By DOUG ZALESKI
dzaleski@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE — Ball State football fans witnessed the eclipsing of a prestigious Mid-American Conference record Thursday night that at one time they perhaps thought one of their own might attain.

When the 2008 season ended, Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour had 9,467 career passing yards and Ball State’s Nate Davis had 9,233. Both were easily within reach of topping the MAC career record this season.

Davis’ pursuit of the mark ended in January when he opted to enter the NFL draft a year early, but LeFevour came back for his senior season.

The Cardinals’ plight without Davis this season is well known, but Central Michigan is steaming toward a MAC championship behind LeFevour’s play.

LeFevour led the Chippewas to the brink of the MAC West title and a spot in the conference championship game by directing the Chippewas to a 35-3 victory over the Cardinals in Scheumann Stadium.

Central Michigan (9-2, 7-0 MAC) clinched no worse than a share of the West Division title.

LeFevour continued his dynamic play this season by throwing for 344 yards and four touchdowns. That allowed him to reach 12,000 passing yards for his career, breaking the MAC record of 11,903 by Byron Leftwich of Marshall.

“It means a lot because a lot of great quarterbacks have played (in the MAC), and a lot of those guys have gotten a chance to play at the next level,” LeFevour said.

LeFevour dominated the Cardinals (1-10, 1-6 MAC West) during his career, passing for 1,220 yards and 11 touchdowns in four games, three of which were wins.

LeFevour was extremely sharp in Thursday’s game. He completed 25-of-28 passes before leaving with 9:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. He was 11-of-11 in the second half.

“He’s had a good career in this stadium,” said Cardinals coach Stan Parrish, referencing LeFevour’s 704 passing yards and nine touchdown throws in two appearances at Scheumann Stadium. “He has separated himself from everybody else in this league.”

Ball State was able to get in the backfield at times on LeFevour’s pass attempts, but his ability to scramble away from pressure befuddled the Cardinals’ defense.

“It wasn’t difficult to get to him, but he’s just a good player,” Cardinals defensive end Robert Eddins said. “He has good poise, and when we did get to him, he moved around well. … He’s just a good quarterback.”

Antonio Brown caught 11 passes for 170 yards to lead the Chippewas.

LeFevour threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in the first half to stake the Chippewas to a 21-3 lead at halftime.

They took control with two touchdowns in the final 6:32 of the first half, the first a 1-yard sneak by LeFevour and the second an 82-yard pass from LeFevour to Brown.

Ball State’s only score of the game was a 20-yard field goal by Ian McGarvey with 1:38 left in the second period.

The drudgery of a losing season finally appeared to weigh on the Cardinals during the game. They managed only 93 yards of offense in the first half, and finished with just 231.

“I think we ran out of juice,” Parrish said. “We didn’t move the ball, and I think the team sensed that. We mishandled plays in our Wildcat offense.”

Quarterback Tanner Justice completed 10-of-17 passes for 105 yards. Cory Sykes rushed for 85 yards on 10 carries.

“I remember handing off the ball one time and three (defensive players) came off the edge,” Justice said. “It was like they knew what we were running.”

Ball State will end its season Tuesday at Western Michigan.

Contact sports writer Doug Zaleski at 213-5813.