One hundred and five points, 186 plays, 1,042 yards of offense and 32 penalties resulted in No. 15 Illinois State narrowly edging in-state rival Eastern, 54-51, in double overtime. It was the highest scoring game in the 101 meetings of the Mid-America Classic.

In the fourth quarter, Eastern took a commanding lead with nine minutes remaining on a rushing touchdown by red-shirt senior running back Jake Walker. He pounded the ball in the end zone on a powerful 13-yard run that was capped off by him diving over the goal line to give the Panthers a 10-point lead.

Illinois State senior quarterback Matt Brown responded following Walker’s touchdown run, leading two scoring drives to give the Redbirds the lead with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

Brown connected with running back Cameron Hunt for a 20-yard touchdown pass before finding wide receiver Donovan Harden for a 13-yard touchdown strike to give Illinois State a three-point lead with 54 seconds remaining.

Then, Eastern junior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo moved the Panthers down field with a number of sideline passes and lengthy completions that had Eastern moving into Redbird territory.

With just seconds remaining, Garoppolo found red-shirt junior wide receiver Erik Lora downfield and delivered a pass that had Lora catching the ball inside Illinois State’s five-yard line for a 23-yard gain.

With six seconds remaining in regulation, the Panthers elected to run one play before settling for a would-be game-tying field goal attempt.

Garoppolo threw to senior wide receiver Chris Wright in the end zone, but the Redbird defense sniffed out the last-second pass attempt, forcing Eastern to settle for a field goal and extend the game into overtime.

Junior kicker Cam Berra made the 20-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. For the game, Berra was three-for-three on his field goal attempts, drilling two from outside of 40-yards, including a career-long 44-yard field goal to end the first half.

“We knew we were going to go down (and score),” head coach Dino Babers said. “We are disappointed we didn’t get seven (points). We thought we were going to go down there and get a touchdown and win the game.”

In the first overtime, Illinois State scored first on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Harden.

Brown was a perfect three-for-three on his pass attempts in the first overtime period, completing passes to wide receivers Lechein Neblett and Donovan Harden. Neblett caught two balls for 18 yards while Harden caught one ball for a seven-yard touchdown.

Eastern responded in its first overtime possession as Duncan tied the game at 48 with a two-yard touchdown run. The Panthers were helped out on a pass interference play that had the Panthers getting the ball on the Illinois State two-yard line. Duncan delivered the game-tying touchdown run on the following play, recording his third touchdown of the game in the process.

In the second overtime, Eastern began with the ball and had to settle for a field goal after an incomplete pass and a sack. Berra converted the 40-yard field goal kick to give Eastern a 51-48 lead.

Then, Illinois State needed just two plays to cap off the rivalry game with a win. Brown connected with Walker for a 25-yard touchdown pass to give Illinois State the 54-51 win.

“We had some opportunities to make some plays out there and we didn’t,” Babers said. “We battled with the No. 15 ranked team in the country with 19 FBS-transfers where we only have two. We fought well for the state, and it’s disappointing we lost.”

For the game, Brown threw for 473 yards and five touchdowns while only throwing one interception. He also contributed in the running game, rushing for two touchdowns.

Garoppolo threw for a career-best 387 yards and two touchdowns. However, the junior quarterback also threw three interceptions, two of which were deflected.

“I thought Jimmy (Garoppolo) was a little erratic early, but he really settled down in the second half,” Babers said. “His leadership is what is so fabulous for us. As he goes, we go. He’s our leader, and we will always stay behind him.”

Garoppolo once again looked to Lora to do the majority of the damage in the passing game as he tallied 135 yards and two touchdowns on 10 catches. It was the third time this season that Lora has eclipsed the 100-yard mark.

Red-shirt senior wide receiver Chavar Watkins also recorded 97 yards on 12 receptions.

On the ground, the Panthers’ Duncan had a career-day. He rushed for 96 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. Walker also contributed in the ground game, rushing for 39 yards and one touchdown.

The Panthers will be back in action at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday when they will host Murray State at O’Brien Field in their Ohio Valley Conference opener.

Jordan Pottorff can be reached at 581-2812 or jbpottorff@eiu.edu.