Help dealing with joist spacing when hanging dry wall to ceiling

This is my first home improvement project. My wife and I have always wanted a home gym and when we bought our new house we had a big utility room in a section of our basement that was pretty rough looking and we decided that we were going to do it and turn it into our home gym. I meticulously put up new framing on the bare walls, added approx. 8 new outlets and re wired everything to be on it's own new circuit. Also got rid of the two light fixtures that had pull cords, and installed 4 recessed can lights and have them all on a single switch, which also is on the new circuit.

I've got the dry wall up on the walls and am now working on the ceiling. One thing I did not do when buying dry wall was to buy bigger panels for the ceiling. I've got 4 packs of 8x4 dry wall panels to finish up the ceiling. However, I want to run the panels perpendicular to the joists to avoid making any more seams than absolutley necessary. The problem I've run into is the spacing for the joists. The spacing on the last joist is approx 2 1/2 inches longer than the dry wall panel. I've got furring strips, but I already have part of the ceiling up. (There's technically two sections of the ceiling which is separated by duct work which drops down about a foot. I've got the panels up on the one side, as it wasn't as large and I could hang the panels parallel to the joists nicely by adding a furring strip to the inside of the joist)

So on the ceiling that is on the other side of the ductwork, there is a lot more space, which is why I think that running the panels perpendicular would be the better option. But is there any way to effectively deal with the joist spacing without sacrificing the integrity of the ceiling panels?
I was thinking about possibly cutting some 2x4s to fit between the joists (running perpendicular) and space them 16 inches from center, and have them raised enough to where the furring strip would attach to the bottom but still remain flush with the bottom of the remaining joists and screw the end of the panels into those furring strips.

Is this something that would work, or should I just go ahead and cut the panels to fit the joists as they are currently spaced? It's a tough situation because I want it to look as nice as possible and not have to worry about covering up seams without having to go get the bigger dry wall panels.

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips!

 

I don't understand why you would need furring strips. If you are adding 2x4s as nailers, why can't the dry wall be screwed into them? I would start to hang the dry wall close to the wall & leave the short seam close to the duct.

 

It might cost you an extra sheet or maybe two of rock but start one sheet next to the duct and cut it down n the morning middlemen some place to th center of the joist. Fill in the rest of the length with a single piece that goes to the wall. Then on the next course put e joint a couple of joists away from alignment with the first joint and add the next piece and so on. You can run th rock perpendicular, that is preferred but do not put he butt joints in a straight line for two or more courses. There is another way. Cut th rock in a convenient length between joist bays and use plywood to bridge th joints. Cut plywood about five inches wide and screw it so half is on one side of the joint and half on the other you can even somewhat taper that joint so it tapes flatter but I am out of time to describe that. Maybe someone who knows what I mean can describe it or even make a picture. You can also use bullfrogs at th butt joint. Now I really am out of time.

 

Cut your sheets to fit perpendicular to the joists . No need in complicating a simple situation. Your crackfill is not going to care if it is cut or not (just make it stright)