Batesville, Ark.—Setting their sights on a third Sooner Athletic Conference win, the Panhandle State football team was sent home with a disappointing defeat 29-16 at Lyon College on Saturday.

Their second of four lengthy road trips proved a powerful reminder that their focus should stay fixed on the play by play particulars, as ball protection and mental errors were costly components throughout the contest. Five fumbles lost led to a combined 20 points scored by the Lyons, making the Aggies their own worst enemy in a sub-par offensive effort. Defensively the Aggies did their best to play clean-up crew, taking down three quarterback sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss, including one interception and two pass breakups. The Scots secured their first conference win of the season on Homecoming, and now match the Aggies with a 2-3 record on the season.

The first quarter seemed promising as the Aggies ended with a 7-3 advantage over their opponents. A great stop by the Darkside Defense held the Scots to a three-and –out session on their opening drive; senior D'Darrin Primes was integral with two stops in the series. Freshman QB Martez Vrana got the first start of his collegiate career against Lyon, and stayed behind center through the 6:54 mark in the second quarter. Vrana helped put up the first points for Panhandle on their second drive of the game with a pass completion to Seth Barbarino, followed by six consecutive handoffs that ended with running back Danny Valverde crossing the goal line for the first touchdown of the game.

Lyon held possession entering the second quarter and promptly put up seven points of their own on a 56-yard reception. The Aggies' turnover woes started on Vrana's final set of the game, as a bobbled handoff put the ball back into the hands of the Scots. Two timely tackles by junior Charoy Joseph held the Scots to a field goal leaving a one-score gap for the Aggies (13-7). Junior DJ Scott took the remainder of snaps in the first half, and also suffered a fumbled handoff to RJ Stevens which resulted in another field goal for the Scots. Panhandle prompted a scoring drive in the final two minutes of the half, but heavy pressure on the Aggie offense forced Scott to spike the ball and then brought a QB sack. On 3rd-15, Scott scrambled but fell short of the first down brining Eduardo Villarreal out for his third punt of the game.

After an extended halftime due to the Scots Homecoming festivities, the Aggies came out swinging for the third quarter. The Scots were detained with a one-yard collection on their opening drive. A sack for a loss of two-yards by senior linebacker Jawan Purifoy forced a punt which was downed at the OPSU-20. With Vrana back out to lead the Aggies offense, the Scots sent another sack and forced fumble that they returned for a touchdown. Now down 23-7, the Aggies needed some big plays as the third quarter ticked on, but were confined to a ground game on the ensuing drive. The Scots were welcomed with back-to-back sacks by Diamante Pounds and De'Adreyelle Fites, and sent packing as an interception by Collum set the Aggie offense up for the big play they'd been looking for. Brandon Ramon re-entered and took a sack on his first play of the series. Ramon got the Aggies to the Lyon-7, but was hindered with a pass breakup and off-target toss into the end zone. Panhandle settled for three points with a 24-yard field goal from Villarreal (23-10). A fourth fumble plagued Panhandle on a punt return by Miquel Hudson that ended up in the arms of the Scots near midfield. Primes once again led the defensive front with two straight tackles to bring another punt by Lyon.

The punt was downed at the OPSU-1 leaving the Aggies with a long field ahead of them as they entered the fourth quarter. The team made it to the 17-yard line when a pass intended for Hudson was hauled in by a Scot player and taken to the 50. The Aggies defense allowed just 12 yards of movement on the Scots next drive, but another fumbled punt return put the Scots one yard from the Aggie end zone. Lyon ran it in on the next play to add another TD to the board (29-10). Starting the next series deep in their own territory, the Aggies managed to move the ball 83 yards on seven plays with a heavy load placed on Valverde's shoulders. Valverde carried the ball over the goal line for, what would be, the final scoring drive of the game. Ramon and the Aggies threatened in the Lyon red zone on their closing possession, but the Scots brought another quarterback sack, dashing any hopes for an Aggie comeback.

Turnovers were the main culprit of the Aggies' demise, as Panhandle outplayed their opponents with 339 yards of total offense to Lyon's 118. On the ground the Aggies tallied 49 carries for 195 yards led by Danny Valverde, who had 14 carries for 86 yards. Ramon completed ten of 16 attempts in the air for a total of 120 yards; the team totaled 144 yards passing in the game. Senior receiver Nick West and freshman Emile Cola shared the workload finishing with 31 and 32 yards respectively. Primes led the Aggie defense with seven tackles and two tackles for loss, followed by Pounds who had six tackles, 1.5 sacks and three TFL.

Head Coach Russell Gaskamp was concise in his comments stating, "When you turn the ball over six times, you're not going to win the game. We put our defense in really bad positions; they did their best to keep us in the game as much as possible. I was particularly disappointed with our play on special teams."

The Aggies will have another short week to prepare for, perhaps their most physical matchup of the season at Grambling State. The team heads out Thursday evening for another ten-hour plus roadtrip to Grambling, La.; the game is set for Saturday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. The NCAA-Division II opponent sits 1-3 on the season. Live stats and video streaming will be available online.