MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – The LaGrange College football team will play in the biggest game in school history on Saturday when they travel to Berry College for second round matchup in the NCAA Tournament.

The Panthers of LaGrange (10-1, 7-0 USA South) are enjoying the best season in school history and are coming off their first ever NCAA playoff win, that coming in a 24-21 victory last Saturday at Framingham State.

LaGrange has won nine straight games for the first time in school history, while setting the single-season record for wins in a season with ten.

The Panther defense has dominated, ranking second in the nation in sacks per game and third in the nation in interceptions and tackles for a loss per game. They came to play against Framingham, allowing just 1.9 yards per attempt.

Senior safety Deon King Jr. (Vienna, Ga.) leads the Panthers with 9.5 sacks and 18 tackles for a loss with five hurries and five pass breakups. Against the Rams, King continued to dominate with two sacks for a combined 20 yards to go along with six tackles and a hurry.

Sophomore linebacker Ched Smith (Macon, Ga.) leads the Panthers in tackles with 65 to go along with six sacks, 10.5 tackles for a loss, five hurries and three pass breakups.

Freshman defensive lineman Zymarion Hudson (Cordele, Ga.) earned the USA South Defensive Rookie of the Year award and goes into Saturday with six sacks, 13.5 tackles for a loss and four hurries.  

Senior cornerback Legend Doggett (McDonough, Ga.) leads the Panthers' secondary, with four interceptions and nine pass breakups this season. Earlier this year Doggett was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week for his performance.

Junior linebacker Dezmond Jones (Thomasville, Ga.) is third on the team with 46 tackles and eleven tackles for a loss.
 
King, Smith, Hudson and Doggett were all voted USA South All-Conference first team accolades while Jones was honorable mention.

LaGrange has one of the best rushing attacks in the region. The running back duo of juniors Michael Hays (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Tacaris Bozeman (Montgomery, Ala.) have combined for 1206 net rushing yards with 13 touchdowns through 11 games while freshman quarterback Kirk Scott (Richmond Hill, Ga.) earned USA South Offensive Rookie of the Year making plays out of the option.

Junior quarterback Henry Brodnax (Newnan, Ga.) leads the Panthers' passing attack with 2377 yards and 18 touchdowns this season, with senior wide receiver Ashton Bryant (Athens, Ga.) going into Saturday with 566 receiving yards with five touchdowns while sophomore tight end Mychal Stillwell (Warner Robins, Ga.) was safety valve with 394 yards and three touchdowns.

The Panthers had one of the best offensive lines in the nation led by junior offensive lineman Aaron Hunter (Dothan, Ala.), allowing the fewest sacks in the conference this season.

Stillwell and Hunter were voted USA South All-Conference first team honors while Brodnax and Hays made the second team list.

Senior kicker Landon Eaker (Ringgold, Ga.) led the conference in field goal percentage and ranked fourth in the entire nation in field goals made per game. Freshman kick returner Aaron Bryant (Homerville, Ga.) ranks fourth in the nation in yardage per return.        

The only team the Panthers have lost to this season is their opponent on Saturday in the Vikings of Berry (9-1, 7-0 SAA). 28 Vikings earned SAA All-Conference honors with senior defensive tackle Michael Clark leading the way, earning Defensive Athlete of the Year honors.

Junior quarterback Andrew Hunter threw for seven touchdowns while rushing for 16. Collectively, Berry rushed for nearly 2200 yards on the season while their defense was ranked eighth in the nation.

Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. Saturday at Valhalla, Williams Field, Clark Track & Dickey Field in Mount Berry, Georgia.

For continuing coverage of LaGrange College Athletics, visit lagrangepanthers.com and follow the Panthers on Instagram ( @lagrange_panthers ), Twitter ( @lcpanthers ) and Facebook ( LaGrange Panthers ).