Marshaun Coprich capped off the first half with his second rushing touchdown, giving Illinois State a 21-6 lead at halftime over Eastern in Hancock Stadium.

The junior running back ended the first half like he started, taking the ball from Redbirds’ quarterback Tre Roberson and barreling through the middle of the offensive line for a touchdown.

The two-yard run that gave Illinois State its biggest lead with five seconds left in the half, followed a 47-yard pass from Roberson to Lechein Neblett three plays earlier on third down and six.

Eastern quarterback Andrew Manley had a pass intercepted that led to the Redbirds’ final scoring drive.

The Panthers defense began slow, allowing a seven-play, 65-yard drive to Illinois State to begin the game. Coprich powered himself into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown run to finish the opening drive score.

After that, the Panthers’ defense only allowed 28 yards of offense and had an interception, as linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill picked off Roberson with a little more than two minutes left in the first quarter.

But with 8:53 left in the second quarter, Roberson faked a handoff to Coprich and then threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Neblett for a 14-3 lead.

The Panthers had a touchdown pass from Jalen Whitlow to Taylor Duncan called back because of pass interference that led to a field goal by Nick Bruno for Eastern’s first points with 12:25 left in the second quarter. Bruno later added a 36-yard field goal to make it 14-6, before Coprich’s second touchdown run.

Manley has played most of the snaps at quarterback for Eastern.

Panthers’ running back Shepard Little limped off the field after his first carry, but later returned. Duncan has received most of the carries for Eastern in the first half, gaining 27 yards on six carries.

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].