'Southern 2021

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:
Songs for motivation. Find all the songs BSC Athletics teams are
listening to now in the ‘Southern Sound playlist.
BSC Football Has
Best-Ever Season
A season that will go down as one of the
best in program history came to an end
Nov. 27 when Birmingham-Southern fell to
#2 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the
second round of the NCAA Football Playoffs.
Led by Coach Tony Joe White, this was the
first 10-win season in program history, and for
the first time ever, the Panthers won a NCAA
Division III National Football Championship
Playoff game. Plus, a record 21 student-athletes
were named to All-Conference Honors on
Nov. 23. BSC was awarded six first team
honors, nine second team honors, and five
were voted honorable mention.
Receiving All-Conference Honors were:
DJ Albright; Jimmy Anderson; Brandon
Armstrong; Court Coley; Cameron DeArman;
Tavion Fleming; Zach Ford; Trey Gory;
Michael Gray; Wes Guilford; Aidan Hood;
Derrick Maddox; Byron Millsap; Chris Moore;
Gage Motes; Gentry Neese; Brandon Rew;
Gibbs Sherrell; Robert Shufford; Garrett
Smith; and Carson Walter. Senior Robert
Shufford ranked in the top 20 in Division III
in rushing touchdowns, rushing yards, and
rushing yards per game.
The 21 All-Conference Honors studentathletes
set a new single-season record for
the BSC football program. There were also
numerous team records, and individual season
records broken throughout the season.
HISTORY IN OVERTIME
Facing a shortened season due to COVID-19, the Birmingham-Southern men’s
soccer team’s goal and chances at winning the conference title got even more difficult.
In March 2020, the Panthers started their conference journey, ending with a 5-1
conference record. They opened it up with a win at home against Hendrix, before
facing their first loss of the conference season against Rhodes.
The Panthers went on to win the rest of their conference games. Birmingham-
Southern played an incredible overtime game against Berry for their final game of the
regular season, so close to achieving their goal. Facing the team who was going after
the same opportunity and battling for the title, the Panthers knew it would be a fight.
After a scoreless first half, the game was still up for anyone to take. Goalkeeper
Jack Hunt faced four shots and made one save to keep Berry off the scoreboard. The
second half began with physicality, but a foul on Birmingham-Southern brought
Berry a penalty kick in the 64th minute of play. The Vikings were able to capitalize
on the penalty and scored the first goal of the game. Not long after, Berry received a
yellow card that gave Birmingham-Southern a chance to tie up the game. Sophomore
Coleman Jennings netted the penalty shot to tie the game. Jack Hunt would face
six more shots, saving three, in the second half to keep the Panthers in the fight.
Regulation ended with the game tied 1-1, making this an overtime battle for the title.
At the 94:12-mark, first-year student Pirmin Blattmann booted a free kick into
the box, but the Berry goalkeeper punched it out. Making quick moves, the punched
ball was collected by sophomore Bryan Arteaga Cruz at the corner of the box. Arteaga
Cruz made his way to the end line, cut back to his left foot, and served a cross to the
middle of the box where junior Christian Hernandez finished it with a bicycle kick
to make history for Birmingham-Southern. The bicycle kick from Hernandez won
the game for Birmingham-Southern and gave them the Southern Athletic Association
Regular Season Championship, making them the first team in the men’s soccer
program to gain the title.
FALL/WINTER 2021 / 13