Football Falls on the Road at Western Michigan, 44-14
10/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
- Box Score
Kalamazoo, Mich. Western Michigans zone blitz defense recorded five sacks, forced three turnovers, scored two touchdowns and registered a safety in a 44-14 Mid-American Conference victory over the Kent State football team today (Oct. 29) at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo.Freshman Tim Hiller threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns while Trovon Riley added 91 yards rushing and two more scores to pace the Broncos (5-3, 3-2 MAC) offense and lead Western Michigan to its 12th straight win over the Golden Flashes.
The big performance by the Bronco defense, which recorded at least one defensive touchdown for the second week in a row, offset a solid day from Kent State (1-7, 0-5 MAC) sophomore quarterback Michael Machen and junior receivers Marcus Hill and Najah Pruden.
Machen completed 25-of-42 passes for 336 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted twice. Hill and Pruden both recorded 100 yards receiving and combined for 15 catches and 243 yards but it wasnt enough to prevent the Flashes from suffering their sixth straight loss.
Western Michigan opened the scoring on a five-yard run by Riley five minutes into the game, set up by a 43-yard pass to tight end Tony Scheffler.
On the ensuing possession, Kent State drove 77 yards and had a 2nd-and-1 from the two yard line but failed to convert on the next three plays and turned the ball over on downs.
Scheffler had another big catch, this one for 21-yards on 3rd-and-9 to move the Broncos from the shadow of their own goal line. Six plays later, Riley put the Broncos up 14-0 with a 31-yard scamper to cap the 9-play, 97-yard drive.
After an interception by Louis Delmas midway through the second period, Scheffler hauled in a 24-yard scoring strike from Tim Hiller to put the Broncos up 21-0. On the day, Scheffler caught seven passes for 131 yards.
Kent State looked to make a game of it early in the second half, getting two quick scores to close within 21-14. Machen hit Pruden for a 20-yard pass for the Flashes first touchdown. The Flashes then reached into the bag of tricks with senior H-back Derrick Bush throwing a 31-yard pass to freshman Shawn Lewis for his second touchdown throw this season- and the third of his career.
The Bronco defense then turned up the pressure and took over the game. Ameer Ismail came untouched off the corner on a blitz and sacked Machen, jarring the ball loose and Paul Tithof picked up the loose ball and scampered 44 yards for the score.
After Jack Williams interception gave the Flashes the ball inside their own five-yard line, the Western Michigan defense blitzed again and again it was Delmas making a play, sacking Machen in the end zone for a safety.
Then with the score 30-14, Delmas was once again involved in a momentum changing play. Coming on a blitz off the left side, he hit Machen while he was throwing, forcing the ball into the arms of teammate Zach Davidson who returned the interception 31-yard for the score.
Hiller capped the scoring with a 13-yard pass to Greg Jennings with 5:45 remaining in the game.
Hill finished with a game and career-high nine receptions for 118 yards for his first career 100-yard day. Pruden grabbed six passes for 125 yards and the score, his third 100-yard receiving game of the season.
Jerry Flowers rushed for 41 yards to lead Kent State. However, due to the sack yardage, the Flashes were credited with just 1 net yard rushing.
Ismail led all defensive players with 11 tackles, including 4.5 for losses. He also had two of the Broncos five sacks. Delmas finished with 10 stops, one sack, a forced fumble and an interception.
Freshman linebacker Stevon Moss was one of four Kent State players with eight tackles and also intercepted a pass, the first of his career. Senior buck linebacker Justin Parrish made seven tackles and also had a sack for the Flashes, who limited Western Michigan to only 138 total yards on offense in the second half.
For the game, Western Michigan outgained Kent State 407-374.
GAME NOTES: Kent State has not won in Kalamazoo since 1988 (0-6)... WMU leads the all-time series 32-17-1... Pruden and Hill became the first Kent State duo to record 100 yards receiving in the same game since 1997 (Eugene Baker and Marlon Gates vs. UCF)... the teams were meeting for the first time since 2000... Bush is now 5-fo-6 passing for 129 yards in his career... Pruden had a 50-yard reception in the first half, the seventh reception of 50 or more yards in his career... tight end Tom Sitko and linebacker Cedrick Maxwell each made their first career start...Sitko, a converted quarterback, made the first receptions of his career and finished with three catches for 22 yards.... Flowers set a career high for attempts with 19... Kent State outgained WMU in total yardage through three quarters (361-309).
