The Eastern Michigan Eagles soared high after beating rival Western Michigan last Saturday.
Their victory put them above the Broncos in the Mid-American Conference West Division and gave them the Michigan MAC Trophy for the third time in school history. It served as a perfect capstone for Homecoming weekend in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Instituted in 2005, the Michigan MAC Trophy is awarded to the Michigan school in the conference that defeats the two other schools in the same season. In the event of a tie, nobody wins for the year and the trophy remains with the previous winner.
Central Michigan, who has won the trophy three times, fell out of contention early in the season when it lost to Western Michigan. Because the Chippewas had won last year, there was a possibility they could keep the trophy in the event of a three-way tie. Those hopes were thwarted when Eastern Michigan beat them in Week 8.
Feeding off their momentum, the Eagles surged past the Broncos with a little help from Javonti Greene, who was honored as the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week. He had two 50-yard touchdowns.
Late in the game, Eastern Michigan had a crucial goal-line stand to preserve the win. On fourth down with a little less than five minutes on the clock, Western Michigan was unable to break the plane of the end zone. That proved to be the last drive for the Broncos.
“Whenever you can have this success … it gets people re-energized, and people want to get involved,” Eastern Michigan coach Ron English said. “I think it’s a great thing for the community for us to win that game at home.”
The Eagles will have a week off before they get back to work against Ball State Nov. 5.
mm938910@ohiou.edu
