Two-7 on the season, 1-4 in conference, Eastern looks to beat Gardner-Webb Saturday in North Carolina.
This will be the first meeting between the two schools, as Gardner-Webb was one of four schools that merged with the OVC as former Big South members.
After the 45-38 win to Western Illinois last week, the Panthers continue to try and play a full four quarters of the game.
Head coach Chris Wilkerson said he has noticed more areas the team has improved in both offensively and defensively, but they still need to play a complete team complementary football game.
“Offensively, we had zero three-and-outs, zero turnovers and minus the grounding penalty at the end, zero penalties. That’s a pretty good sign for an offense,” Wilkerson said. “Defensively, I thought we played with better energy and enthusiasm. We missed fewer tackles, and the emphasis was to really limit the explosive plays, and we won that battle.”
Defensively, freshman defensive back Isaiah Houi played significant time in the Western game, as junior defensive back NiJhay Burt was penalized for a controversial targeting call.
Houi said he didn’t expect to play this season, and said he stepped up to play a big role for the win.
“I think we’ve been improving all year,” Houi said. “I think we got stuff to work on every day, and we do work on that, but I think we’ve been getting better and better from week one to now. We’re going to keep improving throughout the rest of the season.”
Along with Houi, redshirt freshman Kiwaun Davis also recorded significant playing time against the Leathernecks.
Davis said the biggest improvements coming from his position room is that everyone is coming together, taking the coaching and stepping up when their number is called to help the team get big wins.
“I’m always confident in myself and my team,” Houi said. “We just got to do our job and have confidence in each other.”
Redshirt junior defensive lineman Jamari Johnson has been playing more due to injuries on the line.
During last week’s game, Johnson tipped the ball during the first quarter.
“I feel like everybody’s just been improving on their technique, [and] on their drive, the motivation just to get back to the quarterback, just to stop and run, and everybody just continue to persevere there,” Johnson said. “Everybody’s getting injured and stuff like that. So everybody’s just stepping up with that next stand-up mentality.”
The next-man up mentality has been a pivotal role for this football team, as it’s been injury prone since the first week.
“It’s just the nature of the game, really,” Johnson said. “Everybody knows that injuries are going to happen. Everybody knows that somebody’s going to go down. That next man-up mentality is really just everybody being prepared, everybody knowing their job, everybody knowing their role on the team and being able to execute it.”
Offensively, redshirt sophomore running back MJ Flowers was a big part of the Panthers offense on Saturday in the win against the Leathernecks.
Flowers finished with 280 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. These numbers alone earned him the Big South OVC offensive player of the week.
The intensity the team brought to the Leathernecks is something they should continue to do and bring to the Bulldogs this weekend, Flowers said.
“The biggest thing we learned from last week is the energy,” Flowers said. “Energy was a game changer, and we’re looking to carry that for the rest of the season. We know how good we can be when we bring that type of intensity to the game.”
Graduate quarterback Pierce Holley passed for a total of 338 yards, five touchdowns and had zero interceptions.
Eastern is set to play Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
Payton Liggins can be reached at 581-2812 or at paliggins@eiu.edu.
