A 50-yard touchdown run by sophomore Javonti Greene with 7:46 to play gave the Eastern Michigan University Eagles a 14-10 Homecoming victory Saturday against the Western Michigan Broncos in front of 6,772.
The Eagles won the Michigan Mid-American Conference trophy, given to the state MAC team that defeats the other two Michigan teams.
This season, EMU went 2-0 in the rivalry games while WMU went 1-0 and Central was 0-2. This marks the first time since the 2008 season the Eagles sit atop the state.
“I’m a dreamer,” coach Ron English said after the game. “I dreamed about this, and I believe it is only going to get better and better for us it’s going to get bigger and bigger, and I’m happy for everyone who can be a part of it.”
The Eagles are 5-3 and 3-1 in the MAC; the Broncos are 4-4 and 2-2. EMU also pulled itself one game closer to being bowl eligible while still keeping itself in the fight for the MAC championship.
The Eagles were led by Alex Gillett, who went 6-for-9 for 144 yards and one touchdown along with 30 rushing yards on 15 carries. Dominique Sherrer, in his first game back from an injury that kept him out five games, led the Eagle rushing game with 86 yards on 11 carries.
Dominique White added 30 yards on six carries. Wide receiver Nick Olds connected had two receptions for 71 yards.
Greene pitched in with 13 carries for 61 yards.
Defensively, the Eagles were led by Marlon Pollard, Willie Williams and Bryan Pali, who each had
10 tackles. Williams also added 1.5 tackles-for-loss of five yards. Jabar Westerman and Brandon Slater each had 0.5 sacks for loss of five yards and a tackle-for-loss of 7 and 6 yards, respectively.
For the Broncos, quarterback Alex Carder went 24-34 for 181 yards along with 40 rush yards on 12 carries. Drake had 10 carries for 48 yards while Jordan White made seven receptions for 70 yards for WMU.
It took all of the first quarter and four minutes into the second before either team was able to put points on the board. However, a 50-yard pass from Gillett to Greene put the Eagles up 7-0.
It was Gillett’s longest touchdown pass of his career, topping the 48-yard pass in the Eagles’ contest against Toledo on Oct. 8. The Eagles would hold off Western for the remaining 11:13 of the first half to take that lead into the locker room.
WMU was able to make the first score of the second half with a 46-yard touchdown run from Tevin Drake. Later on in the fourth quarter, a 37-yard field goal by John Potter gave the Broncos their first lead, 10-7, with 10:59 left.
“Whenever they got downs, we just kept saying, ‘They haven’t scored yet’,” Latarrius Thomas said.
However, Greene came up big for the Eagles with a 50-yard run to put the Eagles up 14-10 with 7:46 remaining. With the help of Thomas and Nate PaoPao, the Eagle defense was able to stuff a
Bronco fourth-and-goal, putting the ball in the hands of Gillett for the final 4:56, closing the
deal on a victory for EMU.
“I thought Latarrius Thomas made a few good plays,” English said. “It was certainly a team effort, but I also thought that Latarrius made two huge plays.”
Thomas said in response to winning the Michigan MAC Trophy: “It means everything. We’re laying the foundation for years to come. It’s hard to play when it feels like practice, but today the fans were with us. They showed great emotion, and it all just worked out.”
The Eagles will now have a bye-week as they prepare to take on Ball State at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 at Rynearson Stadium.
