Eastern Illinois tight end Alex Ginnever (87) celebrates with teammate Cooper Willman (13) after the senior receiver’s third touchdown. (Photo from ESPN-Plus)
By Dan Verdun
While Eastern Illinois’ first football trip to North Carolina didn’t turn out postcard worthy, the Panthers nearly delivered a second-half comeback.
EIU trailed Gardner-Webb, 31-7, late in the third quarter before mounting a furious rally that fell short when quarterback Pierce Holley’s desperation fourth-and-long pass was intercepted in the game’s waning moments.
Thus, Gardner-Webb, located in Boiling Springs, N.C., held off EIU, 31-28, Saturday in the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association.
The Runnin’-Bulldogs (4-6, 3-3 in Big South/OVC) pressured Holley consistently, registering 11 sacks and four QB hurries. Gardner-Webb also had 14 tackles for loss against EIU (2-8, 1-5).
Gardner-Webb scored on four of its five first-half possessions, building a 24-7 lead at the intermission. The Runnin’ Bulldogs then scored on its opening drive of the second half.
“We talked at halftime about trying to get it to a two-score game,” EIU head coach Chris Wilkerson said. “We didn’t start the second half off very well, but the offense and the defense responded. We battled all the way to the end.”
Second-half spark
EIU sparked to life when Holley found senior receiver Cooper Willman for three second-half touchdowns. Willman, from Sterling, Ill., scored TDs of 8, 80 and 25 yards.
“It was cool to see the offense be the spark plug. We started scoring (and) the defense started holding up,” Willman said.
Willman set a school record with 291 receiving yards on 11 catches. Erik Lora, EIU’s all-time leading receiver, held the previous record of 269 yards against Murray State in 2012.
“That’s a big-time record with the wideouts and quarterbacks that have been through this program,” Wilkerson said.
“I told the coaches they’re not going to be able to guard me. Give me the ball. That’s what happened. We had a shot there at the end,” Willman said.
Eastern earned that shot with a final drive that reached the GWU 28-yard line. However, the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ 11th sack of the day left the Panthers with two downs to gain 21 yards to reset the chains.
Holley first threw incomplete and then was intercepted in the end zone. GWU ended the game with a kneel down.
Holley passed for a career-high 458 yards, 306 in the second half. HIs previous career best was 359 yards against UT Martin last season.
Game changers
4:59, 4th quarter: Holley connected with Willman for a 25-yard touchdown. Julian Patino’s extra point cut the GWU lead to 31-28.
1:05, 4th quarter: Holley was sacked for an 11-yard loss by GWU defender Pius Njenge. The negative yardage resulted in a third-and-21 for Eastern at the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ 39.
0:47, 4th quarter: Holley’s pass on 4th-and-21 was intercepted by GWU’s Miles Richardson in the end zone for a touchback.
Prime Time Panthers
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the the top three EIU players in the game:
Willman, WR: The senior tied his career-high with 11 receptions for a program-record 291 yards and three touchdowns.
Holley, QB: The senior passed for 458 yards, the sixth straight game he has surpassed the 300-yard marker.
C.J. Nelson, WR: The transfer from Houston set career-highs in receptions (5) and yards (101). The redshirt sophomore scored his first career touchdown.
What it means
EIU loses its fifth Big South-OVC game in six starts this season.
What’s next?
Eastern Illinois returns to O’Brien Field for its Nov. 16 Senior Day game against Charleston Southern in another Big South/OVC game. Kickoff is at noon.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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