Saturday's state football: Kalil Pimpleton paces CMU in comeback win over Ohio
Athens, Ohio — Daniel Richardson threw the go-ahead touchdown to Kalil Pimpleton with 3:55 left and Central Michigan held on to beat Ohio, 30-27, on Saturday.
The Chippewas (3-3, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) defense stuffed Ohio on its ensuing drive holding the Bobcats to minus-7 yards in three plays and forced the Bobcats to punt. The Chippewas proceeded to kill the clock from there.
Richardson threw for 257 yards, the score to Pimpleton and two interceptions. Lew Nichols III ran for 186 yards on 30 carries and two touchdowns for Central Michigan. Pimpleton also added a 7-yard end around for a score to give Central Michigan a 20-19 lead.
Sieh Bangura responded with a 40-yard touchdown run for Ohio and the two-point conversion gave the Bobcats a 27-20 advantage.
Ohio’s Armani Rogers completed 13-of-18 pass attempts for 190 yards and ran for a score.
More Saturday games
► Ball State 45, (at) Western Michigan 20: Drew Plitt passed for 310 yards and four touchdowns — including a 75-yarder to Jalen McGaughy on the first play from scrimmage — and Ball State pulled away in the fourth quarter.
After Plitt staked Ball State (3-3, 1-1) to the lead 11 seconds into the game, the Broncos (4-2, 1-1) responded with short touchdown runs by La’Darius Jefferson and Kaleb Eleby to grab a 14-7 lead by quarter’s end. Plitt knotted the score early in the second period on a 21-yard TD toss to Yo’Heinz Tyler. Both teams added field goals and it was 17-all at halftime.
Nick Mihalic kicked a 21-yard field goal with 6:44 left in the third quarter to put Western Michigan up 20-17, but it was all Cardinals after that. Plitt connected with Justin Hall for a 33-yard TD late in the third and added a 24-yarder to Tyler 60 seconds into the fourth to put Ball State up 31-20. Hall added a 5-yard TD run and Brett Anderson II capped the scoring when he returned a fumble 18 yards to the end zone.
Plitt competed 15 of 25 passes for Ball State. Tyler had five catches for 98 yards.
Eleby was 20-of-34 passing for 258 yards with two interceptions for the Broncos.
► (At) Eastern Michigan 13, Miami (Ohio) 12: Ben Bryant’s 16-yard pass to Bryson Cannon over the middle was the lone touchdown in a game that saw six field goals provide the bulk of the scoring.
The touchdown capped an eight-play, 73-yard drive as Cannon crashed through a pair of defenders to give Eastern Michigan (4-2, 1-1) a 7-6 lead midway through the second quarter. Chad Ryland tacked on field goals of 47 and 33 yards as the Eagles extended their lead to 13-6.
Graham Nicholson, who kicked four field goals for the RedHawks (2-4, 1-1), booted 31 and 44-yarders that cut the gap to 13-12 with 6:29 left to play.
Eastern Michigan sealed the one-point win when A.J. Mayer’s fourth-down pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage, ending the RedHawks final drive with under two minutes to go.
The Eagles took over and wound the clock down to almost zero before punting.
Bryant went 21-of-31 passing for 206 yards. Miami outgained the Eagles 385 yards to 257 with Mayer throwing for 259 yards. Jack Sorenson had 123 yards on seven catches for the RedHawks.
► Michigan Tech 30, (at) Wayne State 27: Michigan Tech (3-2, 2-0 GLIAC) won a back-and-forth contest when Drew Wyble kicked a 26-yard field goal as time expired.
The score had been tied since Tech scored on a 1-yard run by William Marano with 1:28 left in the third quarter. Wayne State held leads of 3-0, 20-10 and 27-20.
Will Ark completed 16 of 40 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns for Tech. For Wayne State (0-6, 0-2), Chase Churchill completed 13 of 27 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns, and Myren Harris rushed for 230 yards and one touchdown.
More scores
Adrian 21, Albion 7
Alma 28, Kalamazoo 3
Davenport 18, Northern Michigan 13
Grand Valley 70, Northwood 9
Hillsdale 20, Walsh 3
Saginaw Valley 20, Texas A&M-Commerce 17
Trine 35, Olivet 14