Box Score  |  Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

It had been nearly 30 years since Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois met as conference rivals on the football field.  On Saturday afternoon EIU got the upper hand with a 45-38 win over WIU as the rivalry was renewed, this time as members of the Big South OVC.
 
EIU posted season highs on the offensive side of ball in points and total yards finishing with 534 yards improving to 2-7 overall, 1-4 in the Big South OVC.
 
WIU finished with just under 400 yards of total offense and took the game down to the final play as Nathan Lamb's pass into the endzone found the turf as the clock read 0:00 dropping the Leathernecks to 3-6 on the year, 2-3 in the Big South OVC.
 
Pierce Holley passed for 300-yards for a fifth straight game going 19-of-27 for 338 yards and five touchdowns.  His top target was sophomore tight end Alex Ginnever who hauled in six passes for 100 yards and two scores.  His first touchdown catch tied the game at 17-17 with two seconds remaining in the first half.  His second touchdown gave the Panthers a 45-31 lead with 6:58 left in the game.
 
MJ Flowers was a dual threat for the Panthers offense scoring three touchdowns.  Flowers first score came with 1:11 left in the opening quarter, the first score of what proved to be an offensive explosion for both teams.   Flowers scored on a 64-yard pass from Holley to cap the opening drive of the second half and hauled in his second touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter.
 
WIU kept pace offensively early in the contest matching the Panthers first touchdown with a Lamb 20-yard pass to Eli Aragon with 12:11 to play in the second.  After EIU took a 10-7 lead on a Julian Patino field goal, WIU responded with a 2-yard Cameren Smith rush and Antonio Chadha 32-yard field goal to lead 17-10.
 
EIU made a defensive stop on the Leathernecks opening drive of the second half and gave themselves a two score lead on the next drive with Holley hitting Cooper Willman on a 6-yard pass to make it 31-17.  WIU would end up chasing the scoreboard the remainder of the game coming up short on the final drive.
 
Lamb passed for 309 yards and three touchdowns going 29-of-43.  Tristan Duncan ad Christian Anaya had touchdown grabs for WIU. Lamb added a fourth touchdown with a 1-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.
 
Flowers came up just short of his third career 200-yard rushing game finishing with 194 on the ground.  He added 86 yards receiving on three receptions.  Quenton Rogers had four catches for 85 yards.
 
Anthony Shockey led EIU's defense with eight tackles while Nicholas Oliveira-Chace had five tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss.
 
Juan DelaCruz led WIU nine tackles including two tackles for loss.