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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Kaschiev Hunter recovered a fumbled snap with 26 seconds remaining to end an Eastern Illinois drive at the Illinois State 20 yard line as the Redbirds (2-1) held on for a 24-21 win over EIU (1-2) at O'Brien Stadium.

 

Illinois State entered the weekend ranked 17th by the Sports Network while Eastern Illinois was ranked 14th.

 

Sophomore quarterback Bodie Reeder provided a spark for the Panthers offense once he was inserted into the line-up late in the third quarter.  He drove EIU 84 yards on 15 plays as EIU went up 21-17 with 12:57 left in the contest.  Chip Keys plowed through the line from one yard out for the score.

 

Illinois State responded with a drive of their own as Luke Drone drove the Redbirds 74 yards on 13 plays with Rafael Rice punching in a touchdown from two yards out with 6:52 remaining.

 

Both teams changed possessions before EIU took the final possession with two minutes left on the clock.  Reeder hit Jordan Campanella for two passes, the second one placing the ball on the 20-yard line with time remaining for a couple of shots at the end zone or a potential game tying field goal.  Hunter's recovery off a fumble ended the EIU drive and gave Illinois State six straight wins in the series.

 

Illinois State scored the first points of the game as the Redbirds converted a fumble into a Drone 6-yard touchdown pass from Garin Harcar.  EIU would tie the score at 7-7 in the first as Ademola Adeniji scored from eight yards out with 5:40 left in the first.

 

Tyler Funk put ISU back up top with a 23-yard field goal while Kedric Meredith added a 22-yard TD reception from Drone with 16-seconds left in the first half.

 

Micah Rucker scored EIU's other touchdown on a 7-yard reception from starting quarterback Cole Stinson.  Stinson was 11-for-17 for 110 yards while Reeder was 9-of-11 for 85 yards in relief.  Jason Fisher had 53 yards on three catches while Rucker had five catches for 46 yards.  Travorus Bess led the EIU ground game with 99 yards while Keys added 58.

 

Drone was 20-for-31 with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 267 yard effort.  Rafael Rice churned out 75 yards on the ground while Jason Horton had five catches for 74 yards.

 

Adrian Arrington and Rashad Haynes each had ten tackles in the loss while Arrington also picked off a Drone pass.  ISU's defensive leader was Jesse Caesar with 12 tackles.

 

Eastern Illinois will return to action next Saturday night at Indiana State with a 5 p.m. (Central) kick-off in Terre Haute.