Box Score



BUTTE, Mont. – The No. 16 Eastern Oregon University football team makes a comeback in the final minutes to win at Montana Tech, 26-23.

The Mountaineers (1-0, 1-0 Frontier Conference) trailed 23-13 with five minutes left in regulation, before they scored 13 points in the final 4:38. EOU's Jason Simonis threw the final two touchdown passes, including the final one to Kedrick Starr with 40 seconds remaining.

“Montana Tech's a very good football team,” Eastern head coach Tim Camp said. “It's a fair fight with those guys, and anything can happen. Montana Tech is coached very well, I think we're coached well, but like I said it's a fair fight. I told everybody our guys are not going to quit. That's not what these Mountaineers are made of.”

Montana Tech had three chances to even the score in the closing seconds but could not make the tying field goal. The last time these two teams met, Eastern Oregon blocked two Tech field goals in the final seconds to win. EOU also opened last season with a win at Tech.

Simonis finished 11-for-15 with 93 yards through the air, and the two touchdowns. Simonis replaced Tyler Pine at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Pine threw for 93 yards through the first three quarters, completing 13 of his 22 passes. Chris McGinnis-Parker had 70 yards on 16 carries.

“My team believed in me and I believed in them,” Simonis said. “I just can't believe it right now, I'm in shock. I just wanted to deliver that ball to Ked and get the win. I'm so happy we got it done.”

Two freshmen shined in their collegiate openers for EOU. Jace Billinglsey caught seven passes for 60 yards and Paul Blakely had 10 punts for 365 yards. Blakely equaled a school record by kicking four punts inside the 20-yard line.

Howard McDonald had the second-most tackles in a single game in EOU history. The senior's 20 unassisted tackles and one assisted tackle were the most for the Mountaineers since Nick Hannah had 26 against Montana Tech on Sept. 25, 2004. Two of McDonald's tackles were sacks.

McGinnis-Parker opened the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown run with 12:59 left in the second quarter. The junior bounced off of a tackle and found room outside for the score. The OreDiggers took a 7-6 lead at the 3:54 mark of the second quarter after a Nick Baker to James Roberts 10-yard touchdown pass connection. Tech had a 7-6 halftime advantage.

A high snap began the scoring in the second half with 8:35 left in the third quarter. Eastern Oregon had a long snap on a punt attempt go over Blakely's head out of the back of the endzone. With Montana Tech leading 9-7, Baker was intercepted by Nate Rudder, who returned the ball to the four-yard-line. Four plays later, McDonald ran in a score from a yard out.

The Orediggers opened the final quarter with a pair of touchdown runs from Pat Hansen on consecutive possessions. The sophomore ran in a three-yard score at the 13:27 mark of the fourth quarter, and then a 21-yard score three minutes later. The second drive featured seven plays that covered 90 yards in just 2:04.

With 4:38 remaining, Simonis found Sean Hurlbut for a 10-yard touchdown connection. Four minutes later, after the Mountaineer defense came up with another key stop, Simonis passed to an open Starr in the corner of the endzone for the final score.

“I told them all day just get me a corner route,” Starr said. “I told Jason that I was going to win that route, the safety bit, and I was wide open in the corner for the catch. All I was thinking was catch this ball when it was coming to me.”

The EOU defense forced five turnovers, three interceptions and two fumbles. Eastern also stopped Montana Tech from scoring early in the game three times inside the one-yard line.

The Mountaineers outgained Tech on the ground, 135-121, but the OreDiggers had the overall advantage with a 489-239 offensive yard lead. Eastern had a large advantage in time of possession at 40:11 to 19:49.

Baker finished 37-of-52 for 394 yards. The junior threw three touchdown passes, but his three interceptions were the key. Hansen ran for 112 yards on 20 carries. Kevin Moss and Zach Kinney had big debuts for Tech (0-1, 0-1). The junior college transfers finished with Moss having 151 receiving yards on nine catches and Kinney caught eight passes for 103 yards. Nathan Kobold led Montana Tech with 10 tackles.

Eastern welcomes Montana State-Northern (0-1, 0-1) in the Mountaineers' home opener Sept. 8. EOU has won seven straight over the Lights. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Community Stadium. Live video and stats will be available on EOUSports.com, with live radio on KCMB 104.7 FM.

POSTGAME NOTES
* The all-time series is now 11-9 in favor of Montana Tech.
* The Orediggers have a 7-4 advantage over Eastern in Butte.
* Eastern Oregon has only won three times at Tech, including last year's opener, 31-15.
* The last four meetings, and five of the last six games, between the schools, have been decided by seven points or less.
* EOU is currently on its longest in streak over the Diggers, winning the last four.
* Eastern has a 6-4 advantage in the last 10 meetings.
* The Mountaineers are 6-3 against Montana Tech under Tim Camp.
* EOU is 5-5 in its last 10 season openers, including back-to-back season-opening wins at Tech.
* Eastern Oregon won its sixth straight conference road win.
* The Mountaineers have won their last seven games when scoring first.