recognized as being able to make big plays,” Spoo said. “He’s a dynamic guy. He’s a good guy to get the ball to.”

In addition to being sophomore quarterback Mike Donato’s favorite target Saturday, Kesler also made an impact on special teams, returning three punts for 23 yards and one kickoff for 57 yards.

Kesler said he’s been a returner since high school and was excited special teams coordinator Jeff Choate decided to let him return kicks and punts for the Panthers.

“It’s just something I always liked, and I’m just glad Coach Choate is as into it as I am,” Kesler said. “I think you do have to be a little crazy to want to field every ball and not care if you get lit up.

“I’m just comfortable back there.”

Spoo said he knew all week that he wanted to get the ball into Kesler’s hands.

“We did some things this week to deliberately get him the football, and it worked out well,” Spoo said.

Spoo also had plans during the week to utilize Keys in short-yardage situations. Against Illinois State, the Panther offense stalled on third down, converting a first down on just 2-of-17 tries.

But in the first half against Samford, Keys carried the ball four times – each time on third-and-short. All four times, Keys picked up the first down.

“He’s a load. He’s an athletic guy, and I wanted to have him in there,” Spoo said. “He moves the pile, and that’s what we needed.”

And the sustained drives helped keep Donato comfortable, as he rebounded from a poor performance against Illinois State by completing 22-of-28 passes for 229 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also connected with 11 different receivers.

“That’s just different guys getting open, different guys making plays,” Donato said.

And the plays led to the most dominant Eastern performance of the year.