CMU football soars past Eagles, captures trophy

With 12:06 remaining in the second quarter at Ford Field, Central Michigan football faced a fourth down, with four yards to go.

Quarterback Jadyn Glasser threw the ball to running back Nick Woodford, who shook off multiple Eastern Michigan defenders for an 18-yard gain.

The rest of the drive was all Woodford, who finished the sequence with an 11-yard touchdown to put the Chippewas up 14-0, capping off a drive that would be emblematic of the rest of the game as CMU won 35-7.

“Nick is just one of those guys, him and Jayden Clerveaux, just the more touches they get in traffic, they are just really productive players,” head coach Matt Drinkall said. “Nick is just sneaky because he is not, like, flashy in any one thing, he kind of reminds me of Maurice Jones-Drew a little bit. He is not like a burst guy, he is not super big, he is not super little, he is maybe the most humble kid on the whole team and he just shows up and he works.”

The Chippewas advance to 4-5 on the season and 2-3 in Mid-American Conference play.

“We went 1-0 today and now it is back to 0-0,” Drinkall said.

With the win, Central Michigan is the first recipient of a new rivalry trophy that will be shared between CMU and EMU, a trophy that Drinkall did not even realize he would be taking home until the game was nearly over.

“I found out about the trophy part-way through the fourth quarter and it was pointed out to me in the corner so we had our two captains run over there and grab it,” Drinkall said. “We are going to come up with a name or something to call it, but it looks awesome.”

The trophy coming to Mount Pleasant seemed to never be in doubt, as the Chippewas jumped out to an early lead on its first drive after a long pass from Glasser to Justin Ruffin Jr. set up an eight yard touchdown pass to Nasir Williams.

Glasser finished 14 of 19 through the air with 175 passing yards and one touchdown.

“It is like the old coaching saying, where you make your biggest progress is from week one to week two,” Drinkall said. “Well that’s Jadyn’s second game, that was our offense with Jadyn week one to week two.”

Nick Woodford found a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second quarter, with the second coming after an interception from Jaion Jackson. Woodford finished with three touchdowns and 123 rushing yards on 21 attempts.

“It felt very good,” Woodford said. “The offensive line was efficient, and when they’re efficient, they cant be stopped at all. We preach about being consistent and leverage and just understanding the concept of what we are trying to get done.”

The defense held strong for the Chippewas, not allowing a single first down until under the two-minute warning. CMU led 21-0 at halftime.

Central Michigan’s dominance continued into the third quarter as the Eagles were unable to move the ball after halftime, allowing CMU to put together a lengthy drive for another touchdown.

On second and eight from Eastern Michigan’s 13-yard line, Glasser handed the ball to Woodford who bounced it to the outside. Glasser sprinted in front of his running back, acting as the lead blocker, and hit the defensive back causing Ford Field to erupt as Woodford was tracked down at the one yard line.

“I am not going to lie, before the play I told Nick, I said I am going to hit that guy,” Glasser said.

“That block sounded like a car accident,” Drinkall said. “I told him I might find a picture of that and frame it for my office.”

Woodford punched in his third touchdown of the night just one play later.

Running back Vaughn Blue found the end zone in the fourth quarter to make the score 35-0.

It seemed like CMU was poised for its first shutout against a MAC opponent since 1996, but with under four minutes to play, Eastern Michigan was determined to put points on the board.

The Eagles scored with 10 seconds remaining in the game, to make the final score 35-7.

“We wanted the shutout, but the win is more important,” Drinkall said.

Central Michigan will return to Mount Pleasant to take on Sacramento State on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m.