Eastern lost their second Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) game of the season to Northwestern Saturday evening at the Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium.
Although the final score was 31-7, Eastern’s head coach Chris Wilkerson was beyond proud of the team and their work ethic and determination throughout the night.
“I’m really proud of the guy’s effort,” Wilkerson said. “They continued to fight from the beginning of the football game to the last snap. There’s obviously some things we need to clean up, but the goal for the week was to continue to grow and improve, and I know we did improve as a football team.”
At the start of the game, Northwestern was on offense first, and Eastern’s defense startled the offense within a matter of minutes.
Eastern’s defense stopped what would’ve been an early touchdown from Northwestern.
Redshirt senior defensive back Mark Aitken did not start, so senior Zay Gentry took his place on the field and made a game-saving play during the first Northwestern drive.
Gentry broke up a pass from redshirt sophomore Wildcat Jack Lausch to graduate wide receiver Bryce Kirtz in the endzone.
Two plays later, after a tackle made back redshirt junior Panther linebacker Phoenix Porter, the Wildcats faced a fourth-and-one situation.
Northwestern’s head coach, David Braun, decided to keep the offense on the field, but Eastern’s defense had other plans.
Senior Panther linebacker Elijawah Tolbert tackled graduate Wildcat running back Cam Jones to force a turnover on downs.
“The guys did a really good job early mixing up the leverage,” Wilkerson said. “In the first half, the guys played really well.”
The Wildcats were the first to score in the game late in the first quarter, but the Panthers stopped their momentum by scoring seven points of their own in the five minutes into the second quarter.
Senior wide receiver, Eli Mirza caught a 13-yard pass from graduate quarterback Pierce Holley to give the Panthers their first and only touchdown in the game.
Another play done by the Panthers was redshirt senior defensive lineman Tre’Jon Lewis blocking redshirt junior Jack Olsen’s 41-yard field goal late in the second quarter.
Thinking back on the play, Lewis said he jumped up to try to block the kick, and alongside graduate defensive lineman Jerrad Price, the two both got a low kick to lead to a blocked field goal.
After the first half, Northwestern picked up all momentum, and as time was winding down, Eastern could not gain any more momentum throughout the game.
Holley finished the game recording 17 of 31 completions for 167 yards and one touchdown.
Holley’s top target of the game was senior wide receiver Cooper Willman. Willman recorded six targets for 66 yards against the Wildcat defense.
“Going into this week, we knew we had a second shot,” Willman said. “I think in the first half, we played well. We just couldn’t come out in the second half and capitalize on big plays.”
The second half consisted of two touchdowns for Northwestern and an interception from Holley in the third quarter.
Northwestern took Holley’s interception to their advantage by scoring on that drive, giving them a 24-7 lead.
“We gave ourselves a good chance in the first half,” redshirt senior defensive lineman Tre’Jon Lewis said.
The Panthers are now 1-2 for the 2024 season. Eastern will be back on the road next Saturday to play in the 112th Mid-American Classic against Illinois State in Normal.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Zaria Flippin can be reached at 581-2812 or zhflippin@eiu.edu.
