Sports

His grades kept him from playing his first year. In his second, Terrence Blevins managed to gain some time on special teams. In his third year, he earned spot duty at fullback.

At least twice, the former Detroit Denby all-stater thought about quitting, and both times his high school coach convinced him to stay.

A week ago, Blevins finally got his shot at Eastern Michigan's tailback job. He ran over and around Indiana State, amassing 176 yards on 21 carries. For good measure, he added two touchdowns. The Eagles won, 52-0.

EMU earns its first victory of the season Friday night

Maggie Manville pitched a shutout behind solid defense to help Eastern Michigan earn its first victory, 3-0, against Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne Friday at Scicluna Field.

“We were looking to switch the field, open up the field and make it easier to play around the other team,” defender Katie Zundel said.

The Eagles (1-0-1) dominated from the outset in a very physical game. They controlled throughout with aggressive defense, crisp passing and consistent effort.

“Against a good IPFW team who’s young, I think we were able to wear them down,” coach Scot Hall said.

In front of a crowd of 17,494 – primarily made up of Eastern Michigan fans – the Eagles crushed Indiana State 52-0 to open the season Thursday night at Rynearson Stadium.

Eastern Michigan combined for a team-record 637 yards of offense. The Eagles racked up 632 yards in a 42-0 victory over Akron Oct. 18, 1997, which also was the last time they posted a shut out.

“We were able to really protect the passer,” coach Jeff Genyk said. “We we’re really able to get off the ball. It was really a tribute to our position on the field.”

Sparks double overtime with Wolverines

The Eastern Michigan women's soccer team opened its season last Sunday with a dramatic come-from-behind 2-2 tie against its Washtenaw County rivals, the University of Michigan.

Junior forward Deana Kinter's unassisted goal with less than a minute to play brought the host Eagles even with the Wolverines, sending the crowd at Scicluna Field into uproar and the game into overtime.

In sharp contrast, the first half of the game was very defensive. Although the Wolverines (0-1-1) seemed to dominate game play, neither team was able to score.

The baseball office’s voicemail still has a recorded message on it from Jake Boss Jr., who left in July after one year as the manager of Eastern Michigan to take the same position at Michigan State.

Soon it will play the voice of Jay Alexander, who was announced as the new manager on Aug. 8, making it three in three years for EMU as Roger Coryell retired in October of 2007.

Alexander coached Wayne State the past six seasons, leading his team to a school-record 34 wins last season. He was the 2008 and 2005 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference Coach of the Year.

“As far as what the so called experts had to say about where we’re finishing, we believe that’s primarily just a historical reference and it has nothing to do with what’s actually transpiring on campus with our young men.”

Football coach Jeff Genyk on being picked to finish toward the bottom of the MAC West in most preseason polls