LA GRANDE, Ore. – In a hard fought defensive showdown at Community Stadium, the Eastern Oregon University football team came up just short against No. 16 College of Idaho, falling 7-0 on Saturday night.
Both teams traded punts throughout the scoreless first half, with neither offense able to sustain momentum. The Mountaineer defense held strong with timely tackles and key stops, including an eight-yard sack by
Jacobaas Van Ruiten to halt the Yotes drive just outside the red zone. EOU later forced a fourth-down fumble, regaining possession and keeping the game deadlocked. The Yotes looked to take the lead before halftime with a 42-yard field goal, but the kick was short, sending both teams to the locker room tied 0-0.
Early in the second half, the Yotes intercepted a pass and moved to field goal range, but a 44-yards attempt again missed the mark. Both defenses continued to play steady, keeping the game scoreless deep into the fourth quarter.
With nearly six minutes left in the game and the Yotes facing a 1st and 10,
Payton Howe intercepted a deep pass and returned it 22 yards, setting up a potential game-winning drive. With just over a minute remaining, EOU lined up for a 49-yard field goal in what could have been the game-winning attempt, but the Yotes broke through to block the kick and return it 60 yards for a touchdown. The extra point hit the field goal post and was initially ruled no good, but after a COI challenge and official review, it was overturned and counted, giving the Yotes the 7-0 lead with less than a minute left in the game. Despite a final possession to try to tie things up, the Mountaineers were unable to advance into scoring range and threw a late interception to seal the defeat.
With the loss, Eastern drops to 4-3 overall, and 2-1 in Frontier Conference play. The Mounties will look to recover as they head to Dillon, Montana to face #20 Montana Western next Saturday, with kickoff set for 1:00 PM MT.
