Western Michigan outlasts late Central Michigan rally, retain Victory Cannon in 21-14 win

The Western Michigan Broncos (5-2, 3-0 MAC) had a point to prove in Mt. Pleasant on Saturday afternoon, grinding rival Central Michigan (3-4, 1-2 MAC) into the ground early with their stout run game and putting up enough defense to endure a late Chippewa rally at the end, keeping the Victory Cannon by a final score of 21-14.

The first tipping point of the game came nine plays into Central's first offensive drive, when the Chippewas faced fourth-and-two from the WMU 38-yard line. Angel Flores took the ball and ran up the middle, stopped short by a yard for a turnover-on-downs. Jalen Buckley would prop up the Bronco offense on the responding drive, collecting 59 yards on seven runs and capping it off with a nine-yard touchdown run to open the scoring account at 7-0 with 3:08 to go first quarter.

The Broncos defense would force a Central punt early in the second quarter, then roll down the field on a 13-play, 89-yard drive lasting over seven minutes before Western made a bold fourth-down call of their own from the Central Michigan 10-yard line. Needing a yard, Broc Lowry took the snap, faked the run, waited for the defense to take the bait and then reared back, firing a wide-open pass to tight end Nathan Levicki to double up the WMU lead at 14-0 with 6:32 to go in the first half.

The Chippewas would finally get a chance to stretch their legs on a 12-yard drive of their own, but an incompletion on third-and-five from the WMU 28-yard line forced CMU to attempt a field goal– missed short and to the right by Caden VanHuis with under two minutes remaining.

Western didn't score on the possession, but did carry the 14-0 lead into the halftime break and eventually forced CMU into a three-and-out on the first drive of the second half.

The Broncos went back to Ol' Reliable upon possessing the ball, running on 12 of 14 plays of the ensuing drive, allowing Buckley to cross the goal line for his second touchdown of the afternoon from seven yards out after accumulating 39 yards on the drive to put Western up by what felt like an insurmountable 21-0 lead with 5:51 remaining in the third quarter. (Centrals' next drive being a turnover-on-downs did not help the feeling.)

But the Chippewas weren't out of it yet, finding their stride in the fourth quarter.

Central QB Angel Flores uncorked a 32-yard rainbow into the hands of tight end Jaden Allen two minutes into the fourth quarter to get CMU on the board at 21-7 with 13:58 remaining, then forced a three-and-out and a fumble on special teams on back-to-back Bronco possessions to stymie Western's ability to add points.

The efforts looked for naught after the recovered punt fumble for CMU, as Flores' four-yard pass to Allen on fourth-and-five turned the ball back over to the Broncos– but the Chippewa defense jumped to life, forcing a three-and-out with zero yards gained, using all three timeouts to preserve clock.

With 4:15 remaining, Central would get at least one more bite at the apple.

Angel Flores would convert two fourth-down plays using his legs before being escorted off the field due to a potential head injury on a targeting penalty, putting backup quarterback Jadyn Glasser into relief duty on first-and-goal from the WMU seven-yard line.

After a roller-coaster series of penalties on both Central and Western moved the ball back-and-forth, Glasser would call his own number on a power run up the middle to score a two-yard touchdown and get CMU to 21-14 with 44 seconds remaining, ending an impressive 15-play, 67-yard drive.

With no timeouts left, Central had to onside kick if they had any hope of retaining possession– and retain possession they did, as Brett McCalla caught the ball off the bounce past the 10-yard minimum, giving CMU the ball at Western's 48-yard line.

A first-down holding penalty on Martin Koivisto would impact the game-deciding drive, as Glasser's last-ditch pass into the endzone would ultimately be intercepted by Daeh McCullough as time expired.

Turnovers-on-down were ultimately a major factor in the contest; Central finished 3-of-7 on fourth-down attempts, hampering their efforts at a win despite retaining the ball over a longer period of time and outgaining the Broncos by a margin of 337-272 total yards.

Western also won on the leverage downs, going 7-of-13 on third-down (compared to CMU's 4-of-15) and 2-of-2 on fourth-down (including a touchdown), allowing them to put distance on Central throughout the game.

Western's offensive output was not high in volume, but was effective when necessary, as Jalen Buckley starred with 24 carries for 160 rushing yards and two touchdowns to push the Broncos past Central. Ofa Mafaele also saw good run, with 60 yards on 13 carries as the spell back.

Broc Lowry finished 5-of-8 with 48 yards and a passing score. Aveion Chenault had 34 of the team's 48 receiving yards on two catches.

Defensively, Justyce Betts led the Broncos with a dozen total tackles, while Scoop Gardner Jr. barrelled past the Central offensive line for three tackles-for-loss and two sacks on his own. Domanick Moon forced a fumble for WMU, while Josh Franklin had two pass break-ups from the corner spot.

For Central, Angel Flores led the rushing attack once again with 31 carries for 117 yards while also accumulating 162 passing yards and a touchdown on 14-of-25 passing. Jadyn Glasser replaced Flores on the final two drives of the game, going 2-of-7 for 17 yards and the game-ending pick in a high-pressure, predictable game state.

Wide receiver Langston Lewis (74 yards) and tight end Jaden Allen (56 yards, touchdown) shared the lead in receptions. Lewis' yardage was a career-high, while Allen's score was the first of his Chippewa career.

Linebackers Xavier White (11) and Mayson Hitchens (10) both hit double-digits in tackles, with a half-TFL each. Safety Justin Taylor had another great game, with a career-high 1.5 TFLs. Defensive end JJ Douglas and cornerback Jaion Jackson each had a career-high nine tackles on the afternoon.

Central Michigan prepares to host the Miami RedHawks, while Western Michigan heads to Toledo for a pivotal tilt with the Rockets. Both games are scheduled for next Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern.