Ground Game Carries Football Past Eastern Michigan

Saturday, September 26

Ypsilanti, Mich.

6 PM ET

Army West Point

1-3

Eastern Michigan

1-3 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Army West Point

Eastern Michigan

Ground Game Carries Football Past Eastern Michigan

September 26, 2015 | Football

Box Score

YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Army West Point football team racked up 556 yards on the ground en route to a 58-36 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday evening at Rynearson Stadium. Six players ran for at least 60 yards in the Black Knights' first win of the season.

Army dominated the time of possession statistic by holding the ball for 41:11. Fullback Aaron Kemper led the rushing attack with a career-best 140-yard performance, plus a touchdown. Matt Giachinta contributed 95, Joe Walker ran for 86 and a touchdown and John Trainor added 69 yards and a score. Quarterback A.J. Schurr had two touchdowns and compiled 67 yards rushing, while freshman Drue Harris also crossed the goal line twice to go along with his 60 yards.

Linebacker Jeremy Timpf led the defense with eight solo tackles and forced a fumble. Rhyan England, Andrew King and Xavier Moss each contributed seven tackles and Moss added an interception. England also recovered a fumble for the Black Knights.

The Army defense forced a three-and-out on the game's first drive and the Black Knights took over at their own 29-yard line. Facing a third down and two, a pitch to Walker on the right sideline picked up the first down and more. Walker cut the run back inside and raced 63 yards for the opening score. Army successfully executed a two-point conversion as Kelvin White threw to Connor Farley in the end zone to quickly make it 8-0.

Another punt after three plays put Army's offense back on the field, but starting quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw's pitch intended for Jordan Asberry was batted down by Anthony Brown and recovered by the Eagles at the Army 21-yard line. Eastern Michigan was unable to pick up a first down and settled for a 43-yard field goal by Dylan Mulder.

Leading 8-3, Army marched down the field with a 13-play, 77-yard touchdown drive. It featured 19 rushing yards by Aaron Kemper, an 18-yard third-down completion from Bradshaw to DeAndre Bell for a first down and a personal foul penalty on the defense that kept the chains moving. Bradshaw went back to the air and hit Edgar Poe across the middle for a 10-yard strike on third-and-goal to cap the drive. Army led 15-3 at the end of the first quarter following Grochowski's extra point.

Eastern Michigan's Darius Jackson scampered 53 yards on the first play of the second quarter before being pushed out of bounds at the Army one-yard line. The Eagles handed off to Jackson up the middle on first-and-goal, but he was popped by Scott Washle and Timpf and fumbled the ball into the end zone. The loose ball was recovered by England and Army took over at its 20.

The Black Knights moved out to their 44 before Kemper ripped off a 56-yard touchdown run up the gut to increase the lead to 22-3.

Eastern Michigan responded with a touchdown drive of its own to trim the deficit to 22-10. EMU quarterback Brogan Roback was 6-for-6 on the possession and connected with Kris Strange for a 23-yard score on third-and-7.

Each team added a touchdown before the half to push the halftime score to 29-17 in favor of the visitors. Army's score came on a five-yard burst by Trainor after a fake punt was snapped to Giachinta for a 34-yard pickup down to the Eagles' 23-yard line. Eastern Michigan scored on a 15-yard run by Jackson after converting a fourth-and-2 the play before.

Army had the ball to start the second half and Schurr drove the Black Knights into the red zone. A 13-yard quick screen to Trainor moved the ball out near midfield before Kemper broke off another long gain of 41 yards to set up a first-and-goal. A personal foul penalty called on the Black Knights moved them back 15 yards, and on third down, a tipped pass was intercepted in the end zone by Jason Beck.

Roback fired to Eddie Daugherty along the left sideline for a gain of 29 yards on second down, before Xavier Moss made his first-career interception on the next play. Roback threw down the middle into double-coverage and Moss returned it 21 yards to the Army 47.

Facing a second-and-21 after penalties by each team slowed the drive, Schurr's play-action helped Bell go for 49 yards. Two plays later, Schurr punched in a one-yard rush and Army led 36-17 with 6:47 to play in the third quarter.

Eastern Michigan quickly answered with a 75-yard drive that ended with a 45-yard touchdown toss from Roback to Daugherty. The Eagles went for two and were unsuccessful on the conversion, but took advantage of an Army fumble on the ensuing possession. Giachinta was stripped on second down and Jackson went 27 yards up the middle to make it a one-possession game. Army led 36-30 with four minutes on the third-quarter clock.

Army refused to let the momentum shift affect its play and strung together an impressive 11-play, 86-yard drive that culminated with a Harris' first-career TD run. The Black Knights kept the ball on the ground the entire drive and converted a critical fourth-and-1 from their own 40 with a seven-yard keeper by Schurr. Later in the drive, Trainor ran for 30 yards before Harris sprinted into the end zone from 10 yards out.

After forcing EMU to punt, the Black Knights sealed the victory with another long drive. Schurr and company went 86 yards in 14 plays and ate up 8:44 of game time. Schurr added to his rushing total with 33 yards and scored his second touchdown with an 8-yard dash to run the score to 51-30.

The Eagles turned the ball over on downs with 2:02 left and Harris scored his second touchdown of the night on Army's first snap. The 27-yard run punctuated the scoring for Army before Eastern Michigan's late touchdown made it 58-36.

The Black Knights travel to University Park, Pa., next Saturday for a noon kickoff against Penn State at Beaver Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPNU.