Charleston, Ill- The Leatherneck Football team dropped their matchup against in-state rival Eastern Illinois by one possession on Saturday afternoon, and it came down to the final play of the game.
The offense for WIU started off slow, running only 11 offensive plays and putting up zero points in the first quarter. The Leathernecks would score on their first drive of the second quarter when Nathan Lamb would find Eli Aragon for a 20 yard touchdown tying the score at seven a piece. That would start the back-and-forth battle between the two sides as EIU would kick a field goal on their next possession giving the Panthers a 10-7 lead with 6:47 left to go in the opening half.
On the first play of the next possession for WIU, Christian Anaya would catch a pass from Natahan Lamb for a gain of 28 yards to get the offense clicking. Anaya would have 3 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown on the day for the Leathernecks. WIU would finish off that drive with a fourth and goal touchdown run by Cameren Smith to give the Leathernecks the lead at 14-10.
On the following kickoff, the Panthers would fumble on the return and WIU would recover it inside the red zone, immediately threatening to score again. EIU would force a WIU field goal and the Leathernecks would have a 17-10 lead with 1:01 left in the second quarter. The Panthers would drive the length of the field in 59 seconds and score a touchdown to tie the game at 17-17 going to the half.
The second half would turn into a shoot-out as there would only be two punts in the third and fourth quarters, one by each team. Nathan Lamb would have three total touchdowns in the second half, with one coming on the ground and two coming through the air. Lamb finished the game with 309 pass yards and added eight yards on the ground. The Leathernecks would score on three straight possessions in the second half, with the last score coming on a Nathan Lamb pass to Tristin Duncan from four yards out to cut the Panther lead to 45-38 with 4:05 left in the game.
With the WIU defense desperately needing a stop to give the offense one final chance, the defense for the Leathernecks delivered and forced an Eastern Illinois punt with just under two minutes left in the game. WIU would get all the way down to the EIU 24 yard-line and would have one final chance to tie the game with just two seconds remaining. Nathan Lamb would scramble left and let the ball fly towards the end zone, but EIU would knock the ball down with zeros on the clock. Eastern Illinois would win the game by a score of 45-38.
The Leathernecks totaled 395 yards on offense, with 86 yards coming on the ground. Cameren Smith was the leading rusher for WIU finishing with 66 rushing yards and a touchdown.
WIU will now host Tennessee State next Saturday at Hanson Field. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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