BUTTE, Mont. -- The Eastern Oregon University football team defeated Montana Tech, 32-20, Saturday afternoon.
It was the second time the Mountaineers have beat the Orediggers in the last seven tries on the road.
Eastern Oregon's offense gained 267 yards on the ground against a defense that is in the top 10 in rushing defense. Tech entered the game averaging giving up 58 yards per game.
Kevin Sampson led the Mountaineers with 120 rushing yards on eight carries. The sophomore added a touchdown for Eastern. Chris Ware gained 72 yards on 14 carries and Joel Haran had 39 yards on seven carries.
Ware out threw the Orediggers' Matt Komac in a showdown between two of the Frontier Conference's best quarterbacks. The EOU sophomore completed 27 of his 35 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Komac was 16 of 28 for 215 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Senior Mike Corral had a great day receiving for the Mountaineers catching five passes for 90 yards. Kirk Miller caught seven passes for 59 yards with a touchdown. Jordyn Jackson had four receptions for57 yards and a touchdown. Rick Copsey caught four passes and had 37 yards. J.T. McIntyre led Montana Tech with eight catches for 73 yards.
Montana Tech entered the game ranked fourth in the nation in passing yards per game averaging 338 yards per game and ended with 215 against EOU. Eastern came into the game ranked fifth averaging 323 yards in the air and ended with 289 Saturday. The Orediggers were sixth in the NAIA in total offensive yards per game before the game averaging 512 yards and had 399 Saturday. Eastern was ninth at 486 total offensive yards per contest and had 556 against Tech.
The game featured many milestones for the Mountaineers. Ware went over 1,000 yards passing this season just into the first quarter and now sits at 1,278 yards in four games. It was first time Eastern Oregon has won consecutive road games since EOU beat Montana Western and Rocky Mountain on Oct. 7 and 28, 2006. The Mountaineers are also 3-0 in league play for the first time since joining the Frontier Conference in 2006.
Eastern returns home to host Montana State-Northern Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. at Community Stadium. The No. 18 Lights were upset at home Saturday by Montana Western, 27-21.EOU is receiving five votes in the current national poll but may change when the new poll releases Monday afternoon.
