Box Score



La Grande, Ore. – The No. 14 Ranked Eastern Oregon Football team fell to Montana Western 16-3 Saturday afternoon at Community Stadium.
 
The Mountaineers (2-2, 2-2 Frontier Conference) had a tough time finding the end zone Saturday afternoon. Ray Walser passed for a total of 109 yards on the day completing 8 of 17 passes, while Jason Simonis completed 13 of 20 for 71 yards. Luis Ortiz and Jace Billingsley combined for a total of 91 receiving yards 47 and 44 respectively.
 
Sean Hurlbut lead the Mountaineers in rushing with 36 yards while Matt Orthmann added 27. Howard McDonald lead EOU with 14 tackles, 9 of them coming in the first half.
 
After stopping the Dawgs on their first two possessions Montana Western eventually found the end zone. Jeff Logan setup Dylan Kramer for a one yard run to put the Dawgs  on the board with 4:49 on the clock in the first.
 
The second quarter saw more action. EOU stopped Montana Western on their first possession, but failed on the next. Mackenzie Crossley punched in a 24 yard field goal attempt to put UMW up 10-0.
 
EOU would eventually punt the ball right back as Simonis  was sacked twice and threw an incomplete pass on the next possession.
 
UMW would take advantage of this opportunity. It took the Dawgs 13 plays to move the ball down the field 80 yards for another touchdown. This time Jeff Logan completed a 19 yard pass to Matt Lickfold to put UMW up 16-0.
 
On the ensuing drive, Walser completed a pass to Billingsley that setup Marc David for a 32 yard field goal as time expired. The Mountaineers headed into half down 16-3.
 
At half, EOU had a total of 115 offensive yards compared to 321 by Western.
 
Unfortunately, for the Mountaineers, there would be no more scoring for the day. In the third, both teams went back and forth with the ball changing possession a total of seven times.
 
The game became interesting late in the fourth quarter with 1:29 to play.  EOU blocked UMW punt attempt and had the ball on the Dawgs 17. The Mountaineers had the opportunity to pull within a touchdown, but Walser couldn't connect with Luis Ortiz or Justin Reynolds on four straight pass plays, which would result in a turnover on downs. UMW took a knee on the next two plays to end the game.
 
Montana Westerns' total offense on the day was 450 yards, 345 of those yards came in the air. EOU compiled 253 yards, 180 coming from passing.
 
The Mountaineers will be on the road next week, Octtober 6th, against Southern Oregon. EOU and Southern Oregon will have live video and stats on EOUSports.com. Live radio will be on KCMB 104.7 FM. A live television broadcast will be on Charter Channel 3 in La Grande. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Mountain Time.