The Northern Illinois University Huskies built a three touchdown lead midway through the third quarter before holding off a late Eastern Illinois comeback attempt to top the Panthers, 34-27, on Thursday night (Sept. 1) at Huskie Stadium.
NIU had a balanced run/pass attack as Rocky Lombardi (Clive, Iowa/Valley/Michigan State) threw for 192 yards on 14-of-22 passing and the Huskies combined for 187 rushing yards with running backs Mason Blakemore (O’Fallon, Mo./Centralia), Antario Brown (Savannah, Ga./Beach) and Harrison Waylee (Johnston, Iowa/Urbandale) each accounting for one touchdown. Shemar Thornton (Miami, Fla./Hallandale/FIU) had a team-high six catches for 81 yards.
“Eastern Illinois had a nice little plan as far as trying to keep the ball away from us,” said NIU head coach Thomas Hammock. “They did a good job of staying in normal down and distance situations. We have to go back and look at the tape and figure out the things that we can do better. We certainly can play better. We have to figure out how we can stay on the field longer and try to score more points. I’m proud of their resiliency. We found a way to win and we’ll get better, I’m not worried. We make a big jump from week one to week two and we have a lot of work to do.
“The defense was opportunistic in the first half. We turned them over twice. We never had a chance to get them behind the sticks in the second half. They were in second and four, second and five the whole second half and that puts a lot of pressure on the defense.”
NIU scored on the opening possession of the contest as Waylee scored one a one-yard touchdown run to give the Huskies an early lead. Three plays earlier, Waylee went 54 yards around the left side to put NIU within striking distance at the Eastern Illinois two-yard line.
Waylee, who missed the last nine games last season due to injury, finished the game with a team-high 83 yards on 14 carries.
Following an Eastern Illinois field goal, NIU added to its lead on its first possession of the second quarter as Blakemore finished off a drive with a 19-yard touchdown run up the middle. The Huskies went 75 yards in eight plays to take a 14-3 lead.
The Huskie defense then came up with a turnover as Eric Rogers (Burlington, N.J./Burlington Township) intercepted EIU quarterback Jonah O’Brien on the first play of the next drive, giving NIU the ball on the Panther 35-yard line.
Two plays later, Brown raced 35 yards to the end zone for the score to give the Huskies a 21-3 lead with 11:27 to play in the second. Brown gained 70 yards in the contest on 13 carries.
Just before halftime, Eastern Illinois added a 25-yard field goal, cutting the NIU advantage to 21-6 at the break.
NIU scored on its first drive of the second half to extend the lead to 28-6. Lombardi connected with Liam Soraghan (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) for a 13-yard touchdown. The Huskie signal caller was 3-of-3 on the drive for 47 yards.
The Panthers answered with a touchdown as O’Brien hit Jaelin Benefield for a 24-yard touchdown, trimming the NIU lead to 28-13 with 2:43 to play in the third.
After a 43-yard field goal from John Richardson (Orland Park, Ill./Brother Rice) gave NIU an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter. O’Brien completed his second touchdown pass of the night, connecting with Justin Thomas from 13 yards out, as Eastern Illinois cut the NIU lead to 31-20 with just under 10 minutes left to play.
An 11-play, 62-yard Huskie drive ended with a Richardson field goal with 3:39 remaining as the Huskies regained a two-touchdown lead.
Eastern Illinois answered once again as the Panthers needed just 1:29 to go 74 yards in five plays, capped by O’Brien’s third touchdown pass of the night, this time eight yards to Jay Vallie, to bring the visitors within one score.
NIU drove down to the Eastern Illinois 25 and took the clock under a minute, but when the Huskies missed a 43-yard field goal attempt, the Panthers had one final drive, trailing by seven. Eastern Illinois completed five passes and moved across midfield but time expired as NIU claimed the opening night victory.
O’Brien finished the night 25-of-34 passing for 276 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Markenzy Pierre led Eastern Illinois in rushing with 100 yards on 14 carries.
Daveren Rayner (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) made game-high 14 tackles to lead the NIU defense, Jaden Dolphin (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) added nine tackles while C.J. Brown (Canton, Mich./Walled Lake Western) and Kyle Pugh (Chicago Heights, Ill./Bloom Township) each had eight.
NIU will head on the road next Saturday, Sept. 10, as the Huskies travel to Tulsa to meet the Golden Hurricane. Game time is slated for 6 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+. NIU returns home September 17 to face Vanderbilt at 2:30 p.m.