BUTTE, Mont. – The Eastern Oregon University football team yielded a season-high 622 yards of total offense, and the Mountaineers dropped a 42-24 decision to No. 10 Montana Tech on Saturday afternoon.

"I think certainly the storyline of the game was we didn't make enough plays to win," said head football coach Tim Camp. "We need to be better. We can be better. These games like this, they hurt to lose, and we've got to take that pain and that frustration, take the lessons, and that needs to help fuel us so that we want to get better."

Key Performances
Junior quarterback Zach Bartlow tossed a career-high 395 yards passing on 27 completions for the Navy and Gold, including three touchdowns.

Sophomore wide receiver Joshua Richards caught a career-high 12 passes for 113 receiving yards, while sophomore wide receiver Calvin Connors caught a pair of touchdown passes for the Mountaineers.

Defensively, senior linebacker Gary Posten amassed 10 tackles (3 solo, 7 assists), one fumble recovery, and one interception returned for 30 yards in the second quarter.

Junior defensive lineman Kyle Lanoue recorded four tackles, including two tackles for loss, while junior linebacker Tucker Stanley and senior defensive back Adam Bese tallied nine and eight tackles, respectively.

"Football is a team effort in every phase – offense, defense, special teams, and coaching," said Camp. "At the end of the game, nobody did enough to come away with a victory. The program will focus on the details of playing and coaching at a higher level. When this happens, the outcome will be different."

The Storyline
After putting themselves in a 16-point hole, the Mountaineers got on the board at the 1:53 mark of the second quarter thanks to a 50-yard touchdown pass from Bartlow to Connors.

Montana Tech responded with a touchdown of its own, and then senior kicker Marc David nailed a 35-yarder to pull EOU within 12 (22-10) with 57 seconds left in the half. Following David's field goal, it looked as if senior defensive back Byron Benson recovered a fumble for a touchdown, but the officials reversed the call to keep it a 12-point game.

The Mountaineers kicked off the second half with a 48-yard beaut from Bartlow to Connors to crawl within five (22-17) and shift the momentum in the hands of the Navy and Gold.

However, just moments later, Zach Bunney capitalized with a 93-yard kickoff return for the touchdown to put Montana Tech (7-1, 7-1 Frontier Conference) back up by 12 just 83 seconds into the third frame.

Sophomore wide receiver Brenden Kelly hauled in a 35-yard pass from Bartlow at the 3:17 mark to cut Montana Tech's lead to five, 29-24, but EOU never got any closer.

Trailing 35-24 at the end of the third, the Mountaineers had a chance to score at Montana Tech's 6-yard line, but Will Davey intercepted Bartlow's pass intended for Connors in the end zone to keep EOU at bay.  

Stats of the Game
8 – Penalties by EOU.
3 – Third-down conversions out of 13 attempts for the Navy and Gold.
395 – Yards passing by Bartlow, a career-best effort.

Up Next
EOU (3-6, 3-5 Frontier Conference) returns to La Grande on Nov. 7 against College of Idaho. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m.