RADNOR, Pa,— Before Eastern University Football's final home game of the season, the program honored its first senior class. Less than three hours later, some of those same seniors were dumping Gatorade on Head Coach Billy Crocker to celebrate a 28-7 win over FDU-Florham and a berth in this year's NCAA Tournament as the MAC Champion.

"To say this was a big win for our program is an understatement," Crocker said after the game. "I am so incredibly proud of our players and coaches. To get a win of this magnitude on senior day was very special. To win at-least a piece of the MAC Championship in our third varsity season is surreal.  It is beyond our wildest dreams, but this group of upperclassmen bought in and committed to what we have built here."

Of the 29 seniors honored before the game. Nearly all of them were at Eastern in what Crocker and Associate Head Coach Nathan Hinkle refer to as 'year-zero.' After Crocker was hired in December of 2021, the Eagles played a club schedule in 2022. A second class bought in for a 2-8 season in 2023. The Eagles played their home games at Franklin Field for that season. After a 1-4 start last year, the Eagles won four of five down the stretch to finish 5-5. The win today puts Eastern over .500 for the first time in program history. 

The Eagles (8-1, 7-1) secured at least a share of the title when Delaware Valley beat Misericordia 51-20 to hand the only other one-loss team in the league a second loss. The Eagles have the head-to-head tie breaker over all three two-loss teams in the league but will need to win at Stevenson next week to claim sole possession of the league championship in the team's third season of varsity competition.

Jeremiah Avrilien scored twice on the ground and caught a touchdown and picked up his fifth 100-yard game of the year. Brett Nabb ran for 193 yards and threw for 109 yards and two touchdowns to lead the efficient Eastern offense. While the Eagles posted their fourth 300-yard rushing game of the year, the Eastern defense was impressive all day. The Devils (0-9, 0-8) finished with only 126 yards. With FDU unable to run the ball, the Eastern defense attacked the backfield and finished with seven quarterback sacks and another 13 hurries. Gashawn Moody Sr. had eight tackles, two sacks, three hurries, and a 49-yard interception return. Freddie DiNardo and Salif Nikiema each recorded a pair of sacks.

Eastern scored three touchdowns in the second half to pull away to their fifth-straight win. The Eagles moved the ball and with the exception of a single short-field drive early in the second quarter held the FDU offense in check. Though they out-gained the Devils 223-40 in the first half, the score stood at 7-7 at the intermission. 

Avrilien opened the scoring with a 13-yard run ten minutes into the first quarter. The Devils drove 42-yards on their first series in the second quarter to tie the game. The Devils blocked an Eastern field goal attempt at the horn to keep the score tied. 

After the intermission, the Eagles showed good focus on both sides of the ball. The defense delivered a three-and-out to start the half. And the Eagles went 78 yards in five plays to go up in the game. Nissik Smith ahd an 11-yard catch and Nabb had runs for nine and 31 yards before Avrilien took a swing pass to the end-zone from 24 yards out for his second-career receiving touchdown. With his three scores today, the junior has 16 touchdowns this year. 

After the teams traded empty possessions, the Eagles doubled their lead with a three-play 86-yard drive. Nabb had a 41-yard scamper to start the possession. On the third play, he dropped a long pass behind the FDU defense. Eddie Swinton ran under it for a 41-yard score. His 52nd career catch was ninth for a score. The senior from Chichester has scored a touchdown against the Devils all three times the two programs have met. 

Avrilien's final score came late after the Moody interception. The Eagles had an earlier touchdown called back after an illegal block penalty. 

The Eastern defense has not allowed a passing touchdown since September. Jason Bateman finished with a sack, three quarterback hurries and three pass break-ups. 

Though some players might have heard whispers, the Eastern team did not hear an official update from Dallas until after Avrilien scored late. Though that game was still in the third quarter, the Aggies had a four-score lead, and the Eastern bench and home crowd started to celebrate. 

To avoid sharing the title, Eastern needs to beat Stevenson next weekend or get a pair of helpful results. The Eagles hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over both Misericordia and Delaware Valley and have now locked up a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

For the season, Nabb went over the 1000 yard mark in both passing and rushing. 

The Eagles will play at Stevenson (6-3, 5-3) next week at 1:00 pm.