Box Score

LA GRANDE, Ore. - Eastern Oregon Football returned to the field this afternoon, battling the No. 21 ranked Bulldogs of Montana Western at Community Stadium. Saturday's season opener was an opportunity for the Mountaineers to see how their new roster matched up against one of the better teams in the Frontier Conference.

Eastern Oregon moved the ball early in the first half, largely coming off the scrambling and play making ability of transfer quarterback Quincy Glasper. Despite advancing the field, the Mounties were unable to pin any points on the board in the first half.

Big plays down the field proved to hurt the Mountaineers in this contest. Montana Western started strong with a 20-yard field goal set up by a 52 yard heave from Michael Palandri, finding Raef Newbrough. Their momentum carried into the second quarter when Jon Kirkley caught a 31-yard pass from Palandri, making the halftime deficit 10-0.

The Bulldogs started the second half with a bang, as Palandri connected with Dylan Shipley on a 81-yard touchdown pass. Shortly after, Eli Nourse brought in a 16-yard touchdown pass, making the score 24-0. Despite the deficit, Eastern Oregon found some rhythm late in the third after Malachi Spurrier caught a 9-yard pass from Quincy Glasper to get on the board, trimming the lead to 24-7.

In the fourth quarter, Palandri threw another touchdown pass to Kirkley, followed by a 20-yard touchdown run by Jake Humphrey. Eastern Oregon pitched a late effort highlighted by an 18 yard cross body dart from Glasper that found Colton Kesey in the end-zone. The Mounties efforts would not be enough, leaving Community Stadium with a 38-14 loss.

Regardless of the final score, Eastern Oregon's offense showed major improvements in the inaugural game of the new season, spearheaded by Glasper. The starting quarterback was able to complete 26 of 43 passes for 246 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Walker Camp led the offense with 48 receiving yards and one touchdown.

The opposing sideline amassed a total of 433 yards, with 329 passing yards contributed by quarterback Michael Palandri. Palandri completed 17 out of 26 passes while tallying four touchdowns and one interception.

Rushing efforts for both teams were fairly limited, with Aiden Patterson leading Eastern Oregon with 26 yards and a touchdown, while Jake Humphrey led Montana Western with 36 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Jason Grant compiled seven total tackles and one sack while Josh Mendoza intercepted one pass and broke up two more. Bryer Monson of Montana Western stood out with seven total tackles, three of which resulted in a loss of 20 yards for Eastern Oregon.

The Mounties will return to Community Stadium on September 9th when they face Whitworth University at 1:00 p.m.