CONWAY, Ark. (AP) — Wynri Smothers threw for 335 yards and four touchdowns as Central Arkansas defeated Eastern Illinois 48-30 in a battle of conference champions Saturday night.
Smothers completed 35 of 49 passes and had TDs of 26, 14, 37 and 6 yards for the Bears (9-2), who finished the regular season with six straight victories and won the Southland Conference.
Eastern Illinois’ Jimmy Garoppolo also threw for four TDs, completing 19 of 33 passes for 228 yards. Garoppolo had scoring throws of 17, 37, 14 and 74 yards for the Panthers (7-4), who won the Ohio Valley Conference.
Erik Lora had nine receptions for 52 yards and a TD for Eastern Illinois, giving him 124 catches to break the Football Championship Subdivision single-season record. He also holds the Ohio Valley Conference record for receiving yards in a season with 1,531.
Both teams had already qualified for the FCS playoffs.
