After letting two fourth-quarter leads slip away this season, Eastern (1-2) was able to close out Eastern Michigan (1-3) 31-28 for their first win of the season.

The Panthers did have a scare of another fourth-quarter breakdown when they led 31-20 with two minutes remaining, and Eagle quarterback Matt Bohnet hit Trumaine Riley for a 64-yard touchdown. Eastern Michigan converted the two-point conversion to pull within three points of Eastern.

But the Panthers were able to hold on to the ball and take a knee to end the game.

“We were able to hold them off and got the first down we needed to run the clock out,” head coach Bob Spoo said. “It was a fantastic win. We had a great effort by a lot of players.

“We did what we needed to do to win.”

In Eastern Michigan’s first offensive play of the game, wide receiver Eric Deslauriers caught a 53-yard pass from Bohnet and the drive was capped off with 4-yard touchdown run by Pierre Walker. Walker started the game filling in for Anthony Sherrel, the Eagles all conference running back who rushed for more than 1,500 yard last season.

After intercepting Eastern quarterback Matt Schabert, Eastern Michigan tacked on another seven points when Bohnet connected with Deslauriers with six minutes left in the first quarter, this time for a 39-yard touchdown. Deslauriers caught seven passes for 147 yards and Bohnet threw for 279 yards.

“We gave them a couple quick ones (touchdowns) on deep throws down the field,” Spoo said. “But we hung in there and got things done.”

Eastern bounced back quickly and rattled off 24 unanswered points in the following two and a half quarters.

Panther wide receiver Ryan Voss had five catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Matt Schabert, who started his first game for Eastern, threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns.

Schabert replaced junior quarterback Andrew Harris, who didn’t travel with the team this weekend to Eastern Michigan.

Eastern started off their scoring with a 2-yard pass to freshman tight end Jordan Campanella, who scored his first collegiate touchdown off of Schabert’s pass.

“Being a freshman it was unbelievable,” Campanella said. “All I deserve is to get in and make some blocks but to score a touchdown was great.”

With two minutes left in the second half, Eastern offensive coordinator John Carr reached into his bag of tricks to get the Panthers into the end zone. Schabert handed off to wide receiver Justin Duhai running an end around. Duhai held up and threw the ball to Voss for a 36-yard touchdown to tie the score at 14.

“I was really impressed with our pass protection today,” Carr said. “Our line was a aggressive off the ball, and our runningbacks were hitting the holes aggressively.”

Eastern’s offensive line didn’t allow a sack in 23 passing attempts and led the way for runningback Vincent Webb’s second hundred yard game of the season with 115 yards. Schabert ran for another 50.

Before the Panthers went into the locker room for halftime, Eastern Michigan was knocking on the door with the ball on Eastern’s six yard line. Bohnet lobbed a pass up to Deslauriers but cornerback Ben Brown went up and had a one-handed take away to end the Eagle drive.

Steve Kuehne kicked a 38-yard field goal in the Panthers opening drive of the second half.

Voss extended the lead when he hauled in a Schabert pass good for 70 yards and a touchdown, extending Eastern’s lead to 10 points.

“(Schabert) is an exceptional leader who benefits from his maturity and experience,” Spoo said. “His leadership has been an inspiration to the other players.”

Schabert hit five different receivers on a day when Eastern needed to fill in for two top receivers out with injury, sophomore Jermaine Mobley and freshman Alicus Nozinor.

With two and a half minutes remaining, runningback Ademola Adeniji capped off the scoring for the Panthers when he turned a broken play into a six-yard run for his first touchdown of the year. Adeniji had 36 yards on 7 carries.

The Panther defense gave up 100-plus rushing yards for the first time this season. Eagle running back Anthony Sherrell, who didn’t start, entered the game midway through the third quarter to pitch in with 55 yards on the ground. But that wasn’t enough to boost the Eastern Michigan offense to a comeback.

“(The win) keeps us were we need to be and gives the kids some self respect after two tough losses,” Spoo said.