​Saturday Stinger: Western Michigan holds on for victory in 80-point shootout


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Greg Cornwell | Staff Photographer Junior running back Jahray Hayes scores on a 15-yard run in the fourth quarter against Western Michigan at Waldo Stadium Saturday. The Chippewas lost to the Broncos in the highest scoring game in the Central-Western rivalry, 41-39.

In a battle where Western Michigan’s cannon fired like clockwork and the Central Michigan football team shot itself in the foot, it was a cool, methodical drive that disarmed CMU’s fourth-quarter comeback.

The Chippewas struggled to slow the Bronco rushing attack with the loss of junior linebacker Nathan Ricketts due to a first-quarter targeting ejection and senior linebacker Tim Hamilton due to what Head Coach John Bonamego said was a stinger in the shoulder area.

The reigning Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, Jarvion Franklin, was explosive for the Broncos. He had 127 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in WMU’s 41-39 victory.

“(We’re) down two starting linebackers and they’re running the football,” Bonamego said. “That’s what they should do. I would try to do the same thing.”

Following three Chippewa touchdowns in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, Franklin’s 33 rushing yards on the final drive helped the Broncos ice the remaining 8:24.

On fourth-and-2 from the CMU 8-yard line with 1:47 to play, a pass to wide receiver Corey Davis on the 1-yard line sealed it for Western Michigan.

“When they were taking as long as they did on the timeout, I had somewhat of an idea that they were going (for it),” said senior defensive end Blake Serpa. “(Davis) went up and he had a good catch. Josh (Cox) was where he was supposed to be. It sucks for him because he’s going to hold that on himself and it’s not on him.”

WMU has won four out of the last five seasons in the rivalry game following CMU’s five straight wins from 2006-2010.

Serpa, who had one tackle for loss and played a large role in CMU’s second-quarter safety, put the loss “solely on the defense.”

“It stings a lot because I’ll never get a chance to play them again,” Serpa said. “I hope that the underclassmen never get this feeling the rest of the time that they’re here. It’s a tough loss.”

Bonamego is the first CMU head coach to lose his first game against Western Michigan since Roy Kramer in 1969.

Penalties and turnovers burned the Chippewas early, particularly in the first quarter when they had four penalties for 37 yards and two turnovers.

“(It felt like) we had more penalties today than we had maybe in the first five games total,” Bonamego said. “It was ridiculous.”

Besides an early interception and a pick on a two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game at 34, junior quarterback Cooper Rush was in control Saturday.

The Charlotte native was 23-for-32 with 321 yards passing and four touchdowns. He also had five carries for 39 yards, including two drive-saving fourth-quarter runs in Bronco territory.

“It’s a gut-check game,” Bonamego said. “It’s a rivalry game. There was no quit on the sideline. I thought we took the momentum in the second half and I thought we were rolling pretty good.”

Rush said he anticipated getting a shot to win the game at the end of the fourth quarter. He called Saturday’s loss the toughest of the season.

“(This is the) worst one. Definitely the worst one,” he said. “MAC game. Rivalry game. You know, we’ve got to bounce back. There’s a lot of football left. We’re looking forward to next week.”

The Chippewas fall to 2-4 and 1-1 in the Mid-American Conference. They host Buffalo (2-3, 0-1 MAC) at Kelly/Shorts Stadium next Saturday at 1 p.m., looking to get the bad taste out of their mouths.

“We’ll see what kind of football team we are (next week),” Bonamego said. “We’ll see what our character is. We’ll find out.”

Toledo sits atop the MAC West at 2-0 with Western Michigan right behind at 1-0, but Rush and Serpa both said the Chippewas aren’t out of it yet.

“I don’t think anybody in the West is going to be going undefeated,” Serpa said. “We just have to keep doing our thing and keep rolling week to week and get out there tomorrow and correct what we did wrong.”

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About Taylor DesOrmeau

Taylor DesOrmeau is a senior at Central Michigan University, majoring in integrative public relations ...

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