With 250 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday’s win, Mike Donato earned one thing – more practice time.

The Eastern coaching staff confirmed that the junior quarterback would be getting a majority of the snaps this week in practice.

Donato said he was informed Sunday he would be receiving two snaps for every one that Stinson gets.

“There’s a small bit of relief knowing that we’re back to the same deal as last year,” Donato said. “It’s been a back and forth, tooth and nail battle between Cole and myself.”

The Panthers are going back to the plan they had during the opening game against Illinois where Donato started and would play unless a situation existed to put backup Cole Stinson in the contest.

“Without giving out our game plan, Mike is our starter and we will monitor if Cole should be inserted into the game,” Eastern acting head coach Mark Hutson said.

Hutson said that Donato is getting more comfortable under center and he is excited to see how his experience as a two-year starter will translate against teams he struggled with last season.

“If you look at the film of the first two games against Indiana State and Illinois State last year, Mike has progressed athletically and with his understanding of the offense,” Hutson said.

Donato was 15-of-32 for 162 yards and two interceptions against Illinois State last year in his third career start.

“That’s always in the back of your head as a player to prove you can play well against a team like this,” Donato said. “The motivation is already there though.”

Donato is 10-4 as a starter in his Eastern career and a majority of the accolades goes to the tailbacks lined up behind him and the lineman up front.

“For Mike to have a clean jersey, a lot of things have to go right,” Hutson said. “Certainly, last week, guys like Vincent Webb, Norris Smith and the offensive line stepped up.”

Donato has strived in the new style Hutson and quarterbacks coach Jorge Munoz have instituted with a no-huddle offense.

The new rule in college football that says the clock must start once the referee spots the ball even after change of possession has limited the amount of total possessions and forced teams to pick up the tempo offensively.

Junior Cole Stinson came in for two series’ Saturday and completed four of six for 32 yards but had two interceptions, one of which was returned 100 yards for a touchdown by Sycamores’ defensive back Bryan Jackson.

“The two interceptions are what people are going to remember but he did lead us down into the red zone,” Hutson said. “There are a lot of positives you can take from his performance.”