HANCOCK — The Finlandia Lions wrapped up their home season on Saturday with a 28-2 loss to the Greenville Panthers at McAfee Field.

While the Lions (0-8) have yet to win a game this season, head coach Mike DuFrane said his team played tough against the number one team in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. Greenville is 5-0 in conference and 7-2 overall.

“Our guys played hard against the best team in our conference,” said DuFrane. “It was really good to see how hard they played. They fought the whole way through.”

The Panthers (7-2, 5-0) fumbled early in the game and Finlandia’s Charlie Garbowski recovered. A tough Greenville defense forced a three-and-out.

The Panthers jumped on the scoreboard first at the 2:08 mark with a quarterback sneak by Chase Butterfie. He dodged several tackles off the snap and took in for six. Lucas Hermo booted in his first of four extra points, and it was a 7-0 Greenville tilt after one.

Greenville scored twice more in the second with Garrett leading the way. He had a three-yard run at the seven-minute mark. Five minutes later he punched in a 13-yard score. Garrett led the Panthers in rushing yards with 135 on 22 attempts. It was 21-2 after two.

The Lions earned their only score within the first minute of the second half. While on Finlandia’s 21-yard line the Greenville center sent a high snap over Butterfie’s head and into the end zone where it was pounced on by a pride of lions for a two-point safety.

The Panthers closed out their scoring with another Garrett rush from four yards out at the 1:30 mark in the third. Neither team scored in the fourth.

“Obviously we want to go out and win,” said DuFrane. “But the growth we’ve dad with this program has been a great thing for us. I am really excited to see where we go from here.”

As a team the Panthers had 323 total yards on 63 plays while the Lions had just 115 yards on 48 plays. Joshua Eve led the Lions with 48 yards rushing on seven attempts. Greenville passed for 138 yards. Finlandia had 39-passing yards with Carter Crouch as quarterback.

“Carter stepped in to be the quarterback today and played hard,” DuFrane said. “He ran the game well and did the best he could.”

The Lions play their season finale at Olivet on Saturday.

GU 7 14 7 0 — 28

FU 0 0 2 0 — 2

First Quarter

GU — Butterfie 14 run (Hermo kick), 2:08.

Second Quarter

GU — Garrett 3 run (Hermo kick), 7:20.

GU — Garrett 13 run (Hermo kick), 2:01.

Third Quarter

FU — Safety, 11:17.

GU — Garrett 4 run (Hermo kick), 1:30.