The Eastern football team has reached its fourth appearance in the FCS playoffs quarterfinal, following its 51-10 win against Tennessee State Saturday and will play Towson at 7 p.m. Friday at O’Brien Field.

After a dominating win over Tennessee State, Eastern moves on to play another set of Tigers, who defeated Fordham 48-28 Saturday in Towson, Md.

At 12-1, Eastern has tied the most wins that Panthers’ coach Dino Babers has been a part of. 

Eastern is ranked No. 2 in the FCS and Towson is No. 5 in the Sports Network Poll. 

Like Eastern, Towson received a first-round bye in the playoffs, as the Tigers earned the No. 7 seed in the tournament.

Friday’s game will feature two of the three Walter Payton Award finalists, which is given to the best offensive player in the FCS. 

Eastern quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and Towson running back Terrance West each lead their respective positions in touchdowns. After throwing three touchdown passes against Tennessee State, Garoppolo’s total reached to 51. 

In Towson’s win against Fordham, West rushed for 84 yards and ran in three touchdowns of his own, reaching 33 on the season.

Babers said he did not know much about Towson, but that he does know about West.

“(I know) absolutely nothing about Towson, except that they have a tailback, who rushed for 1,800 yards and he’s going to Philadelphia and has a chance to be one of the top three players in the FCS, that’s all I know,” Babers said.

Although he admitted to not knowing anything about Towson, Babers said it is exciting to prepare for a team that Eastern has not yet played before.

“When you go into the unknown and you don’t know how that’s exciting,” he said. “Breaking down a totally different defense, game planning for a coaching staff you have never seen, athletes that you have never seen, being able to have to make adjustments right on the cusp and they gotta to be right or you lose. I find that exciting.”

Towson is 11-2 and coached by Rob Ambrose, who is in his fifth year as head coach and has 20 years of college coaching experience.

Friday’s forecast in Charleston has the temperature expected to be in the 20s at kickoff, but Garoppolo said the cold weather has not bothered him or the rest of the Eastern team.

“It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary being from the Chicago-land area,” Garoppolo said after Saturday’s game, when it was 22 degrees at O’Brien Field. “We’re used to this cold and especially after South Dakota State last year, where it was almost a blessing in disguise because nothing is going to beat that type of cold and windy conditions we played there.”

 The game will be televised on ESPN2 and ticket information is available by calling 217-581-2106.

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.