Saturday's state football: Eastern Michigan gets 1st win, 53-42 over Western Michigan
Kalamazoo — Preston Hutchinson was 19-of-30 for 315 yards and three touchdowns and Eastern Michigan earned its first victory of the season with a 53-42 win over Western Michigan on Saturday.
Darius Boone Jr. ran 25 times for 148 yards and a touchdown and Samson Evans added 61 yards rushing and a TD run for the Eagles (1-4, 1-4 Mid-American Conference). The 53 points were the most Eastern Michigan has scored in the 56-game history of the all-time series with the Broncos (4-1, 4-1).
The Eagles pulled away in the third quarter after each of the back-to-back fumbles by Western Michigan deep in its own territory led to field goals by Chad Ryland to make it 43-28. The Broncos, whose only defensive stop came on the first drive of the game, scored two more touchdowns but remained unable to keep the Eagles from scoring.
Despite the loss, Western Michigan’s game next week against Ball State will be for the MAC West title.
Kaleb Eleby was 18 of 26 for 288 yards and four touchdowns for Western Michigan, and La’Darius Jefferson ran 21 times for 130 yards and two TDs.
Ball State 45, (at) Central Michigan 20: Drew Plitt threw for 366 yards and accounted for five touchdowns. The win moved the Cardinals (4-1, 4-1 MAC) into a first-place tie in the MAC’s West Division with Western Michigan and ended the Chippewas’ (3-2, 3-2) hopes of defending last year’s division title.
Plitt threw a 20-yard score to Yo’Heinz Tyler near the end of the first quarter to give Ball State a 10-0 lead. Central Michigan countered when Ty Brock threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Kalil Pimpleton seven seconds into the second quarter.
After each team punted twice, Ball State took control of the game when Plitt ran it in from 12 yards out. The Cardinals’ defense forced a three-and-out, and their offense followed with a 54-yard scoring drive that ended when Plitt found Dylan Koch from five yards out with 13 seconds before halftime for a 24-7 lead.
Ball State amassed 519 yards of offense and went 12 for 20 on third-down conversions.
Brock threw for 188 yards and a pair of scores but was intercepted twice.