Central Michigan sends off its seniors in the best way possible

When the time comes for someone to make the big play in crunch time, Central Michigan (8-4, 6-2 MAC) can always rely on its wide receiver Corey Willis.

It was just three weeks ago when the senior caught the game-winning touchdown pass from graduate transfer quarterback Shane Morris late in the fourth quarter to beat in-state rival Western Michigan.

And on the day after Thanksgiving, the All-MAC playmaker did it again, this time in front of the home crowd at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

"I told the guys before that I was going to get open and they just had to protect," Willis said.

Willis, who came into Friday's matinee tied for third most career touchdown grabs by a CMU receiver with Antonio Brown, made history with 1:32 left before regulation.

On a post corner route with the Chippewas facing a fourth down situation, Morris connected with Willis for the 29-yard reception to ice the game, knocking off Northern Illinois (8-4, 6-2) for the fourth consecutive year.

Tied for second place in the MAC West Division, CMU ends its league schedule with five straight wins, the first time that's happened in the regular-season since 2009.

"Great finish to the ball game," CMU coach John Bonamego said. "The team did a great job in buying into the message and making the adjustments."

The 31-24 score would be a tale of two halves with the first being rather forgettable.

In what would be the second pass thrown by Morris gave way to an interception returned for a score by linebacker Jawaun Johnson. It marked the second time in three games that the opening possession for Central Michigan resulted in an opponent touchdown.

Morris later was escorted into the locker room due to injury for one series, leaving redshirt freshman Tony Poljan to receive a larger amount of repetitions at quarterback than usual.

"(Tony) is an ultimate competitor so I love playing with him," Willis said. "I played with him the whole spring so that's one thing that I always knew that he was going to come in and compete. I feel like next year is going to be Tony Poljan's team."

Morris returned to finish the game's entirety but ended up being sack three times by the Northern Illinois defense and hit three more times after the ball was thrown.

After a 29-yard punt by junior Jack Shelton, the Huskies scored on nine plays, ending with a freshman Marcus Childers connection to receiver D.J. Brown from four-yards out.

Childers, the freshman dual-threat, went 20-of-36 passing for 128 yards, rushing for 35 yards on 12 attempts. Senior running back Jordan Huff, who went down to injury last week against Western Michigan, started and averaged over four yards a carry, going for 52 yards.

Freshman Tre Harbison took credit for the game-tying touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, busting his way through the Central Michigan secondary for 12 yards.

"In the first half, (NIU) dominated us," Ostman said. "We prepared for them the last 10 days and they were doing exactly what we expected, we just needed to execute better."

CMU failed to convert on third down in the first 30 minutes, failing on each of its nine attempts. A response was needed and it came from the upperclassmen on senior day.

It began on each of the three drives in the third quarter, all ending in a score, with receiver Mark Chapman starting things off with a 56-yard touchdown reception less than three minutes into the half.

Chapman finished with a game-high 74 yards. Willis had six catches for 68 yards and redshirt senior Eric Cooper added 58 yards on five grabs.

Cooper, whose 40-yard reception helped set up the game-winning touchdown by Willis, had the honors of wearing the No. 21 jersey in honor of the late-Derrick Nash.

"I said before the game like, 'man Eric Cooper is a great player and not to mention that he's got number on him' so anything can happen," Willis said. "(Cooper) definitely had a game to remember and I think anyone who wears that number has those type of games."

Sophomore Jonathan Ward was responsible for two of the touchdowns in the second half. Recording just five yards on the ground beforehand, the running back took off for 52 yards but was stopped within the 10-yard line.

Morris had two incompletions immediately afterwards, settling on a 23-yard field goal from Michigan Armstrong to make it a one possession game. Armstrong, the transfer from Southern Methodist, hadn't converted a kick since Oct. 14 against Toledo.

Morris got his second of three touchdown passes with 1:19 left in the third, finding Ward from four-yards out, ending his regular-season career at Central Michigan with 26 scoring passes and 2,908 yards through the air.

Ward eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark for the third time in four games, also getting his seventh touchdown run during this five-game winning streak, after notching his second-highest run of the season for 54 yards to give CMU the go-ahead lead.

"I'm just glad I could help contribute to (the seniors) going out with eight wins this season," Ward said. "Beating Western and Eastern, getting the Michigan MAC Trophy, along with eight wins which hasn't been done in so long, I'm just grateful in being a part of that."

Defensively, the Chippewas allowed 118 yards of total offense in the second half.

Both safety Josh Cox and cornerback Sean Bunting finished with an interception, upping the total on the season to 19, which is one spot ahead of Florida Atlantic for most in the country. Bunting has had five in the previous four games.

Cox, whose six leads the team and the conference, said it's been great seeing Bunting perform so well down the stretch, being that the two have a close relationship off the field.

"(Sean) believes in my calls," Cox said. "At the end of the day, the man is out there making plays. He's doing his thing and it seems he's getting the hot hand."

Bowl pairings will be announced Dec. 3 following the weekend slate of league championship games. The MAC has contract relationships with four bowls: Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Dec. 16), Bahamas Bowl (Dec. 22), Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Dec. 22) and the Dollar General Bowl (Dec. 23).

Alternate bowl games include the Quick Lane Bowl (Dec. 26) in Detroit at Ford Field, where the Chippewas played two years ago in a loss to Minnesota.