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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Eastern Illinois posted its first shutout since Oct. 7, 2006 as the Panthers improved to 2-0 on the season with a 31-0 victory at Indiana State on Saturday afternoon. ISU fell to 0-3 on the year losing their 29th straight game.
Eastern Illinois defense set the tone early in the game as they limited the Sycamores to just 24 yards rushing on 25 attempts and just 95 yards of total offense. EIU held ISU to a 3-and-out on the opening possession of the game. The Panthers offense scored on the ensuing drive as Jake Christensen marched the team down the field 63 yards in 7 plays hitting Chavar Watkins for a 20-yard strike. On the drive the left handed quarterback made a nice throw to Lorence Ricks on a 3rd and 15 that kept the drive alive.
Leading 7-0 just five and a half minutes into the game, EIU put additional defensive pressure on Sycamores starting quarterback Travis Johnson. Carlos Reyna broke up a first down pass for an incompletion. On second down cornerback CJ James read the intended pass route and picked off the pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown to put Eastern Illinois up 14-0 with 9:12 left in the first quarter.
Indiana State was able to pin the Panthers offense inside its own 8 yard line on the next two offensive series with punter Gabe Mullane pinning EIU inside the 20 three times during the day. EIU was forced to punt on both those drives setting ISU up with solid starting field position.
On the first Sycamore drive Trevor Frericks had a seven yard sack of Johnson to push Indiana State out of field goal range. The next drive ended as a Braul Martinez pushed a field goal wide right from 48 yards out.
Mon Williams helped EIU slam the door after the missed field goal as he bounced outside after running into a pile at the line of scrimmage and raced 54 yards for a touchdown. Williams added another score from 30 yards out in the third quarter as the Florida transfer finished with 113 yards on just 15 carries. EIU churned out 218 yards on the ground and 370 total yards for the day.
Austin Signor rounded out the Panthers scoring with a 31 yard field goal as time expired in the first half. EIU led 24-0 at the break.
The defense added three more sacks to their season total while making 12 tackles for loss. Adrian Arrington led EIU with seven tackles including two for loss. Nick Nasti also had seven tackles. EIU's last shutout was a 21-0 victory over Southeast Missouri in 2006. The last Panther to return an interception for a touchdown was Rashad Haynes who accomplished that feat against Indiana State last year. EIU ends its long standing series with Indiana State having won five in a row in the series including ten straight quarters without allowing ISU to find the end zone.
Indiana State was led by Jacolby Washington with ten tackles.
Eastern Illinois opens Ohio Valley Conference play next Saturday with a 6 p.m. kick off at Southeast Missouri.
