Box Score |Â
Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)
The 112th Mid-America Classic was impacted by turnovers as No. 15/17 Illinois State had three turnovers gained in a 31-7 win over Eastern Illinois.
EIU forced two turnovers in the game, both of them with
Kaelin Drakeford in the middle of the play for the Panthers (1-3).
The Panthers drove the length of the field on the opening drive but fumbled the ball on the 1-yard line. ISU then drove the length of the field capping a 99-yard drive with a Tommy Rittenhouse 31-yard pass to Daniel Sobkowicz.
ISU picked off an EIU pass on the next possession and scored four plays later taking a 14-0 lead with 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Rittenhouse passed for 228 yards and three touchdowns in the game. His final score came on 5-yard pass again to Sobkowicz who had seven receptions for 93 yards.
EIU cracked the scoreboard late in the first half with
MJ Flowers in on a 4-yard touchdown run. Flowers was a workhorse on the day for EIU finishing with 117 yards on 19 carries for a 6.2 yards per carry average. It was his fourth 100-yard career rushing game.
The Panthers picked up momentum from that drive and quickly had the first of their two turnovers gained as Drakeford picked off a pass from back-up quarterback Jake Rubley. EIU took a couple of shots down the field with a pass to the end zone knocked down as the first half ended.
ISU extended the lead to 24-7 with a field goal on its opening drive of the second half. The EIU defense came up with two stops inside the red zone later in the third quarter.Â
Elijawah Tolbert and
Akili Hubbard combined for a stop on fourth and goal. On the next drive Drakeford forced a fumble that was recovered by
Moses Alexander in the end zone for the second EIU turnover gained.
Drakeford finished with six tackles.Â
Anthony Shockey and
Elijawah Tolbert each had ten tackles to lead EIU.
Wenkers Wright rushed for 150 yards for ISU (3-1) and scored the final Redbirds touchdown in the fourth quarter.
