Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
1-0
Monmouth
0-1
Eagles Soar Over Monmouth in Season Opener
8/31/2018 9:24:00 PM | Football
EMU cranked out a 51-17 victory at "The Factory"
Press Conference Video.
Highlights.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- A sound offensive performance coupled with a stingy defense effort from the Eastern Michigan University football team powered the Eagles (1-0) to a season-opening 51-17 victory over Monmouth University Friday night, Aug. 31, at "The Factory" inside Rynearson Stadium. The victory marked the third consecutive season the Eagles tasted victory in their season opener, while it marked the squad's fourth-most points in a home debut.
As a team, Eastern ran away with the win behind a balanced offensive attack featuring 302 passing yards, along with 171 rushing yards. In total, the Eagles racked up 473 yards of offense, posting a perfect 7-for-7 mark in the red zone. Sporting "The Deuce" (No. 2) jersey for the first time in 2018, senior Blake Banham (St. Paul, Minn.-Cretin-Durham Hall), led the team's receiving attack, finishing with 103 yards on eight receptions. Starting quarterback Tyler Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich.-Detroit Country Day) ended his first Eastern start 18-for-21, throwing for 238 yards and two touchdowns, while Mike Glass III (St. Louis, Mo.- Hazelwood Central) threw for 30 yards and scored his own TD on a quarterback keeper. Freshman quarterback Jarius Grissom (Dearborn Heights, Mich.- River Rogue) followed Glass' lead and made his mark on "The Factory" with a 20-yard rushing touchdown.
EMU quarterbacks were a combined 22-for-27 to set the school's modern era statistical record for pass completion percentage at 81.5 percent. The mark edged out a 77.4 percent (24-of-31) mark set against UNC Charlotte during the 2016 campaign.
EMU's veteran defense was paced by junior transfer Kobie Beltram (Antioch, Calif.- City College of San Francisco) totaling nine tackles-for-loss of 11 yards. Senior Kyle Rachwal (Lapeer, Mich.-Lapeer East) added an interception and a tackle-for-loss to finish the day with four stops. Overall, the Green and White sacked the Hawks three times to go along with six TFLs and five quarterback hurries.
Overall, the Eagles scored on their first four possessions and led 30-3 at halftime after Weigers' 16-yard TD pass, Isaac Holder's (Tampa, Fla.-Sickles) 30-yard toss to Bryce Kemp (Baxter, Iowa-Baxter Community School) on a flea-flicker, and Glass' TD passes to Dylan Drummond (Cleveland, Ohio- Cuyahoga Heights) and Line Latu (San Mateo, Calif.-San Mateo).
Monmouth's Kenji Bahar was 25-of-42 for 190 yards passing, with an interception and an eight-yard TD run. Freshman Juwon Farri gained 111 of Monmouth's 187 rushing yards on 13 carries and scored his first career TD on a 38-yard run.
The Eagles head on the road for three straight games, starting with a Big Ten Conference matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Eastern looks for its second-ever victory over a Big Ten team, as its only winning mark against the conference came in 2017 with a 16-13 win at Rutgers. EMU then heads to Buffalo to kick off the 2018 #MACtion on Sept. 15.
Team Stats
MU 0, EMU 7
EMU - BANHAM, Blake 16 yd pass from WIEGERS, Tyler (RYLAND, Chad kick) 15 plays, 95 yards, TOP 6:05
MU 0, EMU 13
EMU - KEMP, Bryce 34 yd pass from HOLDER, Isaac (KELLY, Jesse rushfailed) 1 plays, 34 yards, TOP 0:07
MU 0, EMU 20
EMU - DRUMMOND, Dylan 15 yd pass from GLASS, Mike (RYLAND, Chad kick) 6 plays, 53 yards, TOP 2:33
MU 0, EMU 23
EMU - RYLAND, Chad 33 yd field goal 7 plays, 49 yards, TOP 2:31
MU 0, EMU 30
EMU - LATU, Line 20 yd pass from GLASS, Mike (RYLAND, Chad kick) 3 plays, 19 yards, TOP 1:22
MU 3, EMU 30
MU - MOSQUERA, Matt 42 yd field goal 11 plays, 50 yards, TOP 1:35
MU 10, EMU 30
MU - BAHAR, Kenji 8 yd run (MOSQUERA, Matt kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:35
MU 10, EMU 37
EMU - SEXTON, Mathew 10 yd pass from WIEGERS, Tyler (RYLAND, Chad kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:36
MU 10, EMU 44
EMU - GRISSOM, Jairus 20 yd run (RYLAND, Chad kick), 5 plays, 66 yards, TOP 2:25
MU 17, EMU 44
MU - FARRI, Juwon 38 yd run (MOSQUERA, Matt kick), 8 plays, 73 yards, TOP 3:59
MU 17, EMU 51
EMU - GLASS, Mike 16 yd run (RYLAND, Chad kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:11
