LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Birmingham-Southern football team opened the season with a win against McMurry at War Memorial Stadium on Thursday. Despite being down 20 heading into the fourth quarter, the War Hawks climbed back to within one. However, the Panthers held on and clinched their first win of the season.

BSC opened the scoring with a Mitch Thompson four-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to get things going. Stout defense from the Panthers kept McMurry off the board through the first half. At the end of the second quarter, BSC extended their lead with a 47-yard dime from Matt McClary to AJ McLemore to give themselves a 13-0 lead at half.

The third quarter saw both offenses struggle to score. The Panthers then scored on their first play of the final quarter on an 83-yard touchdown reception by Thomas Speed. McMurry's offense then started clicking and scored on the next drive to make the score 20-7. McMurry then scored again on their next drive but missed the extra point to keep the lead at 7 for BSC. The Panther defense was not able to adjust, and on the next drive for the War Hawks, a 21-yard TD reception cut the deficit to one. However, Che' Osborne came up clutch with a blocked extra point to preserve the Panther lead. 

With 2:32 to go, McMurry regained possession of the ball with a chance to take the lead. Then, BSC's Joey Kiernan forced a fumble and Jett Wilson recovered to seal the game for the Panthers. After a first down run by Kendall Johnson on the next possession, Matt McClary took two knees to confirm the 20-19 win for the Panthers

Records
Birmingham-Southern 1-0, McMurry 0-1

Up next
The Panthers will be on the road against in-state rival Huntingdon College next Saturday, Sept. 9 at 6 p.m.