MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Eastern Illinois football won its eighth game in a season for the first time since the 2013 season as the Panthers closed out the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 28-14 win at Robert Morris.
EIU improved to 8-3 on the season, 4-2 in the Big South-OVC.  Robert Morris finished the season at 4-7 overall, 2-4 in the Big South-OVC.
Eastern Illinois was able to move the ball on offense in the opening half with
Pierce Holley passing for 153 yards going 16-of-21 with three touchdown passes. He would finish 23-of-33 for 226 yards.
Holley hit
Eli Mirza on a 26-yard pass in the first quarter giving EIU a 7-0 lead with 4:12 remaining.
Holley would connect for second quarter touchdowns to
DeAirious Smith of 18 yards and
Justin Thomas of 14 yards.
Robert Morris first half highlights came on special teams as they blocked a punt in the second quarter and scored their first half touchdown on a 3-yard run by Chaese Jackson after the Colonials blocked punt gave them the ball at the EIU 29-yard line.
Both teams failed to score in the third quarter with EIU's best chance resulting in a missed field goal that hit off the right upright.
In the fourth the Panthers extended their lead to 28-14 as
MJ Flowers broke loose for a 38-yard touchdown. The redshirt freshman finished with 179 yards on the ground as EIU had 416 yards of total offense.
The Colonials added some offensive yards to their game total in the fourth quarter with one long drive that ended with a Noah Robinson 14-yard touchdown reception on a pass from Zach Tanner.  Robinson had nine catches for 116 yards. RMU finished with 230 total yards of offense.
Drake Van Hyfte led the EIU defense with five tackles including three sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss.Â
Elijawah Tolbert tacked on five tackles.
Dee Pierce led the Colonials with 12 tackles.Â
