Chippewas rout EMU, 52-14, to even MAC record

By Anthony Fenech, Senior Reporter || September 18, 2010

YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Central Michigan Chippewas used an impressive rushing attack Saturday to defeat Eastern Michigan, 52-14, at Rynearson Stadium.

CMU was led by junior running back Paris Cotton, who rushed for a career-high 209 yards on 21 carries, scoring three times.

The Chippewas (2-1, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) didn’t appear to be tested, racking up 523 yards of total offense against EMU, who has now lost 15 consecutive games.

“We really challenged our players this week,” said head coach Dan Enos. “And they responded by playing well.”

Picking up where they left off last week against Temple, the sophomore combination of quarterback Ryan Radcliff and Cody Wilson connected for a 21-yard touchdown late in the first quarter and the Chippewas never looked back.

Cotton added a 13-yard touchdown run

three minutes later, after a long pass play from Radcliff to Wilson put CMU in the red zone.

Wilson caught three passes for 100 yards on the day, all in the first half, and Radcliff completed 15-of-23 passes for 254 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“It was nice to air it out a little bit,” Radcliff said.

Cotton put an exclamation point on the victory just 1:30 into the second half, breaking a 61-yard touchdown run down the right sidelines to give CMU a healthy 21-point lead.

“The thing about Paris,” Enos said, “Is that’s how he practices. Full speed, all the time. It doesn’t surprise anybody on our staff.”

Eastern Michigan (0-3, 0-2 MAC) was unable to muster any offense the rest of the way, save a 52-yard touchdown pass from Alex Gillett to Donald Scott halfway through the third quarter.

The offense responded to EMU’s long touchdown strike with an air strike of their own four minutes later on a 14-yard pass from Radcliff to senior wide receiver Kito Poblah.

Poblah recorded four catches for 55 yards. The touchdown was his first of the season.

Continuing an early-season trend, the Chippewas defense put the clamp on its opponent and made plays, forcing two Eagles fumbles, including a Mike Petrucci fumble recovery of 43 yards that resulted in a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

“I can’t say enough about them,” Enos said. “Our defense hung in there and we were able to get after them.”

In his first game back following a two-game suspension, redshirt freshman running back Zurlon Tipton rushed for 54 yards on 11 carries.

Tipton scored on a 20-yard rush in the fourth quarter.

“We thought we came back from our disappointing loss well,” Enos said.