Eastern Michigan football blows out Bowling Green on the road; CMU blows late lead

Free Press staff reports and news services
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Easter Michigan head football coach Chris Creighton talks to reporters during the MAC football media day at Ford Field on Tuesday, July 20, 2021.

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Ben Bryant passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third and Eastern Michigan rolled to a 55-24 win over Bowling Green on Saturday.

The Eagles (5-3, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) scored three touchdowns in both the second and third quarters.

Bryant had a 31-yard scoring pass to Bryson Cannon and his touchdown run in a second quarter that was highlighted by David Carter’s 42-yard punt return for a touchdown. That helped Eastern Michigan take a 24-10 lead at the half.

Bryant connected with Gunnar Oakes for a 37- yard score in the third quarter and Darius Boone ran for a score before running back Samson Evans found Dylan Drummond for a 16-yard score, set up when the Falcons lost a fumble on the kickoff.

Backup quarterback Preston Hutchinson had a touchdown pass to Thomas Odukoya in the fourth quarter.

Bryant was 20 of 26 for 286 yards.

Nate Needham’s field goal to open the scoring for Bowling Green (2-7, 0-4) made him 14 of 14 on the season.

More MAC

Northern Illinois 39, Central Michigan 38: Rocky Lombardi threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns and freshman Kanon Woodill kicked the go-ahead field goal with under a minute to go in his first collegiate action to give Northern Illinois a 39-38 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday in Mount Pleasant.

Trayvon Rudolph kept the Huskies’ final drive alive with a 7-yard gain off a reverse on fourth-and-1 at the 50. Jay Ducker followed with a 26-yard run and four plays later Woodill kicked a 26-yard field goal with 56 seconds left.

CMU reached the Huskies’ 22 with five seconds left and lined up for a field-goal attempt that ended with a low snap.

NIU (6-2, 4-0) won its fifth straight to remain the only MAC team without a loss in conference play.

NIU came into the game with the MAC’s top rushing offense and last in passing yards. But against Central Michigan (4-4, 2-2), ranked second in rushing defense and last in passing defense, the Huskies changed gears.

Trailing 35-18 in the third quarter, Lombardi, the former Michigan State quarterback, and Rudolph connected on a 75-yard pass play that began the Huskies’ rally. They had a 36-35 lead after Clint Ratkovich’s 1-yard run in the fourth quarter before Marshall Meeder gave the Chippewas their last lead on a 38-yard field goal with six minutes remaining.

Ducker finished with 183 yards on 31 carries while Rudolph had 160 yards receiving and two scores and Tyrice Richie 147 and a touchdown for NIU.

Daniel Richardson threw for 289 yards and three scores for the Chippewas with Kalil Pimpleton collecting 130 yards receiving. Lew Nichols III had 192 yards rushing on 22 carries with two scores.

The teams combined for 1,020 yards of offense.

GLIAC

Davenport 21, Northwood 14: Caleef Jenkins had 41 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and Isaac Van Dyke added 75 yards on the ground and another TD for the visiting Panthers (3-5, 2-2). Nate Gomez had 54 yards rushing and a score for the Timberwolves (1-6, 0-4).

Ferris State 38, Michigan Tech 10: Jared Bernhardt was 17-for-21 for 289 yards and three touchdowns for the visiting Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0 GLIAC). Xavier Wade had six catches for 106 yards and two of those TDs. Darius Willis had six catches for 91 yards and a score for the Huskies (4-3, 3-1).

Grand Valley State 28, Northern Michigan 24: Cade Peterson was 17-for-22 for 230 yards and two touchdowns, and Bryce Young-Walls had 56 yards rushing and two TDs for the visiting Lakers (6-1, 4-1). Drake Davis was 24-for-37 for 225 yards and a touchdown, and Isaiah Popp had three catches for 58 yards and a 2-yard TD pass for the Wildcats (3-5, 1-4).

MIAA

Albion 38, Olivet 17: Andy Durand had a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown, and Jack Bush was 13-for-20 for 220 yards and two touchdowns for host Albion (6-1, 2-1 MIAA). Cortaveon Barnett had 117 yards rushing and a touchdown for Olivet (4-3, 1-3).

Hope 19, Adrian 7: Daniel Romano had 244 yards rushing and a touchdown for host Hope (5-1, 3-0), who had 360 total yards on the ground. Steven Moses had 168 yards rushing and a touchdown for Adrian (4-4, 2-2).

Trine (Ohio) 47, Kalamazoo 13: Alex Price had 192 yards passing and three touchdowns for Trine (5-2, 3-0). Josh Nichols had 54 yards passing and a touchdowns for Kalamazoo (1-7, 0-4).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Eastern Michigan football blows out Bowling Green on the road