BUTTE, Mont. - No. 18 Mountaineers Football kicked off the 2021 season in the right direction as they took down the Montana Tech Orediggers 26-24 Saturday night on the road. With the win, Eastern Oregon starts the season 1-0 overall and 1-0 in Frontier Conference play. The win also snaps a two-game skid against the Orediggers.

How it Happened
• Making a difference in the Mountaineers' win against Montana Tech (0-1, 0-1 Frontier) was the rushing attack. They outgained the Orediggers 266-134 and had two of their scores come from the ground game. EOU only threw the ball 21 times and had just 83 yards while Montana Tech chucked the ball 23 times for 153 yards.
• Defensively, the EOU secondary managed to pick off the Orediggers twice in the contest. The defense also came up big in third downs as they held Montana Tech to just 5-14 on third down conversions.
• Special Teams was arguably the biggest X-factor for the Mountaineers as Zachary Cahill was a perfect 4-4 in field goal attempts. His kicking combined with the Mountaineers advantage in possession time (36:15-23:45) were key in the win.
• EOU got on the board first with a 37 yard touchdown rush by Jordan Eggers in the team's second drive. After a three-and-out by EOU on the opening drive, the defense got them back on the field with the help of Zak Donato interception at the Montana Tech 44-yard line.
• The Mountaineers first score came with 9:08 to play in the first quarter and it remained at a 7-0 lead for Eastern going into the second. The lead grew to 10-0 in the first minute of the frame on a Cahill field goal from 41 yards out.
• The drive for EOU started late in the first quarter as they ate up 2:05 in the drive that ended the first and led to the early score in the second. Cahill's kick was the first of four and it was his second longest of the game.
• Montana Tech responded on the ensuing drive as the Orediggers drove 65 yards down the field for the touchdown. Quarterback Jet Campbell did the majority of the work as he went 4-5 through the air and capped off the drive with a 10 yard touchdown pass to Logan Kennedy to make it a 10-7 game.
• Looking to stay in the driver's seat, EOU pushed the lead back to 10, 17-7 on the next drive. Kai Quinn facilitated the offense, moving the Mounties down the field for the score. He had help as Eggers and Victor Rosas added help in the rush attack to help EOU clear the 75 yards. A six yard touchdown run by Eggers capped the drive to make it a 17-7 score.
• On the ensuing kickoff, the Orediggers got solid field position with a 51 yard return to the EOU 46. They threatened to score and got down to the EOU 27 before Chase Van Wyck forced a fumble that Wesley McIlwaine recovered to stall the drive.
• The late stop by the Mountaineers allowed them to take a 10-point lead, 17-7, into halftime. Helping the Mountaineers grab the lead was a run game that totaled 196 yards in the first half, coupled with timely stops and turnovers by the EOU defense.
• Montana Tech cut the EOU lead to just one score in the opening drive of the second half. The Orediggers managed to score a touchdown on a third and goal from the 10-yard line but a holding penalty negated it and forced them to kick a 27 yard field goal to cut the Mountaineers lead to 17-10.
• EOU looked to answer on the following drive but had the drive stall at the Oredigger 49. On the Jaiden Machuca punt, Willie Camp knocked the ball loose against the kick returner which allowed Blaine Chavez to recover the ball and give EOU new life.
• The recovery put Eastern at the Montana Tech 17 yard line, but the Ordiggers managed to limit the Mountaineers to just a field goal. Cahil made it 2-2 as he split the uprights from 37 yards out. The field goal gave EOU a 10-point lead once more at 20-10, which they took into the fourth quarter.
• In the fourth, Montana Tech had possession from a drive that started late in the third, but once again an interception by EOU gave its offense great field position. Blaine Shaw picked off Campbell at the EOU 46 and returned it to the Montana Tech 23 to allow the offense to capitalize.
• EOU's offense needed just four plays and 93 seconds to get on the board. The Orediggers held the Mountaineers to just a field goal yet again but a calm Cahill once again made it look easy. He nailed a 35 yard field goal to push the EOU lead to 13, 23-10, early in the fourth quarter.
• Looking to keep this close, Montana Tech pieced together a 12 play, 81 yard drive on the next possession to cut its deficit to single digits. The drive ate up 6:06 of clock time and was capped with a one yard touchdown run by Blake Counts. Following the PAT, EOU's lead was cut to six, 23-17.
• EOU got the ball back with 6:59 to play in the fourth and mimicked what the Orediggers did on the previous drive. The Mountaineers were held to just a field goal but burned 5:53 off the clock. Cahill nailed his final field goal, this time from 42 yards out, and gave EOU a 26-17 lead with 1:06 on the clock.
• The Orediggers wasted little time trying to force a comeback as they returned the following kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown to make it 26-24. Montana Tech tried to onside kick but Shaw picked up the ball to get it back to EOU. Quinn and the Mountaineers then got in victory formation and ran out the clock for the two-point win.

Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Jordan Eggers had a career day scoring two touchdowns and rushed for 148 yards on 21 carries.
• Kai Quinn totaled 155 yards of offense. He rushed for 75 yards on 12 carries and was 11-20 through the air for 80 yards.
• Three Mounties grabbed a pair of receptions led by Tyler Brown who racked up 28 yards.
• Zak Donato led the defense with 10 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, and one interception.
• Blaine Shaw was one of five players that had four tackles. He also had one interception in the win.
• Zachary Cahill was a perfect 4-4 in field goal attempts and was 2-2 on PAT attempts.

For the Orediggers
• Jet Campbell was 14-23 passing and had 153 yards to go along with one touchdown.
• Blake Counts rushed for 92 yards on 18 carries and scored once.
• Trevor Hoffman pulled in three catches and tallied 63 yards.
• Spencer Shock tallied 12 tackles in the loss and forced one fumble.
• Bridger Johnson also had double figure tackles with 10 in the loss.
• Jared Griffith was 2-2 in PAT attempts and nailed his lone field goal attempt.

By the Numbers
0 - Neither team gave up a sack in the game.
4 - With the win, the Mountaineers snap a four-game road losing streak to the Orediggers.
75 - Saturday's win is the 75th career win for Head Coach Tim Camp at EOU.
349 - EOU totaled 349 yards of total offense in the win over Montana Tech.
15 - The Mountaineers are now 15-3 under Tim Camp in games decided by less than three points.
151- EOU has now scored at least one touchdown in 151 consecutive games. A streak that dates back to week eight of the 2006 season.

Up Next
• The Mountaineers will play in their home opener next weekend when they take on the Montana Western Bulldogs on Saturday, Sept. 4. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. PT inside Community Stadium.

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