By DOUG ZALESKI
dzaleski@muncie.gannett.com
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The dreary setting inside Waldo Stadium on Tuesday night looked like blue skies and sunshine to Ball State’s bedeviled but unbroken football team.
In the midst of a steady rain that fell throughout the second half, the Cardinals found the resolve to finish off an unproductive season with a spark from an unexpected source.
The figurative bolt of lightning for the Cardinals hit with 7:57 remaining in the game when Charlie Todd dashed 87 yards for a touchdown on a punt return. The score erased a one-point deficit and lifted Ball State to a 22-17 victory over Western Michigan.
The win gave Ball State a final 2-10 record, including 2-6 in the Mid-American Conference.
The Cardinals hadn’t run back any form of kick or turnover for a touchdown all season, and Todd’s punt return TD was their first such score since 2005.
“They told me just to trust the wall and go,” Todd said. “It was raining and hard to move the ball, so I knew we had to do it on defense or with the return team.”
Todd broke into the open on a block by Koreen Burch. That gave him an alley along the Ball State sideline, and he ran untouched to the end zone to wipe out the Broncos’ 17-16 lead.
“I had a chance early in the game and I didn’t take it,” said Todd, a cornerback who tied for the team lead in tackles with eight. “I went inside instead of to my wall (of blockers outside). I felt good (after the TD) because I knew our defense wasn’t going to let the team down. I knew that would be the touchdown to win the game.”
Ball State’s defense was able to finish the job the rest of the way.
The Cardinals befuddled Western Michigan quarterback Tim Hiller, ranked No. 2 in the MAC in passing yards, for much of the game.
Hiller threw for 354 yards, but he needed 62 pass attempts to get there, and he was intercepted a career-high four times by the Ball State defense. He also lost the ball on a fumble on a sack by Brandon Crawford in the second quarter.
The last pick was by free safety Sean Baker on fourth-and-10 from the Ball State 40-yard line. Baker made the interception, his second of the game, with 22 seconds to play.
“We had a great game plan that put us in the right spots,” Baker said. “He’s a great player with a future ahead of him.”
But it wasn’t a memorable sendoff for Hiller, a senior.
His first interception, in the first quarter, led to Ian McGarvey’s 45-yard field goal and a 6-0 Ball State lead. Ball State converted Hiller’s third interception into a career-tying 48-yard field goal by McGarvey for a 16-10 Cardinals lead midway through the third quarter.
Western Michigan (5-7, 4-4 MAC West) took its only lead of the game at 17-16 when Hiller threw a 4-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the final quarter. The play gave him 99 career touchdowns, one shy of the MAC career record by Chad Pennington.
But the Cardinals refused to buckle after giving up a 13-0 halftime lead. And unlike several other games this year when they had a chance to preserve a lead or make a comeback in the fourth quarter, they accomplished that goal on Todd’s punt return six days after being buried 35-3 at home by Central Michigan.
“I knew we were all disappointed by our play against Central,” Cardinals coach Stan Parrish said. “Tonight we got turnovers and made a play in the kick game. We got good pressure (on Hiller) with a four-man rush.”
The Cardinals season tackle leader Davyd Jones left for the game when he suffered a knee injury (the severity was unknown) with 8:25 left in the second quarter. The Central High School product watched the second half from the sidelines in street clothes and on crutches.
z Contact sports writer Doug Zaleski at 213-5813.