The last time the Rocky Mountain College football team visited La Grande, Eastern Oregon University and the Bears combined for 1,391 yards of offense.
It was a day the Mountaineer offense remembered well, but this is a game that the defense has had scheduled for quite some time. Eastern Oregon pulled away with a 76-55 win, but Rocky Mountain's Kasey Peters threw for 634 yards in the game. Peters completed 43 of his 62 pass attempts for seven touchdowns and one interception.
This season Peters returns to the Grande Ronde Valley as a senior after passing for 3,541 yards in his junior year. He ranked second in the NAIA in passing yards per game at 321.9 and third in total yards per game at 325.5. Last week Peters began his senior season by leading the bears to a 28-7 upset win over No. 14 Dickinson State. He was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Week after completing 28 of his 44 passes for a total of 421 yards.
Peters had help last week not just on offense but on the defensive side of the ball as well. RMC's Steffan Blume was tabbed as the conference defensive Player of the Week. The sophomore linebacker recorded six solo tackles and five assisted tackles. Blumme also recovered a fumble. The Bears were fourth last season in sacks by per game averaging 3.5 a contest.
Another offensive force for Rocky Mountain is Peters' favorite target, Brian Guisti. The elusive senior ranked ninth last season in All-Purpose yards per game with 149. He will be a threat catching passes and receiving the ball on punts and kicks. The Bears will start four wide receivers versus the Mountaineers.
Eastern Oregon holds a 6-3 advantage over RMC in the all-time series, but the Bears have won three of the last four meetings with EOU. Eastern is 3-1 at home versus Rocky Mountain in all its meetings in La Grande.
Being good at home is nothing new to the Mountaineers. Eastern Oregon is 16-10 at Community Stadium in its past five seasons. However, the road has been unforgiving to EOU after Southern Oregon handed Eastern its 11th straight road loss last Saturday.
After leading through three quarters over their in-state rival, the Mountaineers lost a two-possession lead in the final quarter to Southern. EOU's Chris Ware completed 16 of his 31 pass attempts for 315 yards. The sophomore threw three touchdowns and two interceptions. Kirk Miller had five receptions for 117 yards and caught two touchdown passes for Eastern. Jordyn Jackson also caught five passes for 102 receiving yards. The Mountaineers gained 96 yards rushing as a team but gave up 195 yards to SOU's Brandon Baldwin alone. The Raiders gained 221 yards total as a team.
Last week Rocky Mountain amassed 117 yards on the ground and 538 total yards versus Dickinson State. The Bears surrendered 160 rushing yards and 171 yards through the air to RMC. The Rocky Mountain defense forced four turnovers in the victory.
Eastern Oregon's last meeting with Rocky was Nov. 1, 2008 in Billings, Mont. when the Bears eased to a 37-21 win over the Mountaineers. RMC jumped out to 14-0 first quarter lead and stretched it to 28-6 at halftime. Peters threw for 312 yards, completing 22 of his 34 passes. Guisti caught seven passes for 154 receiving yards. Ware finished 23 of 35 with 244 passing yards. EOU's Justin Reynolds had six catches for 104 yards.
