Chippewas Start Fast, Finish Strong in 28-16 Win at Kent State

Wednesday, November 19

Kent, Ohio/Dix Stadium

7:00 PM

Central Michigan University

7-4 , 5-2

Kent State

4-7 , 3-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Central Mich.

Kent St.

Photo by: Lauren Verellen '26 - @laurenverellen_photography

Chippewas Start Fast, Finish Strong in 28-16 Win at Kent State

11/20/2025 1:29:00 AM | Football

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By: Andy Sneddon

KENT, Ohio – Central Michigan's offense delivered early and then late.

It's veteran-laden defense did the job all night long.

Joe Labas threw two touchdown passes and Brock Townsend ran for two scores on Wedensday as the Central Michigan football team posted a 28-16 Mid-American Conference victory over Kent State at the Golden Flashes' chilly Dix Stadium.

The win was CMU's fourth in its last five games as the Chippewas improved to 7-4, 5-2 MAC. It marks CMU's highest win total since it finished 9-4 in 2019 and it kept alive its hopes for a berth in the MAC Championship Game.

"There is no such thing as an ugly win," first-year CMU coach Matt Drinkall said. "It is hard. Like, what we asked of these kids, 11, 12, 13 weeks ago, we were flying across the country, kicking a game off in San Jose at 10:30 p.m., which felt like midnight to us.

"We're back out here (tonight) in the dark with a small crowd, and on TV on a Wednesday night on the road. It's hard to do. Any time you win, it's hard. I can't tell you how excited we are. And watching these kids have a good time and having fun, man, is the most rewarding feeling ever."

The Chippewas are tied for second place in the MAC, one game behind first-place Western Michigan. In order to reach the MAC title game, CMU will need to win its regular season finale on Nov. 29 at home against Toledo and hope for Miami (Ohio) and Ohio to lose their respective games next week.

That, obviously, is a wait-and-see proposition.

That said, the Chippewas are playing their best football and they showed it, particularly on defense, on Wednesday.

CMU never trailed, scoring on its first two possessions for a 14-0 lead and holding the Golden Flashes (4-7, 3-4) to a field goal until the fourth quarter.

Things got interesting when Kent State's Wayne Harris returned a punt 59 yards for a touchdown with 10:38 remaining to cut CMU's lead to 14-9.

The Chippewas stopped the Golden Flashes' two-point conversion try, and then drove 75 yards in 10 plays to up their lead to 21-9 on Townsend's 10-yard TD run with 4:41 to play.

"When they scored to make it a five-point game, none of our kids flinched," Drinkall said. "I mean, it was more like, 'Yeah, now we're in it. We have to do something. We have to answer.'

"The offensive coaches down on the sideline did such a great job of keeping everybody loose, keeping everybody confident. I can't say enough good things about our leadership and our team and the makeup of these guys. It's such an honor to get to go to battle with these guys every week."

CMU's defense again answered the call, stoning Kent State on fourth down at the Golden Flashes' 24-yard line. Three plays later, Labas iced it with a 19-yard TD pass to DeCorion Temple to make it 28-9 with 3:02 left.

Jordan Kwiatkowski spearheaded a strong CMU defense with 14 tackles – one shy of his career high. The senior middle linebacker made 4.5 tackles-for-loss and forced a fumble on the Golden Flashes' second possession of the game. CMU took over at the Kent State 34-yard line and later scored to extend the lead to 14-0.

"As far as the defense, I feel like we've been playing some of our best ball these past few weeks, no doubt, 100 percent for sure," Kwiatkowski said. Defensive coordinator Sean Cronin "and the staff put a great game plan in place every single week, and then we get out there and execute it.

"We fly around, we get hats at the ball, we punch at the ball, and we just have fun."

The Chippewa defense forced a turnover for the 11^th consecutive game and recorded 11 tackles-for-loss including four sacks, two by Michael Heldman.

The Chippewas scored on their first drive, marching 75 yards in 18 plays and milking 10:53 from the clock – the longest drive in terms of time of possession in program history. Labas tossed a 1-yard TD pass to Tommy McIntosh for a 7-0 lead.

"For us to be able to play with a two-score lead throughout the second and third quarters was an enormous advantage throughout the course of the game and, again, the defense -- we have been leaning on (it) the entire season," Drinkall said.