MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois defense generated five turnovers, leading to a 31-6 victory over Morehead State that made head coach Don Patterson a perfect 16-0 at home against regular-season non-conference competition. Marco Thomas caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Steve LaFalce on the first possession of the game and the Leathernecks went on to score on their first three possessions to build a 21-0 lead by halftime. Freshman running back Fred Amiker scored on a 9-yard run with four seconds remaining in the first quarter, capping the longest drive of the game, and starting running back Herb Donaldson reached the end zone on a two-yard run midway through the second quarter.Donaldson rushed for 97 yards on 15 carries in his first career start, and was taken out of the game at halftime due to muscle cramps.Taylor Rowan added a 37-yard field goal for the Leathernecks at the 8:44 mark of the third quarter to extend the lead to 24-0, but the Eagles responded with a nine-play 68-yard drive that was capped when Brian Yost connected with Eric Fitzpatrick for a 6-yard touchdown pass. The extra point attempt was misssed.The Leathernecks added one more score, early in the fourth, when LaFalce rushed for a 28-yard touchdown on third-and-20, recording a rushing TD in his fourth consecutive game. Jason Williams, Kevin Almlie and Heaven Desir all intercepted passes for the Leathernecks (1-0) and Travis Cherry and Trokon Tompo recovered fumbles, while the offense did not turn the ball over once, equalling Western?s largest turnover margin in more than two years. Williams paced the defense with 11 total tackles, a forced fumble, one tackle for loss and an additional pass deflection.The Eagles (0-1) nudged the Leathernecks in total offense, 343-336, but the Leathernecks had a slight edge on the ground, 197-193. Amiker totaled 59 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in his first game as a Leatherneck. Jabari McGee led the Eagles with 78 rushing yards on 15 attempts, while Yost tallied 150 passing yards on 16-of-23 passing.Game Notes-The Leathernecks have won their last nine games when opening the season at home, a streak that began in 1994. Tonight was the first home opener since 2003, a 35-3 victory over Wayne State.-The Leathernecks have won their last 13 home openers.-Western is riding a four-game winning streak continuing from last season?s three-game defeat over Illinois State, Indiana State and Missouri State.-Don Patterson is a perfect 16-0 at home against non-conference opponents during the regular season. The Leathernecks have won their last 29 such games.-Tim Jackson returned the first kickoff of his career 31 yards to open the game.-The first touchdown of the game came on Western?s first pass attempt. -Taylor Rowan?s consecutive PAT streak reached 51.- Fred Amiker?s nine-yard touchdown was the first of his career.-Herb Donaldson surpassed his previous career-high of 28 rushing yards in a game (Sept. 24, 2005 game vs. Iowa Wesleyan) with 97 yards in tonight?s game.-Quarterback Steve LaFalce had a 28-yard rush to mark four consecutive games with a rushing touchdown. - All three Leathernecks who intercepted passes recorded their first career picks.Postgame quotesWestern Illinois Head Coach Don Patterson:Overall, tonight was not too bad for the first game. I think we played pretty well. This was a learning opportunity. I?m pleased that we didn?t make many dumb mistakes tonight and it was nice that we could play all night without a single turnover . The game plan was pretty simple because we didn?t know what defense we were going to face and because they executed really well. We?re making improvements and we are on schedule in the season. We?re not ahead of schedule, but we?re on schedule. It was a comfortable win because of the way we started the first half, but we still have room for improvement.We wanted to come out and establish. Winning is not guaranteed to happen so it was important for us to get out like we did. On the defenseWe bent, we bent and we bent and then we did something to stop them and create turnovers. Good teams do that.Morehead State Head Coach Matt Ballard:So close but yet so far away has never been so true as it was tonight. I want to give credit where credit is due and that is to Western Illinois. Those guys did a great job out there tonight. They played very solid, both sides of the ball and special teams they didn?t make as many mistakes. I felt like we kind of held our own and stepped up from a physical standpoint and we did some nice things offensively, but we just couldn?t finish it. As long as we could keep it in even downs situations, I was very pleased with the way that we were able to run the ball. We just had a difficult time all night long and it really threw us off. Our guys kept battling. We came up with some nice stops and plays but would take one step forward and two steps back.