One week after seeing its in-league winning streak snapped at 12 games, Eastern University Football will return to Reading for a chance to rebound. The Eagles (5-2, 5-1) will play an Albright College team that is also looking to bounce back. Though the Lions (3-4, 2-4) have lost 4-of-5, they were in each of the games until last weekend's 34-7 loss at Stevenson. The game will be the 75th Annual Rajah Shrine Pretzel Bowl. The Rajah Shriners support children with a variety of health issues.
With a win over Delaware Valley, the Eagles control their own destiny atop the league, but they lost any margin on their last-second loss at Alvernia last Saturday. An injury-depleted Eastern defense spent much of the game on the field. When the Eastern offense scored just after the two-minute timeout to go up 21-14, the Eastern defense would have to earn stops on all four downs to end the game. The Golden Wolves took advantage of the extra down and drove 75 yards for a score and a two-point conversion to end the game.
Brett Nabb threw for a pair of touchdowns and a season-high 200 yards, but the Eastern running game never really found its edge. The Eagles rushed for 144 yards on 30 carries. The Alvernia offense only rushed for 32 total yards but stayed on the field for nearly 40 minutes by completing short passes and taking advantage of penalties. The Golden Wolves converted all four of their fourth-down attempts in the game while throwing for 307 yards. Alvernia also took advantage of an interception in the end zone in the waning seconds of the first half.
Curtis Johnson caught five passes for a career-best 115 yards and a touchdown.
While the Eagles hope to be healthier this weekend, they will need to reestablish control of the clock and eliminate turnovers. Even after running for only 67 yards last weekend,
Jeremiah Avrilien leads the MAC in rushing by a wide margin. Eastern's senior running back also caught a 39-yard touchdown pass last weekend. He has scored 11 touchdowns this year and has 913 yards rushing. Nabb is second in the league with 703 yards on the ground.
Albright quarterback Chase Roberts has thrown for nearly 1500 yards this year, but he was only 6-of-12 against Stevenson and did not play in the second half. Desai Drummond completed 13-of-18 for 163 yards and a score in relief. The issue for the Lions in Maryland was stopping the run. Stevenson ran for 338 yards and three touchdowns. That number, however, is an outlier. In the other six games in the schedule, the Lions had allowed only one team, Delaware Valley, to rush for over 100 yards. The Aggies gained 106 on the ground.
Eastern's first-half interception at Alvernia was just the third turnover for the Eagles this year. While that number is good, the Eastern defense has struggled to earn takeaways at the rate they achieved last year. They have only four takeaways and only one recovered fumble this year.
Eastern's final imperative for the day will be eliminating the big play. In the loss to Alvernia, the Eagles had two long passing plays for scores, but they also gave up an uncharacteristic number of long passes on late downs.
For the Eagles, their path to a MAC Championship has gained clarity. Each of the three remaining games on their schedule is essentially a tournament game. If they win out, they will return to the NCAA Tournament. Any bobble on the home stretch will leave the door open.
Eastern is 3-0 all-time against Albright, but the Lions led last year's game in the fourth quarter before the Eagles scored and converted a two-point conversion to win 17-10.
Kickoff at Shirk stadium is scheduled for noon.
