EMU Football Drops Close Encounter to CMU, 34-31

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - Senior quarterback Alex Gillett (Green Springs, Ohio–Clyde) rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns, threw for 77 yards (7-of-17) and one touchdown, while also catching two passes for 11 yards for the Eastern Michigan University football team, but it was not enough as Central Michigan University came away with a 34-31 victory Saturday afternoon, Nov. 10, at Rynearson Stadium.

   With the victory, Central Michigan improves to 4-6 (2-4 MAC) on the season. Eastern Michigan drops to 1-9 (0-6 MAC) with two games remaining in the 2012 season.

   Gillett rushed for 162 yards on the game to lead all rushers, while Jay Jones (Palm Coast, Fla.–Matanzas) posted 61 receiving yards on four receptions and a touchdown. Bronson Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.–Catholic Central) added 83 yards on the ground and Dominique Sherrer (Cincinnati, Ohio–Colerain) contributed 46 rushing yards in the loss.

   Gillett became the first EMU player to have a rush, a pass reception, and a pass attempt in the same game since Tyler Jones accomplished the feat Oct. 28, 2008 against Ball State. In the contest, Jones attempted one pass, had five rushes for 19 yards, and had 11 catches for 120 yards.

   CMU quarterback Ryan Radcliff threw for 284 yards (20-for-34) and two touchdowns, both to wide receiver Andrew Flory, in the victory for the Chippewas.

   The rival schools had opposing offensive attacks during the game as Central Michigan ran for 119 yards and threw for 284 yards while Eastern Michigan ran for 294 yards and threw for 120 yards.

   Andy Mulumba (Montreal, Que., Canada–Vieux Montreal) got the Eagle defense off to a great start, forcing a fumble on the first play from scrimmage to give the Eastern offense first-and-10 from the CMU 21-yard line. Two plays later, EMU quarterback Tyler Benz (Park Ridge, Ill.–Maine Township South) found tight end Tyreese Russell (Melrose Park, Ill.–Walther Luthern) for a 19-yard touchdown connection. Dylan Mulder 's (Saline, Mich.–Saline) PAT gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead just 59 seconds into the contest.

   On the second offensive drive of the game, Head Coach Ron English decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 at the CMU 44-yard line. Eagle running back Sherrer was hit at the line of scrimmage, but broke the tackle and stayed on his feet to rumble 22 yards down the sideline, keeping the drive alive. A personal foul penalty one play later seemed to have stalled the drive as EMU lined up for a 38-yard field goal. However, Gillett, the holder, took the snap and ran right up the gut for a 21-yard touchdown scamper to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead with 1:28 left in the first quarter. The fake field goal attempt capped-off an impressive 15-play, 88-yard drive that took 9:19 off of the clock.

   The next drive, EMU's defense forced a three-and-out, but Benz gave the ball right back to Central, throwing an interception at the Eastern 42-yard line. During the drive, CMU quarterback Radcliff converted a huge fourth down completing a pass to Flory for 19 yards. Three plays later, the duo hooked up again for a 10-yard touchdown toss to put the Chippewas on the scoreboard. David Harman's PAT was good, and the Eastern lead became 14-7 with 9:00 to play in the second quarter.

   With the CMU defense forcing Eastern to punt, the Central offense marched down the field with the help of two pass completions for over 30 yards. Radcliff once again connected with Flory that would have been a two-yard touchdown pass; however, Flory was called for offensive pass interference. The Green and White defense kept CMU out of the end zone as Harman kicked a 23-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining in the first half, and the Eagles took a 14-10 lead into the locker room.

   Coach English decided to mix things up as Gillett started at quarterback for the Eagles to open the second half. On the sixth play of the drive, the senior quarterback ran for his second touchdown of the game, taking a designed draw 53 yards down the sideline to give the EMU a 21-10 lead with 12:27 left in the third quarter.

   Central Michigan countered with a 10-play, 65-yard drive finished off by an 11-yard touchdown run by Zurlon Tipton to make the score 21-17 EMU with 8:38 remaining in the third quarter.

Gillett stayed in at quarterback, and the Chippewas took their first lead of the game five plays later when the senior was picked-off by Kavon Frazier who returned 49 yards for a touchdown to give CMU a 24-21 lead with 6:14 to go in the third quarter.

   Following an EMU three-and-out, Radcliff found Flory for the duo's second touchdown completion of the day as Central Michigan increased its lead to 31-21 at the 1:32 mark in the third quarter.

   The Eagle offense responded with a 10-play, 63-yard drive that led to a Mulder 30-yard field goal, with EMU cut the CMU lead to 31-24 with 13:14 remaining in the game.

   CMU return-fired with the help of a 43-yard hookup between Radcliff and Flory as Harman hit a field goal made it 34-24 with 10:31 left in the contest.

   After several exchanges, Gillett led the Eagles 82 yards down the field in only 1:10, throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jones making it a 34-31 game with 1:37 to go in the game. However, EMU was unable to recover the onside kick as CMU ran the clock out to notch get its fourth win on the season.

Eastern Michigan hits the road next week traveling to Kalamazoo to take on the Western Michigan Broncos. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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Team Stats

Alex Gillett

Tyler Benz

Players Mentioned

Tyler Benz

Alex Gillett

Bronson Hill

Jay Jones

Dylan Mulder

Andy Mulumba

Tyreese Russell

Dominique Sherrer

Players Mentioned

Tyler Benz

Alex Gillett

Bronson Hill

Jay Jones

Dylan Mulder

Andy Mulumba

Tyreese Russell

Dominique Sherrer

Eastern Michigan Athletics