Eagles Fall to Falcons in Senior Day Contest

Photo Gallery. (Senior Day). Photo Gallery (Game).

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com)—Eastern Michigan University's football team dropped the 2013 home finale against Mid-American Conference East Division co-leading Bowling Green State University, 58-7, Saturday, Nov. 23. With the setback, the Eagles fall to 2-9 (1-6 MAC), while Bowling Green improves to 8-3 (6-1 MAC).

Prior to the contest, the Eagles honored its 14-member senior class that included: Tim Brown (Wai'anae, Oahu, Hawai'i-Kapolei), Donald Coleman (Detroit, Mich.-Orchard Lake St. Mary's-North Carolina State), Joe Fleming (Southfield, Mich.-Lathrup), Kody Fulkerson (Zanesville, Ohio-Maysville), Ja'Ron Gillespie (Washington, D.C.-Friendship Collegiate Academy), Javonti Greene (West Palm, Fla.-Royal Palm), Kalonji Kashama (Brampton, Ontario, Canada-Brampton), Sean Kurtz (Anaheim, Calif.-Canyon), Cy Maughmer (Glendale, Ariz.-Apache Junction-Glendale C.C.), Orlando McCord (Detroit, Mich.-Martin Luther King), Matt Price (Saline, Mich.-Saline), Donald Scott (Apopka, Fla.-Apopka), Shawn Sinawe (Ann Arbor, Mich.-Pioneer) and Mycal Swaim (Chico, Calif.-Pleasant Valley-Butte C.C.).

The Green and White struggled offensively, as freshman quarterback Brogan Roback (Maumee, Ohio-St. John's Jesuit) went 1-for-12 for four yards in the air with one interception. The sole completed pass of the contest landed in the hands of sophomore wide receiver Quincy Jones (Cleveland, Ohio-Saint Edward). Junior running back Ryan Brumfield (Chester Springs, Pa.-Owen J. Robert) led the ground attack with 29 yards rushing on nine carries.

The defensive front was paced by junior defensive back Willie Creear (Seattle, Wash.-Lindbergh (Butte CC)), who racked up nine tackles. Maughmer , Hunter Matt (Wyandotte, Mich.-Roosevelt), Pat O'Connor (Chicago, Ill.-St. Rita), and Derric Williams (Lake Orion, Mich.-Lake Orion) each notched an individual sack against the Falcons.

Bowling Green was led by quarterback Matt Johnson, who completed 13-of-23 passes for three touch downs to go along with 264 passing yards and one interception. The majority of his passes found his favorite target Ronnie Moore, who caught seven passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, Travis Greene rushed 15 carries and 126 yards with a pair of touchdowns.

The Falcons were able to move down the field during the opening drive thanks in large part to Greene rushing a combined 53 yards to put Bowling Green within field goal range. The visitors took an early lead in the cross-divisional matchup, 3-0. The Green and White was unable to match BGSU with its first drive, but a well-placed punt off the foot of Owen Dubiel (East Jackson, Mich.-East Jackson) landed the ball on the one-yard line for the Falcons.

As the Falcons stood in a difficult position at second-and-15, Kurtz intercepted a pass from Johnson and ran the 10 yards into the end zone for a pick-six. The senior scored the first touchdown off an interception since Pudge Cotton (Maywood, Ill.-Walther Lutheran) picked off a pass at Purdue, Sept. 15, 2012. An extra point switched the score in favor of EMU, 7-3, with 6:36 remaining in the opening stanza.

Unfortunately, the Eagles would not retain their lead for long, as Moore bolted down the right sideline off a pass from Johnson to swing the control of the scoreboard back to BGSU. Moore finished off a 74-yard dash as the Eagles lost the lead after just 20 seconds.

The first quarter closed out with the Eagles trailing, 17-7, after Moore ran in another pass from Johnson with seven seconds left. Junior Tyler Allen (Lansing, Mich.-Eastern) sidestepped around BG defenders for a 32-yard kickoff return to start the Green and White off on its own 35-yard line at the opening of the second period.

Facing a formidable defensive front, the Eagles were once again unable to come out with a scoring drive and had to surrender a punt back to the Falcons. The Eagles' defense made a handful of commendable plays, as Gillespie took down Ryan Burbrink en route to the end zone, putting a stop to his 58-yard run at the EMU nine-yard line. Kashama and Pat O'Connor (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Rita) also picked up a sack apiece during the drive. Eastern Michigan did not allow a Falcons player to pull down a pass in the end zone, but BGSU was able to extend its lead to 20-7 after landing another field goal.

Brumfield started to break through the wall of Falcons, rushing for 10 yards combined before Ryland Ward intercepted a pass from Roback to give possession back to Bowling Green. Greene made his way from the center of the EMU 28-yard line to the left corner of the end zone to give the Falcons a quick eight-second scoring drive. That score followed up by a third touchdown catch by Moore to further extend the lead with less than two remaining in the half.

The Green and White was unable to put any more points on the board as the clock ticked down, trailing 34-7 as the team exited the field at halftime.

The third quarter was not kind to the Eagles, as the Falcons racked up a Greene touchdown, a field goal, and a fumble recovery for a 37-yard touchdown run by Will Watson to widen the scoring gap to 51-7 in favor of the visiting squad.

After being unable to assemble an offensive output in the final quarter, the Eagles surrendered one final touchdown to Bowling Green, bringing the final score to 58-7.

Eastern Michigan will travel to Mount Pleasant, Mich. for its final game of the 2013 season when it takes on Central Michigan in pursuit of the Michigan MAC trophy. The trophy is given to the top MAC team in the state of Michigan, as both teams have knocked Western Michigan out of the running. Kickoff is slated to begin at 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Tyler Allen

Tim Brown

Ryan Brumfield

Donald Coleman

Pudge Cotton

Willie Creear

Owen Dubiel

Joe Fleming

Kody Fulkerson

Ja'Ron Gillespie

Javonti Greene

Quincy Jones

Kalonji Kashama

Sean Kurtz

Hunter Matt

Cy Maughmer

Orlando McCord

Pat O'Connor

Matt Price

Brogan Roback

Donald Scott

Shawn Sinawe

Mycal Swaim

Derric Williams