LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon hosted in-state rival Southern Oregon University Saturday afternoon at Community Stadium. The Raiders of SOU extended the Mounties losing streak to six on the season, winning 42-14.
Both teams found the endzone in unusual ways with the Raiders striking first in the first quarter. A Mountaineers fumble led to a 39-yard recovery returned for a touchdown by SOU's Marve Nyembo. The two teams battled it out the rest of the first quarter with neither offense being able find sustained success.
The first offensive touchdown of the day came through the air at the beginning of the second quarter. SOU's Blake Asciutto found Bryce Goggin for a 43-yard connection to jump up 14-0 early in the second quarter. The rest of the second quarter was all Gunner Yates. The Raider tailback broke a run midway through the second for a 48-yard touchdown run, then struck again with a short touchdown reception just before the half. Midway through the game SOU held the lead 26-0.
Eastern Oregon came to life in the third quarter. The first points of the day came off a blocked punt by
George Balowski who came off the edge untouched blocking the punt and taking it into the endzone himself to make it 26-7. On their next offensive drive, the Mountaineers found the endzone again as
Tanner Sweek found
Drew Reyes for a 27-yard touchdown pass on what started as a short screen pass. A big block from tight end
Willie Camp sprung Reyes as he found his way to the endzone making it 26-14.
The Mounties couldn't keep the momentum going and wouldn't score the rest of the game. Southern Oregon pulled away thanks to another two rushing touchdowns from Yates. SOU's punt defense also put points on the board thanks to a high snap that went over the head of Mountie punter
Ethan Cutler and out of the back of the endzone for a safety leading to a 42-14 final.
EOU will look for its first win next week when the Mountaineers travel to Billings, Mont. to take on the Rocky Mountain Battlin' Bears on Saturday, Oct. 8. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Despite the loss Eastern actually converted more first downs than SOU 16-15
- The two offenses nearly split time of possession in half each just over 30 minutes each
- SOU averaged over five yards per a play on the day with 6.1 to EOU's 3.4
STANDOUT MOUNTAINEER PERFORMANCES
