The Eastern Michigan football team (8-4, 5-3 MAC) hosted Mid-American Conference rival Central Michigan (4-8, 3-5 MAC) at Rynearson Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, where they defeated the Chippewas, 38-19, to claim a share of the MAC West Division and reclaim the Michigan MAC Trophy. To obtain a share of the division crown, the Eagles got help from Western Michigan University who defeated the University of Toledo, 20-14, on Nov. 25.
The win marks EMU’s eighth win of the year, which is the first eight-win season since 1987, while also obtaining their first Michigan MAC Trophy since 2012 and their fifth time overall.
In the first quarter, the Eagles started off hot as they scored the game’s first points after scoring on the opening possession with quarterback Taylor Powell throwing a dime to wide receiver Tanner Knue for a 28-yard touchdown. CMU would tie the game at 7-7 after quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. ran for a one-yard touchdown, but EMU would answer back quickly after senior running back Samson Evans punched in a 15-yard touchdown run to gain back the lead at 14-7.
Central Michigan would start the second quarter with another touchdown run by Emanuel Jr. to put the score at 14-13 with 13:05 left in the quarter.
The Eagles would not answer back until the third quarter when Powell found sophomore tight end Andreas Paaske for a nine-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 21-13 with 8:49 left in the quarter. At the end of the quarter EMU would score again with no time remaining in the third as Powell threw another touchdown pass, this time to graduate student Dylan Drummond, to go up 28-13.
Both teams would go scoreless in the fourth quarter until sophomore kicker Jesus Gomez kicked a 31-yard field goal to extend the lead, 31-13, with 5:04 remaining to play. CMU would answer back as Emanuel Jr. would run for another touchdown, his third of the day, to put the score at 31-19 with 3:59 left to play.
The Eagles would secure their win as Powell ran for an 11-yard touchdown to put the nail in the coffin as EMU would secure the win, 38-19, over Central Michigan.
Powell led the Eagles offensively as he finished completing 24 of his 36 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for a touchdown. Evans would lead the running attack for EMU as he rushed for 135 yards and one touchdown. With his performance, Evans now has rushed for 1,084 total yards this season, making him the 14th player in EMU history to record a 1,000-yard season.
Defensively, the Eagles showed up and balled out as they only allowed just 65 yards passing from the Chippewas and forced three interceptions. Graduate student defensive end Jose Ramirez had himself a day as he recorded three total sacks for the Eagles. With his three-sack performance, Ramirez finished the season as the nation’s sack leader with 12.0 sacks and also took over the single-season sack record at EMU passing Avery Brown and Maxx Crosby.
With the regular season now officially over, EMU will now wait until Sunday, Dec. 4, when all bowl game selections will be announced.
For more information and to stay up-to-date on all things EMU football, you can visit EMUEagles.com.
