KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A 21-point outburst in the second quarter led the Western Michigan football team past Mid-American Conference foe Miami (Ohio), 38-16, on Saturday afternoon inside Waldo Stadium. The Broncos earned their second consecutive Homecoming victory, and their first 4-0 home start since 2016.

WMU trailed 6-0 after the first quarter before scoring three times in the final seven minutes before intermission as a Drake Spears' 74-yard interception return for a touchdown at the 6:33 mark of the second sparked the turnaround. Spears set the tone for a Bronco defense that finished with three interceptions that led to 10 points.

During the fourth quarter, senior LeVante Bellamy became the eighth Western Michigan running back to reach 3,000 career rushing yards as his final carry covered 47 yards for a TD, pushing his career total to 3,012 yards. Bellamy turned in his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season and has scored a touchdown in five consecutive games. 

Graduate transfer Keith Mixon Jr. paced the receiving corps with a season-high 84 receiving yards on three catches with two TDs. Mixon Jr.'s 46-yard TD grab from senior quarterback Jon Wassink was Mixon Jr.'s first of the season and the longest reception of his career, topping his 43-yard catch at Michigan State.

In addition to Spears' defensive efforts, Justin Tranquill, Patrick Lupro and Alex Grace recorded nine tackles apiece. Lupro set his career high for pass breakups with four. The Broncos finished with a year-best 6.0 sacks as junior Ali Fayad earned 2.0 and finished with 2.5 tackles for lost yardage.

Miami outscored the Broncos 6-0 in the first quarter with 51 and 49-yard field goals by RedHawk kicker Sam Sloman. Spears' 74-yard return proved to be the game-winning score as it gave WMU a lead it would not relinquish. Following the Spears TD, the WMU offense marched into RedHawk territory as Wassink found Mixon Jr. for a 46-yard TD and 14-6 advantage. 

The second quarter was wrapped up by the Brown & Gold as Wassink hooked up with Mixon Jr. again, this time for a 37-yard scoring strike with 1:06 to go in the half.

Miami cut the deficit to 21-9 with 8:06 to play in the third as Sloman nailed a 27-yard field goal.

The RedHawks struck again at 13:46 in the fourth quarter with their only touchdown of the day, a three-yard run by Jaylon Bester to make it a 21-16 Bronco advantage.

Bellamy took over from there, breaking a 35-yard run to put the Broncos in RedHawk territory. After a 16-yard pass from Wassink to Giovanni Ricci, Bellamy ran the ball for 17 more yards to score his first TD of the afternoon, putting WMU up 28-16 with less than eight minutes to play.

The Broncos quickly found themselves in scoring position again as Lupro nabbed his second interception of the season, returning it 24 yards to the Miami 13-yard line. Thiago Kapps' 24-yard field goal extended the Bronco advantage to 31-16 with 4:13 to play. Bellamy put the exclamation point on the contest with a 47-yard touchdown with 1:50 to go, crossing the 3,000-yard mark in the process.

The WMU defensive effort held Ball State to just 96 rushing yards during the final three quarters, and just two drives of more than 50 yards during the game. 

Western Michigan is on the road next weekend at Eastern Michigan for a 7 p.m. contest on ESPN+. 













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