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Senior Day Photos
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (8-3, 7-1 OVC) helped make its case for an NCAA FCS playoff at-large selection as the Panthers won 33-17 over Samford (4-7, 2-6 OVC) in the Bulldogs final Ohio Valley Conference contest.
EIU will learn its post-season fate on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (Central) when ESPNU unveils the 2007 NCAA FCS playoff bracket. The Panthers are looking for a 12th playoff bid and third straight trip to post-season. Samford departs the OVC and will play in the Southern Conference starting next year.
The Bulldogs seemed determined to make their last OVC contest memorable as they took the opening kick down the field with Mark Prevost nailing a 36-yard field goal with 9:55 to go in the first.
Eastern Illinois answered immediately as senior Ademola Adeniji took the Panthers first play from scrimmage and ran 65 yards to put EIU up in front for good. It was the first of Adeniji's three touchdowns on the day as the tailback finished with 170 yards on the ground on 27 carries.
Tyler Wilke extended the Panthers margin to 10-3 with a 42-yard field goal with four minutes to go in the first. Adeniji pushed the advantage to 17-3 at 10:04 in the second with a 3-yard plunge.
Samford made a game of it responding with a touchdown drive to trim the Panthers lead to 17-10. Jefferson Adcock jumped in from one yard out but the big play on the drive was a 55-yard screen pass to Brock Johnson that put the Bulldogs inside the five yard line.
Driving for a score to end the second half, Samford settled for Prevost 46-yard field goal attempt with 14 seconds left in the half. Trevor Frericks blasted through the line to block the kick while Rashad Haynes scooped up the loose ball and raced 60 yards for a touchdown to put EIU up 24-10 at the half.
Eastern Illinois opened the second half with Adeniji's third touchdown run and EIU seemingly iced the game when Frericks forced Samford receiver Jeff Moore to ground the ball on a reverse pass in the end zone. It was the first safety for EIU since 2005 when Tim Kelly recorded a safety against Samford.
Chris Evans added a touchdown run from 22-yards out for Samford's final score with 14:33 left in the game. Evans finished with 106 yards for Samford. Jonathan Lowery was the Bulldogs top receiver with eight catches for 43 yards.
Adeniji carried the work load to move his season total to 1,178 yards for the 10th best single-season performance in EIU history. The Panthers were once again balanced on offensive with Bodie Reeder hitting seven different receivers. His favorite target was senior Jordan Campanella with five catches for 73 yards.
Matt Westrick led EIU with 11 tackles while Tim Kelly added eight in the final home game for both seniors. Quinton Smith led Samford with 13 tackles.
** Of note EIU head coach Bob Spoo left the stadium shortly after kick off when he was not feeling well. The long time head coach is expected to be with the team on Sunday for the NCAA selection show.
** EIU will hold a selection show party at the campus student recreation center (located next to Lantz Arena). Doors will open at 2 p.m. to the public with the show taking place at 2:30 p.m. (Central). Coaches and players will be available to the media following the conclusion of the selection show.
