“This set the foundation for the season,” junior cornerback NiJhay Burt said after Eastern’s home opener.
Eastern won their first game of the 2024 season against Indiana State 27-20 at O’Brien Stadium.
The Panthers scored three touchdowns against the Sycamores: two from the offense and one from the defense.
Graduate quarterback Pierce Holley recorded 268 passing yards with one passing touchdown to senior wide receiver Cooper Willman with less than 90 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Willman didn’t play much last season as he was not a starter for the Panthers. This season, in such a short amount of time, Willman has stepped up when head coach Chris Wilkerson called his number.
“I’m really proud of the guys that had the opportunity to step up when their number was called,” Wilkerson said. “Cooper Willman is a guy who has continued to develop.”
The other offensive touchdown came from redshirt sophomore running back MJ Flowers. Flowers recorded a one-yard rushing touchdown to give the Panthers the early lead against the Sycamores.
“The first touchdown definitely gave us some momentum,” Flowers said. “I feel like it actually carried over throughout the rest of the game. We were able to get some good stops on [defense] and produce on [offense]. We had anything we wanted on the ground. We got the run game going which opened up the pass[ing game]. When you can have both dimensions of your offense working, it’s definitely going to be going.”
The Panthers carried the momentum from Flowers’ touchdown, and it showed in not only the offensive plays but the defensive plays as well.
Eastern’s defense recorded three interceptions and forced Indiana State to fumble the ball three times.
Burt led the team with two interceptions: one in the first quarter and one in the third quarter.
“The ball was there,” Burt said about his second interception. “I knew I had to get the ball.”
Along with the two interceptions, Burt lead the Panthers’ defense with nine total tackles (six solo, three assisted).
Right behind Burt with eight total tackles (five solo, three assisted) is senior linebacker Elijawah Tolbert.
The Panthers’ defense recorded a total of 83 tackles against the Sycamores.
Tolbert also recorded an interception of his own against Indiana State in the second quarter.
“Our defense has always been good up front,” Flowers said. “Our linebackers too. If you got a good upfront, that makes your secondary even better.”
Although the Panthers recorded three interceptions, this isn’t where the defense scored a touchdown of their own.
With a 10:27 left in the second quarter, Eastern’s senior safety Nick Coates forced a fumble out of Indiana State’s tight end Lance Rees.
Redshirt junior defensive back Moses Alexander scooped the ball off the ground and ran 60 yards straight to the end-zone to put another six points on the board for the Panthers.
During this 60-yard dash to the blue end-zone, redshirt seniors Anthony Shockey and Mark Aitken blocked any Sycamore they found in Alexander’s way.
In this game, we also saw some new faces as freshman kicker Drew Schiller made his colligate debut.
Schiller made three extra points after touchdowns and two field goals.
The longest field goal Schiller kicked in the game was a 40-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Another face from the Panthers that most people haven’t seen is Terrance Gipson. Gipson was originally recruited as an athlete rather than a certain position, but when it was time to step up, Gipson did what he had to do.
As a wide receiver, Gipson recorded 100 receiving yards with the longest being 46 yards.
“The offense was pretty balanced,” Wilkerson said. “We were able to run it when we wanted to and when we needed to. We were still able to certainly throw the football.”
With this game being the home opener, team was hoping to secure their first win of the season at O’Brien Stadium.
“This was a good bounce back win,” Burt said. “We know what we can do, and we know what we’re capable of. Now, it’s time to execute [during] the season.”
The Panthers are now 1-1 in the 2024 season, and Flowers is expecting more wins from the team.
“That’s the first of many,” Flowers said.
The next game for Eastern will be against Northwestern University on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Zaria Flippin can be reached at 581-2812 or zhflippin@eiu.edu.
