Football Rolls to a 38-15 Victory over Howard University

Box score.

YPSILANTI, Mich. — The Eastern Michigan University football team made it two consecutive wins with a convincing 38-15 non-conference win over Howard University here Saturday afternoon in Rynearson Stadium.

EMU redshirt sophomore Andy Schmitt (St. John's, Mich.-St. John's) recorded a personal best four touchdown passes, the second-best single-game effort in school history. The last time an EMU quarterback finished a game with four touchdown passes was Nov. 5, 2005 when Matt Bohnet turned that feat in a game against Western Michigan at Ford Field in Detorit. Schmitt completed 14-of-21 passes for 214 yards and his four TD scores were to four different receivers.

"I feel like our special teams had a significant impact on the game," EMU head coach Jeff Genyk said. "We really prioritized that part of the game and it is paying off. We wanted to make sure that we started fast and it was nice to put 17 points on the board before halftime."

With the win the Eagles evened their record at 2-2, while the Howard Bison are 0-3 on the season. The victory also marks the first time EMU has won consecutive games since 2005, when it beat Central Michigan University and Kent State University.

Besides Schmitt's stellar day, senior Pierre Walker (Detroit, Mich.-Central) led the Eagles rushing attack with 16 carries for 52 yards. Linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw (Enid, Okla.-Enid) led the team in tackles with 19 (15 assisted, 4 solo).

It did not take long for the Eagles to score their first touchdown of the day. In fact, they did it within the first 15 seconds. The Green and White recovered a kickoff return near the Howard 19-yard line and two plays later, Walker rushed in for a touchdown and the point after was good by sophomore Zach Johnson (Springboro, Ohio-Springboro).

EMU made it 10-0 at the 6:22 mark of the second quarter when Zach Johnson connected on a 22-yard field goal.

The Eagles added to their advantage on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Schmitt to Dwayne Priest (Roanoke, Va.-Fork Union Academy) with Johnson adding the PAT to make it 17-0 heading into intermission.

The Eagles came out strong in the third quarter when Schmitt passed four yards to senior Ken Bohnet (Grand Ledge, Mich.-Grand Ledge) for his first career receiving touchdown, staking the Eagles to a 24-0 advantage.

In the third, Howard's Larry Duncan fumbled the ball on a kickoff return and EMU senior Jerry Topolinski (Grand Blanc, Mich.-Fint Powers) recovered the ball. EMU's Schmitt then connected with redshirt freshman Tyrone Burke (Syracuse, N.Y.-Corcoran) for a 35-yard touchdown pass.

The Bison mounted a comeback attempt and scored their fist touchdown late in the third quarter on an 11-yard pass from Brian Johnson to Jarahn Williams making the score 31-7. Howard scored another touchdown late in the fourth to make it 31-15 after a successful two-point conversion from Howard's Johnson to Xavier Howler.

The Eagles made a final push toward the red zone late in the fourth quarter and Schmitt finished it off with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Travis Lewis (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Loy Norrix) with 35 seconds remaining in the game.

The Eagles continue non-conference action Saturday, Sept. 29, in Nashville, Tenn. against Vanderbilt University. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CST and can be heard on WEMU 89.1 FM.

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Team Stats

Andy Schmitt

Players Mentioned

Ken Bohnet

Tyrone Burke

Daniel Holtzclaw

Zach Johnson

Travis Lewis

Dwayne Priest

Andy Schmitt

Jerry Topolinski

Pierre Walker

Players Mentioned

Ken Bohnet

Tyrone Burke

Daniel Holtzclaw

Zach Johnson

Travis Lewis

Dwayne Priest

Andy Schmitt

Jerry Topolinski

Pierre Walker

Eastern Michigan Athletics