KALAMAZOO,
MI (8-29-2002)— Early Sycamore miscues led to an
early 17-0 Western Michigan lead Thursday night before the Broncos raced to a
48-17 victory over Indiana State in the season opening game for both squads.
KALAMAZOO,
MI (8-29-2002)— Early Sycamore miscues led to an
early 17-0 Western Michigan lead Thursday night before the Broncos raced to a
48-17 victory over Indiana State in the season opening game for both squads.
After driving the ball into Bronco territory on the first drive of the contest, Sycamore quarterback Julian Reese had a ball batted into the air and fell into the arms of WMU safety Jason Feldpaush, who returned the ball to the ISU 30 yard line. Six plays later, John Drock hit Antonio Thomas on an 11 yard pass for a 7-0 WMU lead.
After an ISU fumble on the next possession, the Sycamore defense stood tall after the Broncos moved the ball to the three yard line, as Western Michigan had to settle for a Messinger 19-yard field goal with 4:46 left in the first quarter.
On the Sycamores next series, a fourth down Indiana State punt attempt was blocked and recovered by Western Michigan at the ISU six yard line. Three plays later, Munson hit Anthony Kider to take a 17-0 lead with 1:35 left in the first quarter.
In the 2nd quarter, the Sycamore defense again held the Broncos in check until the 3:58 mark. That's when Bronco QB Chad Munson connected on a TD pass to Jermaine Lewis from 59 yards out to give the Broncos a 24-0 halftime lead.
To open the second half, the Broncos sustained their longest drive of the night, a 10-play, 71-yard drive that took 4:12 off the clock and ended on a Messinger 28-yard field goal to give Western Michigan a 27-0 lead. Munson went on to throw another touchdown with 2:01 left in the third quarter to give WMU a 34-0 lead.
Indiana State’s Soso Dede took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to get the Sycamores on the board, 34-7. It was the Sycamores' first kickoff return for a touchdown since Matt Nelson pulled the feat against Western Kentucky in 1998.
The fourth quarter opened with Dede breaking a 29-yard run to set up Damien Cunningham’s one-yard TD plunge to pull ISU within 34-14. The touchdown was the redshirt-junior’s first as a Sycamore.
After a pair of Bronco touchdowns in the fourth quarter stretched the WMU lead to 48-14, ISU placekicker Mike Megyesi connected on a 36-yard field goal to close out the scoring with ISU taking a 48-17 defeat.
In the contest Reese was 7-12 with one interception, while he rushed 14 times for 50 yards. Dede carried the ball 10 times for 42 yards in the contest while Jake Shields ran the ball four times for 31 yards and Cunningham carried the ball eight times and scored a touchdown.
Receiving Ryan King nabbed two balls for 12 yards and Kevin Dean had one catch of 12 yards before leaving the contest with a neck strain on the first series of the game for ISU.
“This is a better football team than we had two years ago, this is a better football team that we had a year ago,” head coach Tim McGuire said. “We had a kickoff return for touchdown. Offensively we had good field position, but we failed to capitalize. We had three turnovers in their territory, and we just can not do that.”
The Sycamores open the home schedule against Cumberland (Tenn.) on September 7 at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.