Centralight

Sports ��� cmuchippewas.com Football team crowns season with a thrilling bowl game By John Regenfuss The Chippewas won seven games overall in 2012, including four of their last five in the regular season, all in MAC play, to earn the program���s fifth bowl bid in the last seven years. The highlight of the regular season came in week four when Central Michigan scored nine points in the game���s final 45 seconds to knock off Iowa on the road, 32-31. CMU punctuated 2012 with a thrilling 24-21 victory over Western Kentucky in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit. Ryan Radcliff threw a touchdown strike to Cody Wilson late in the fourth quarter to give the Chippewas the lead and the CMU defense stopped Western Kentucky on fourth down with under a minute remaining to secure the bowl win. Photo courtesy of the San Francisco 49ers Radcliff finished the game 19-of-29 passing for 253 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions to earn Most Valuable Player honors while Wilson had 10 catches for 101 yards and one touchdown. Zurlon Tipton recorded his seventh-straight 100-yard rushing game and eighth of the season, gaining 101 yards on 23 carries, and redshirt freshman receiver Andrew Flory caught touchdown passes of 69 and 29 yards, both in the first quarter. Junior linebacker Shamari Benton led CMU with a gamehigh nine tackles to earn Lineman of the Game honors. A Chippewa at the Super Bowl Joe Staley became the eighth former CMU football player to vie for an NFL title when his San Francisco 49ers met the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 3. Staley and the 49ers rallied from 22 points down in the third quarter, but their comeback attempt came up just short and the Ravens triumphed, 34-31. The San Francisco offense compiled 486 yards, including 182 on the ground, and scored three second-half touchdowns to get the 49ers back in the game. Staley, a four-year letterwinner at CMU from 2003-06, helped the Chippewas post 10 wins and capture MAC and Motor City Bowl championships in his senior season, earning first team all-conference honors for his standout play. Staley became CMU���s first-ever first round NFL draft pick in 2007 when San Francisco took him with the 28th selection. In six NFL seasons, Staley has risen to the pinnacle of his profession, earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl starter status this season. The athletic Staley anchors the 49ers offensive line from his all-important left tackle spot. In 2012, he was an integral part of a 49ers offense that ranked No. 1 overall in the NFL and topped the league in rushing. ��� 30 30 centralight spring ���13 Five Chippewas earned All-MAC recognition in 2012 ��� Eric Fisher (first team), Tipton (second team), Jahleel Addae (second team), Titus Davis (second team) and Wilson (third team). Fisher was named Second Team All-America by SI.com and received third team honors from the Associated Press while Wilson was an Academic All-America selection for the second consecutive year. ���

• Cover