Published: July 31, 2009 11:20 pm         

Panthers changing fortunes

Ex-Bruin Carter helped make LaGrange a winner

Things change, even in Division III football.

LaGrange College’s fourth-year program lost its first 20 games but the Panthers’ fortunes shifted in 2008 when they went 9-2, captured a conference championship and lost to nationally ranked Millsaps in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

Now, the Panthers are preparing for preseason practice without a conference affiliation after the St. Louis Intercolle-giate Athletic Conference dropped football in April after just one season. LaGrange is expected to have new league ties for the 2010 season, starting quarterback Drew Carter, a former Northwest Whitfield standout, said Friday.

Change can be good. Sometimes change is bad.

What Carter doesn’t want to see this season is LaGrange failing to continue its drive toward gridiron success and respectability.

“Last season was real exciting,” Carter said. “We thought we had the talent to win games and play championship caliber football. The main thing was just getting over that 0-20 hump and win a game. What we did last year was a huge confidence boost, and our week two loss to Shorter showed us a lot. They were ranked among the Top 25 NAIA schools and we took them down to the wire (28-23). It showed that we could play with good teams.”

After the Shorter loss, LaGrange reeled off eight consecutive wins and earned an at-large bid to the playoffs, where the Panthers lost to Millsaps, 51-26.

“They were the third-ranked team in the nation and had more than 400 yards of offense in the first half,” Carter said. “They were pretty tough. We couldn’t score fast enough to keep up with them.”

The success enjoyed in 2008 set the stage for what Carter believes will be a highly successful 2009 campaign. The Panthers will be replacing just two starters at right guard and cornerback.

“We have large junior and senior classes this season and that means we’ve got a lot of experience coming back,” the 6-foot-3-inch, 210-pound Carter said. “Those classes are important ones. We’ve been there the longest and went through the rough times.”

Winning is much better.

“When I went to LaGrange I thought it would be a neat opportunity to help lay the foundation for a good football program,” said Carter, who passed for 2,282 yards and 26 touchdowns while helping the Panthers to a Division III record for most-improved team from one season to the next with an 8 1/2-game turnaround. That broke the old 7 1/2-game improvement record set by Wisconsin-Stout in 2000.

With the quick improvement comes a reality check.

“I don’t think we’ll be slipping up on anybody this year,” Carter said. “We’re probably going to be wearing a target on our backs, but that won’t be that big a deal for us. We’re so much more mature and know how to win games.”

The Panthers, who set 164 individual and team records in 2008, open this season at home on Sept. 5 against Birmingham-Southern, a team they beat last year to snap the 20-game losing streak. A week later, they travel to Rome to play Shorter. In all, the Panthers play six teams they faced in 2008, so the season will have the same type feel as it did a year ago.

“Our conference (SLAC) wasn’t going to have an automatic bid until 2010 anyway,” Carter said, “so we were playing for an at-large playoff berth last season. It’ll be basically the same thing this time. Coaches have told me we’ll be in a conference next year, but it just hasn’t been announced yet.”

The 20-year-old Carter, who had season-highs in passing attempts (52), completions (29) passing yards (408) and touchdowns in a game (4) in 2008, has spent the summer working to improve as a quarterback, including lifting weights three or four days a week and running three times a week.

Since the end of last season, Carter said he’s added 15 pounds and that’s something he believes will be a huge benefit in 2009.

“I want to be a bigger running threat this year,” said Carter, who had only 41 yards rushing as a sophomore. “We’re going to run more of a spread offense and the added weight will help me take hits and make throws when I’m getting hit.”

Carter wants to be a better decision-maker this season as well.

“Last season sometimes I would miss people as far as timing goes,” he said. “I’d see things, just not in time.”

     

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