Eastern Illinois QB Cole LaCrue (center) celebrates with tight end Alex Ginnever on Saturday after the two connected on a touchdown pass. (Photo by Sandy King, EIUPanthers.com)
By Barry Bottino
On the scoreboard, Eastern Illinois lost a one-score game – 20-13 – at O’Brien Field Saturday to Ohio Valley Conference foe Lindenwood.
On the stat sheet, the divide was much greater as the Panthers (2-5 overall, 1-1 OVC) lost their fifth game in the last six tries.
Lindenwood ran 79 plays Saturday and had six different drives that lasted eight or more plays. EIU, meanwhile, ran only 44 plays, logged one drive of eight plays and trailed the Lions (2-4, 2-1) in time of possession by nearly 17 minutes.
Despite those numbers, Eastern took a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter when wide receiver Jeremy Reeves hauled in a 49-yard scoring pass from quarterback Cole LaCrue.
Only 26 seconds before halftime, Lindenwood running back Steve Hall scored on a 10-yard run to put Lindenwood on top, 10-7. A 22-yard field goal midway through the third quarter boosted the Lions’ lead to 13-7.
Veteran EIU tight end Alex Ginnever caught only his third pass of the season 5 minutes, 13 second later for a 24-yard TD, which forged a 13-13 tie.
Lindenwood leaned on its run game – which outgained EIU, 137-53 – early in the fourth quarter. The Lions punctuated a 12-play, 75-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring run by quarterback Pops Battle with 11 minutes left in the game.
Lindenwood rushed for 54 yards on the drive.
Eastern managed 16 total yards on its next two drives.
The Panthers regained possession on their own 16-yard line with 3:12 left in the game and advanced the ball to the Lindenwood 15.
The drive ended with a 2-yard loss on a pass completion and an incomplete pass on fourth down-and-6.
LaCrue finished 15-for-24 passing for 203 yards and two TDs. He threw his first interception of the season. Eastern managed just 13 first downs and was outgained, 367-256.
Game changers
12:12, 2nd quarter: Reeves caught a 49-yard TD pass from LaCrue to give EIU a 7-3 lead.
2:47, 3rd quarter: Ginnever caught his first touchdown of the season on a 24-yard pass from LaCrue.
11:00, 4th quarter: Battle ran in a 1-yard score to set the final margin.
What it means
The Panthers lost for the fifth time in the last six games.
Primetime Panthers
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Eastern Illinois players in the game:
Reeves, WR: The redshirt sophomore had four catches for 79 yards and a TD.
LaCrue, QB: Despite throwing his first interception of the season, the Eastern QB threw for two TDs and 203 yards.
Lonnie Burt, LB: The Portland State transfer collected nine tackles, including three tackles for loss.
What’s next?
The Panthers host Southeast Missouri for Homecoming on Oct. 24. Kickoff is 2 p.m.
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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