LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon hosted the College of Idaho on Saturday for their final home game of the 2022 season. The No. 12 Yotes outscored the Mounties 41-7 on their way to their eighth win of the season. The Senior Day loss moves Eastern's record to 1-9.
A close game in the first half, the Yotes controlled the pace of the game and worked their way to a win with several momentum swings throughout the game.
The first score of the game came via the wildcat offense when Yotes' wide receiver Jon Schofield took a snap and broke to his left winning a race to the pylon. The short touchdown capped off a 68-yard drive that burned nearly five-and-a-half minutes of clock in the first quarter.
Schofield and the wildcat offense set up the next scoring opportunity for the Yotes midway through the second quarter. The junior receiver struck for a 25-yard run setting up a redzone opportunity for College of Idaho. A couple plays later Yotes quarterback Andy Peters found Brock Richardson for a five-yard touchdown pass to make it a two-score game, 14-0. Richardson's touchdown was the last score of the half.
Eastern Oregon came out of the half with a head of steam picking up some momentum on the opening kickoff when
George Balowski dropped the hammer with a big hit. On the second play of the Yotes' opening drive Mountaineers' senior linebacker,
Solo Taylor, jumped a route across the middle intercepting a pass from Peters returning it for 33 yards with some help on a pitch back to
Josh Mendoza for a few extra yards. In striking position, EOU opted for the wildcat offense near the goal line bringing out
Parker Robinson to take the snap. On his second attempt to find the endzone he was held up and stripped by College of Idaho's Jacob Arms who took it 90 yards the other way for a touchdown. With the defensive score the Yotes increased their lead making it 21-0.
A couple drives later the Mountaineers would respond with their only score of the day.
Anthony Peterson got the ball rolling with a 19-yard carry to get EOU to the College of Idaho 30-yard line. From there some smart play calling and good blocking sprung
Andre Martinez for a 30-yard touchdown on a wide receiver screen across the middle.
Eastern couldn't capitalize on their momentum as College of Idaho added three more scores on the day. The first came on another Schofield rush out of the wildcat where he again won the race to the pylon at the end of the third quarter making it 28-7. Early in the fourth, Ed Osterberger found the endzone on a seven-yard touchdown run to increase the College of Idaho lead to make it a 28-point game.
With just under three minutes to go Ryan Hibbs took over for the College of Idaho offense leading the charge on a 40-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass to Will Janney to wrap up scoring on the day. When the smoke cleared the Yotes took the win 41-7.
Prior to the game, Eastern Oregon honored 24 seniors for their commitment and dedication to Mountaineer football. Today's matchup was the last home game of the year for the Mounties as they head to Ashland, Ore. to take on Southern Oregon University for their final game of the season next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
BY THE NUMBERS
- College of Idaho controlled the pace of the game with a 13-minute advantage in time of possession
- The Yotes ran 25 more plays than EOU
- The Mounties held the Yotes under their season average in rushing as they totaled 176 yards on the ground
STANDOUT MOUNTAINEER PERFORMANCES
