LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon Football responded in a big way following last weekend's loss to top-ranked College of Idaho, putting together a strong second-half performance to defeat Montana Western 31-17 Saturday afternoon at Community Stadium.
Montana Western struck first, marching 91 yards on its opening possession to take a 7-0 lead. Eastern Oregon answered with a lengthy drive of its own, covering 92 yards in nine plays as quarterback
Chase Nelson connected with
Dylan Shipley for a 27-yard touchdown to even the score at 7-7. The Bulldogs regained the lead early in the second quarter with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Kaden LaPlaunt to Brody Munson.
Eastern Oregon responded with a drive of its own, capped by a 26-yard field goal from
Tyler Bissell to cut the deficit to 14-10. The Mountaineer defense worked to keep the Bulldogs out of the end zone, with
Nick Robinson applying pressure to force incomplete passes and limit Montana Western's offensive production.
Nehemiah Medrano also made his presence felt, recording a five-yard sack and forcing a fumble.After regaining possession, Nelson connected with Shipley and
Coby Tanioka to move Eastern Oregon down to the one-yard line. However, the Mountaineers were unable to convert on the goal line, as a pass attempt was intercepted in the end zone. The Bulldogs took advantage of the opportunity, closing out the half with a 37-yard field goal to carry a 17-10 advantage into the break.
Eastern Oregon came out of halftime with renewed energy, immediately putting together an 84-yard, 12-play drive. Nelson continued to find Tanioka and
Tyler Creswick through the air while
Malakai Nutter helped move the offense on the ground. The drive was capped by a one-yard touchdown run from
Waylon Riedel, evening the score at 17-17. The Mountaineer defense continued to deliver in the third quarter, highlighted by a crucial interception from
Toby Frei. With Montana Western threatening just 17 yards from the end zone, Frei came up with the takeaway to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard and preserve the tie heading into the fourth quarter.
Eastern Oregon took its first lead of the afternoon early in the fourth quarter when Nutter powered into the end zone from four yards out, capping an 87-yard drive to give the Mountaineers a 24-17 advantage. The Mountaineers added insurance late in the fourth quarter. Following a strong rushing effort from Nutter, Nelson connected with Tanioka for a 19-yard touchdown, capping a nine-play, 65-yard drive and extending the EOU lead to 31-17 with just under three minutes remaining. Eastern Oregon's defense preserved the two-score advantage the rest of the way, continuing to pressure LaPlaunt and the Montana Western offense.
Chase Hendren recorded a seven-yard sack,
Wyatt Eiesland added a six-yard sack, and
Jacobaas Van Ruiten brought down the quarterback for another four-yard loss.
Wesley Wittmer then sealed the victory with an interception in the end zone, securing the 31-17 Mountaineer win.
Nelson led the Mountaineer offense, completing 29 of 42 passes for 427 yards and two touchdowns. Shipley paced the receiving corps with nine catches for 141 yards and a touchdown, while Tanioka added 10 receptions for 108 yards and a score. Creswick also turned in a productive afternoon with seven catches for 104 yards. On the ground, Nutter led Eastern Oregon with 103 rushing yards on 22 carries, adding a touchdown. Riedel contributed the other rushing score. Defensively, Medrano led the way with 11 total tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. Van Ruiten added six tackles and 1.5 sacks as the Mountaineers consistently disrupted the Montana Western passing attack.
With the victory, Eastern Oregon improves to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in Frontier Conference play, remaining third in the conference standings as the regular season enters its final stretch. The Mountaineers will return to the road next Saturday, November 7, traveling to Redding, California, to take on Simpson University.
