Eastern Michigan football players Ben Bryant completed 72% of passes for 331 yards and a touchdown, Dylan Drummond led the Eastern Michigan Eagles receivers in yardage with seven receptions for 105 yards, and Darius Boone Jr. rushed for two touchdowns in a 38-31 shootout against the Ball State Cardinals on Oct. 16,
First quarter rushing touchdowns from Justin Hall and Will Jones gave Ball State an early two-possession lead with 3:11 left in the first quarter.
Entering the second quarter, the Eagles strategically drove up the field garnering their first touchdown of the game with a 2-yard rush from Darius Boone Jr. On the following drive, Eastern Michigan’s defense held Ball State to a field goal. Capitalizing on the great defensive effort, Boone Jr. punched in his second touchdown on the night turning what was once a fourteen point deficit for the Eagles into three points.
Drew Plitt and the Cardinals opened up the third-quarter with an 11-yard touchdown to Yo’Heinz Tyler. The successful drive extended the Cardinals lead back to 24-14.
Eastern Michigan junior-place kicker, Chad Ryland, attributed the only points for the Eagles in the third-quarter with a 32-yard field goal.
Justin Hall initiated the high-scoring fourth quarter with a 2-yard rushing touchdown for Ball State, increasing their score to 31-17 Cardinals. Eastern Michigan responded quickly, a 41-yard bomb from Bryant to Drummond made it 31-24 with 10:56 left in the 4th.
Freshman running-back, Carson Steele, led a drive on the ground, contributing 52 yards and a touchdown to give Ball State a two-possession lead in the fourth-quarter.
A 2-yard run from Samson Evans brought the game back within a possession Eastern Michigan with two-minutes left in the fourth-quarter. The final score of the game recorded a 38-31 loss to Ball State for the (4-3, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) Eastern Michigan Eagles.
Eastern Michigan Head Coach, Chris Creighton, summed up the high-scoring shootout between the Cardinals and Eagles.
“They ended up running the ball on us with how we were trying to defend them and we were able to throw the ball against them,” Creighton said.
“You make a game plan and figure out what you’re going to try to take away. If they’re going to try to beat you with something they haven’t been doing very well, that’s part of the risk you take,” Creighton said.
Tune in next week when the Eastern Michigan Eagles travel to Doyt L. Perry Stadium to face the Bowling Green State University Falcons (2-5, 0-3 Mid-American Conference) on Oct. 23 at 12:00 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+.
