HAVRE, Mont. - Eastern Oregon Mountaineers Football suffered its fourth straight loss Saturday afternoon as the team dropped a 22-20 contest against Montana State Northern in five overtimes. The loss brings EOU's record to 3-4 overall with the same mark in Frontier Conference play.

How it Happened
• Despite the game going into five overtimes, both squads combined for just 432 yards of total offense in what was a defensive affair.
• Helping the Lights (1-7, 1-6 Frontier) in the win was turnovers as they forced four against Eastern. MSU-Northern also gave up the ball three times in the contest.
• On offense, the Mountaineers had the edge in passing at 185 yards to just 78 by the Lights, but it was the ground game for MSU-Northern that made a difference. They had 134 yards on the ground and held EOU just 35 all afternoon.
• The first score of the day for the Mountaineers came at the midway point of the first quarter. A 12-play, 51-yard drive was capped by a 40-yard field goal by Zachary Cahill.
• The lone scoring drive of the opening frame lasted 4:47 for EOU. Both defenses came away with interceptions in the first quarter. Grabbing the interception for EOU was Solo Taylor near the end of the first.
• Taylor's pick set up good field position for the Mountaineers but the Lights made a stop in the early portion of the second quarter to force a field goal attempt. Cahill was unable to connect though as he missed a 37 yard field goal attempt for his first miss of the year.
• Despite the missed field goal attempt by the Mountaineers, their defense once again answered on the ensuing drive. Brennan Pope pulled in the second interception of the day for EOU and set the offense up at the MSU-Northern 33 yard line.
• The interception was not wasted the second time around. EOU put together a four-play, 33-yard drive to go up 10. A shovel pass from Kai Quinn to Isaiah Thomas highlighted the drive as he went 21 yards on the catch and run. Capping the drive was a six-yard rush by Nathan Reed.
• Leading 10-0, the Mountaineers looked to pitch the first half shutout but MSU-Northern responded on the following drive. The Lights went 75 yards on 14 plays and ate up 6:34 of clock time to score on a one yard run. Late in the first half, EOU's lead was cut to 10-7.
• The score remained at 10-7 going into the break. The Mountaineers went into the halftime break leading by three and had the edge in total offensive yards at 120-110.
• Both teams had two interceptions in the first half while the Mountaineers defense also forced a fumble to have a 3-2 advantage in turnovers forced.
• In the second half, the two squads combined for just nine points to lead to the initial overtime battle. The Mountaineers did not score in the third quarter and managed just three points the whole second half.
• The Lights tacked on two field goals in the third quarter to grab a 13-10 lead entering the fourth. The first came from 42 yards out to tie the game at 10-all before a 21 yard boot in the final 30 seconds of the third made it a 13-10 game going into the fourth.
• The Mountaineers lone score of the half came with 6:01 on the clock in the fourth as Cahill connected on a 48 yard try to make it a 13-13 tie. His field goal capped a 51 yard, eight play drive as Carson Bohning came in late in the third quarter for Quinn and finished out the game.
• Both teams had chances in the fourth to win it after their respective defenses made key stops, but neither found the back of the endzone or was in range for a potential gamewining field goal.
• In the first of the five overtime thriller, both teams scored on their first drive. MSU-Northern jumped ahead on a two yard touchdown pass, but EOU answered on their drive with a four-yard by Nathan Reed to tie it up at 20-20.
• On the Mountaineers drive to tie it at 20-all, the Lights managed to get Eastern in a 4th and 15 situation but an 18 yard catch and run by Wilkerson kept EOU in the game for the eventual touchdown and more free football.
• Neither team scored over the next three overtime set ups and it was still anyone's game to take. The Lights finally went ahead when quarterback Kaymen Cuerton rushed in from three yards out for the two-point score. EOU was unable to respond and succumbed to the two-point loss in extra time.

Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Kai Quinn was 10-24 for 107 yards but was picked off three times.
• Carson Bohning was 6-15 through the air for 78 yards off the bench
• Nathan Reed led the ground game with two touchdown rushes and had 33 yards on 13 carries.
• Isaiah Thomas had four catches for 79 yards to lead all players in the game.
• Zachary Cahill went 2-3 on field goal attempts with his two makes being from 40 and 48 yards out.
• Hayden Brandon had 13 tackles in the loss and 11 were on a solo effort. He also had 3.5 tackles for loss.
• Solo Taylor also had double figure tackles with 10 and pulled down one interception. 
• Sage DeLong racked up 3.5 tackles for loss and had eight total tackles.

For the Lights
• Quarterback Kaymen Cuerton was 9-18 through the air. He tallied 78 yards, had one touchdown pass and was picked off twice. He also rushed for 39 yards and one touchdown.
• Canaan Smith led the rush attack with 48 yards on 17 carries.
• Dylan Vongphach had 47 yards rushing and led the receiving corps with four catches for 21 yards.
• Kicker Sawyer Zook was 2-3 on field goals and made kicks from 42 and 21 yards out.
• Chase Gilbert led the defense with 11 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks.
• Hunter Riley has nine tackles in the win and 1.0 tackle for loss.
• Joel Hadley was third in total tackles with seven, had 2.5 tackles for loss to lead the team and pulled down one interception.

By the Numbers
7 - The Mountaineers had won each of their last seven games against MSU-Northern prior to Saturday's loss.
5 - The Mountaineers' five overtime contest is the longest they have played under the direction of Tim Camp.
1 - This is the Mountaineers first loss this season when scoring first. They were 3-0 going into Saturday's game when they scored first.
47 - Prior to Saturday's win, the Lights had lost each of their last 47 conference games, dating back to the 2016 season.

Up Next
• The Mountaineers return home next weekend for their final game in the month of October. Eastern will play host to Carroll College with kickoff set for 1 p.m. PT inside Community Stadium.

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