Football Notebook: 'It Was Just Great Energy'

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- A win is a win. But some just feel bigger than others.

How big was Central Michigan's 24-13 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday on Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium?

That depends largely on what happens down the road. The Chippewas are 3-2, 1-0 Mid-American Conference. And any football coach worth his salt will be quick to state that one win does not a championship contender make.

Still, Saturday's victory, and how it came about, can't be understated.

Starting with an energized crowd of 28,605, the ninth largest in stadium history. Chamber-of-commerce weather, the celebration and introduction of the Marcy Weston CMU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025, and a relatively easy win a week ago in the home opener certainly didn't hurt.

But there is also a vibe around CMU and its football team under first-year coach Matt Drinkall, who gushed about the turnout in his postgame press conference.

The players did too.

"It's just amazing to see our fans come and cheer us on – it was just great energy," said redshirt senior defensive end Michael Heldman, who was credited with 1 ½ sacks and a quarterback hurry, the program-record 21^st of his career. "When fans watch this, I want them to understand that they play a huge role when it comes to this team and when it comes to helping us with momentum.

"Cheers to them for cheering their butts off and giving us the energy to go out there and go win. We had a lot of great voices and a lot of great energy and I'm very excited.

"This is a new team, and they can expect more wins, and they can expect better football."

Double Trouble
The Chippewas again utilized the one-two punch of quarterbacks Joe Labas and Angel Flores.

Flores led CMU with a career-high 134 rushing yards and Labas was nearly perfect, completing 14 of his 16 pass attempts for 138 yards and a touchdown. Flores completed one pass (on two attempts) for a TD.

The effectiveness of both was on full display in the fourth quarter when Eastern cut the Chippewas' lead to 21-13.

But first came the defensive play of the game when defensive back Maddix Blackwell, a senior transfer from Indiana State, intercepted an EMU pass at the CMU 24-yard line.

A run play netted the Chippewas 5 yards and then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Labas found Tommy McIntosh for a 12-yard gain and a first down to the CMU 41.

Flores took over from there, engineering a drive that took CMU all the way to the Eastern 4 where Cade Graham kicked a 22-yard field goal to up the lead to 24-13 and effectively end Eastern's comeback hopes.

When the dust settled, the Chippewas used 7:59 of game time and had gone 72 yards in 14 plays, 13 of them on the ground. Flores carried six times for 40 yards in the drive.

"Angel is such a dynamic kid," Drinkall said. "When he comes in it's not like it's a running offense. It's the same offense with a different flavor to it. He is so smart and athletic. Having him and Joe are like having extra coaches out on the field."

Incredibly Efficient
In the Chippewas' last two games, Labas has completed a remarkable 86.6 percent of his passes (26 of 30) for 379 yards and four TDs with zero interceptions. On the year, he has completed 74.2 percent of his passes (46 of 62) for 560 yards and five TDs with just one interception.

Combined, Labas and Flores have completed 60 of 83 (72.2 percent) for 677 yards and seven TDs with one interception.

Run Game
The Chippewas rushed for a 305 yards and averaged 6 yards per attempt. Both numbers are season bests.

Nahree Biggins carried 14 times for a career-high 113 yards and a TD. It was his second 100-yard game after he had 102 in the season opener at San Jose State.

With Biggins and Flores both surpassing the century mark, it's the first time CMU has had two 100-yard rushers in a game since Northern Illinois on Oct. 31, 2023 when Marion Lukes (21-202) and Jase Bauer (20-106) accomplished that feat.

Eastern entered the game having allowed an average of 272.2 rushing yards per game, ranking last among 134^th among the 136 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

Total Yards
The Chippewas finished with 445 yards in total offense, their second highest of the season after the 506 they posted against Wagner.

Big Day for Biggins
Biggins, a redshirt senior who moved to running back after spending his first three seasons at CMU as a defensive back, finished with 154 all-purpose yards, including 23 on three receptions and 18 on one kickoff return.

Top Receiver
Wide receiver Langston Lewis led the Chippewa receivers with a career-high seven catches for 45 yards and a TD. The 45 yards matches his career high.

Graham's Streak
Graham's streak of successful field goals ended when he missed from 36 yards with 4 seconds remaining in the first half.

He bounced back with his critical 22-yarder in the fourth quarter that give the Chippewas a two-score lead.

Graham, a redshirt senior from Caledonia, has made 6 of his 8 attempts on the year.

Fast Start
The Chippewas scored on their first three possessions in building a 21-3 lead less than five minutes into the second quarter.

Last week against Wagner, the Chippewas led 14-0 less than seven minutes into the game and eventually won, 49-10.

Defense
The Chippewa defense surrendered 298 yards to the Eagles. EMU quarterback Noah Kim, who started five games at Michigan State in 2023, threw for 175 yards on 17-of-28 passing with no touchdowns and one interception.

Linebacker Dakota Cochran led CMU's defense with eight tackles, while Elijah Gordon and Caleb Spann made seven stops apiece.

Blackwell's interception was his first as a Chippewa. He made four in four seasons as Indiana State, where he twice earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors.

Takeaways
Blackwell's interception was the CMU defense's eighth takeaway of the season. The Chippewas recorded five during the entire 2024 season.

Michigan MAC Trophy
The Chippewas took the first step in claiming the Michigan MAC Trophy for the first time since 2021 with the win over the Eagles.

They can recapture the hardware with a win at Western Michigan on Nov. 1.

The trophy goes to the Michigan-based MAC school with the best head-to-head record between the three institutions. Last year, all three finished 1-1 in the series with the Chippewas beating Western and losing to Eastern, and Eastern beating CMU and falling to Western.

The Series
Saturday's game marked the 103^rd meeting between CMU and EMU and it stands as the most between current members of the 13-team league. They first met in 1902 and Saturday's game marked the 54^th consecutive years that the two schools have gone head to head.

The schools have split their last four meetings – EMU won, 38-34, a year ago in Ypsilanti – and the Chippewas hold a 65-32-6 edge. CMU has won seven straight against the Eagles in Mount Pleasant.

Next
The Chippewas go to Akron on Saturday, Oct. 4 for a MAC game. The Zips are 1-4, 0-1 after falling at Toledo, 45-3, in their MAC opener on Saturday.

CMU is 19-10-1 all-time against Akron and has won the last three meetings and 10 of the last 11.

Players Mentioned

Nahree Biggins

Maddix Blackwell

Dakota Cochran

Angel Flores

Elijah Gordon

Cade Graham

Michael Heldman

Joe Labas

Langston Lewis

Marion Lukes

Tommy McIntosh

Caleb Spann

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