Eastern’s shot at the Ohio Valley Conference title was stopped short early last season against Eastern Kentucky.

The Colonels went undefeated in the league and took the conference title by one game.

The Panthers (3-4, 1-2 OVC) are in a different situation this year when they travel to Richmond, Ky., on Saturday to play the Colonels at 2 p.m. at Roy Kidd Stadium.

Eastern Illinois has just one conference win and is in sixth place in the league, while the Colonels (4-3, 3-1 OVC) are in third place in the league.

But the Panthers got some momentum in their season with a 24-21 win against Southeast Missouri last Saturday afternoon at O’Brien Stadium.

“We’ll see,” Eastern Illinois defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said about whether the momentum will be sustained. “We can’t come (Sunday) with a homecoming hangover – literally and figuratively. We’ve got to show up ready to go back to work.”

Eastern is not out of playoff contention, and Bellantoni said the Panthers have to be 1-0 every week and get some help from other teams in the league.

“We’ve just got to keep the momentum going,” Bellantoni said. “We can’t afford a slip up.”

Eastern Illinois head coach Bob Spoo said Saturday’s game is important for both teams because there are still several teams in contention in the OVC.

“A lot of things can happen in this crazy game,” Spoo said. We’re just ready to play a good football team and see what happens.”

Eastern Illinois red-shirt guard Chaz Millard said it was good to get the league win against the Redhawks and get back on track with the running game.

The Panthers had struggled with their ground game in their two previous games – including a 20-yard team performance against Jacksonville State on Sept. 27 – but rushed for 199 yards against Southeast Missouri.

Running games will be the focal point of the game between the Panthers and the Colonels.

Spoo said some teams have put less influence on the ground game, but he said he still believes running the ball is the key to success.

“You’ve got to run the football,” Spoo said. “When we didn’t we lost, and when we did we won.”

Eastern Kentucky head coach Dean Hood has the same football philosophy as Spoo, as running the football is a Colonels’ tradition.

But that tradition has been hard to follow this season for Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels rank last in the OVC with 88 rushing yard per game.

Junior running back C.J. Walker leads Eastern Kentucky with 264 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 72 carries.

“We want to run the football,” Hood said. “We’re not doing a very good job at running the football. You’ve got to run the football to win. You’ve got to stop the run to win.”

Hood said his team is trying to run the ball in different ways. He said the Eastern Kentucky’s run scheme involves spreading opposing defenses out because the Colonels do not have a fullback to use in the traditional two-back set.

“A lot of our pass yardage really should be counted as run yardage,” Hood said about the screen passes thrown to running backs. “We’re just trying to find different ways to do it than has been done in the past.”

Eastern Kentucky has also been scoring at a more frequent rate during their past two games. Hood said his team’s recent offensive success could be attributed to the players knowing the offensive system better and the Colonels’ offensive coordinator Mike Springston knows the players better and how to best utilize their talents.

“I think early in the year, we were trying to ask the kids to do some things they were having a hard time doing at least from an ability standpoint,” Hood said. “I think Mike’s starting to learn the kids a little bit, and he’s starting to put them in a better situation to be successful.”

Scott Richey can be reached at 581-7944 or at srrichey@eiu.edu.

Sophomore tight end Daniel Vehovic gets tackled by multiple Southeast Missouri players during Eastern’s homecoming on Oct. 18 at O’Brien Stadium. The Panthers beat the Redhawks 24-21. (Karolina Strack / The Daily Eastern News)

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