LA GRANDE, Ore. — Eastern Oregon University football delivered a dominant offensive performance Saturday afternoon, rolling past Montana State University-Northern, 45-14, at Community Stadium.
The Mountaineers wasted little time setting the tone, scoring three times in the opening quarter to take a 21-0 lead. EOU opened the scoring with a seven-play, 54-yard drive.
Kallen Gutridge connected with
Dylan Shipley for a 62-yard pass to set up
Malakai Nutter, who rushed for 11 yards and appeared to reach the end zone. The touchdown was called back, however, due to a holding penalty against the Mountaineers. Eastern quickly regrouped, with
Waylon Riedel finishing the drive to put the Mountaineers on the board.
The EOU defense then forced Montana State-Northern into a three-play, nine-yard opening drive, quickly giving the ball back to the Mountaineers. Eastern carried the momentum as Gutridge picked up yards on the ground before connecting with
Tyler Creswick for a 20-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0. Once again, the defense held MSU-Northern to limited yardage, including a key sack by
Nehemiah Medrano. Gutridge then found
Coby Tanioka for a 51-yard touchdown strike, giving the Mountaineers three touchdowns on their first three scoring drives and a 21-0 advantage.
Montana State-Northern responded with two defensive touchdowns in the second quarter to cut into EOU's lead. After a short drive forced the Mountaineers to punt on fourth down, the Lights blocked the punt and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown.
The Mountaineers moved the ball to the MSU-Northern 29-yard line on their next possession, but a deep pass was intercepted by Ethan Maroni, who returned it 79 yards for a pick-six, cutting EOU's lead to 21-14. Eastern answered right back. Gutridge completed a 15-yard pass to Tanioka before taking off for a 45-yard rushing touchdown, pushing the Mountaineers' lead back to 28-14. The EOU defense continued to make its presence felt on the ensuing drive, pressuring Montana State-Northern into multiple incompletions. Medrano added a tackle for loss of two yards and a sack for a loss of four yards to help turn the ball back over to the Mountaineers.
Late in the quarter,
Payton Howe intercepted a Northern Lights pass, giving EOU another opportunity to add to its lead. The Mountaineers capitalized, moving into field-goal range before
Ethan Cutler connected on a 23-yard field goal to send EOU into halftime with a 31-14 advantage. Gutridge continued to lead the offense after halftime, finding Shipley for a 30-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. EOU added another score later in the quarter when Gutridge connected with Nutter on a 25-yard touchdown pass, pushing the Mountaineers' advantage to 45-14. The EOU defense kept Montana State-Northern off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game, preserving the 45-14 victory as the Mountaineers closed out a dominant afternoon at Community Stadium.
Gutridge turned in a standout all-around performance, completing 19-of-26 passes for 339 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 113 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. His 45-yard touchdown run was one of EOU's biggest plays of the afternoon. Through the air,
Coby Tanioka led the Mountaineers with six receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown, while
Dylan Shipley added five catches for 109 yards and a score. The Mountaineers also controlled the ground game, rushing for 262 yards on 51 attempts. Riedel contributed 58 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, while
Jevon Nelson added 37 yards and
Zachariah Frazier finished with 34 yards. Defensively,
Nehemiah Medrano paced EOU with 10 tackles, including two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.
Payton Howe added four tackles and an interception, while the Mountaineers recorded four sacks as a team and held MSU-Northern to just 173 yards of total offense.
With the win, EOU improves to 3-1 on the season and will continue its 2026 campaign next week as they head to Arizona Christian University on October 10th. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
