On October 22 last year, the Eastern Oregon University football team had just lost a heartbreaker in La Grande by three to Montana Tech and a week before been shutout by Carroll College at home 34-0. EOU was 2-5 in conference play and 3-5 overall. That's when things changed in Mountaineer football.
Momentum swung the following week with a double-overtime win at Rocky Mountain College, a three-point win at home over Montana State-Northern, and a season-ending 37-14 convincing win over Montana-Western. Three straight wins, a winning-record, and a positive outlook towards the off-season, all under a first year coach.
At the beginning of the year EOU was picked to finish at the bottom of the conference last season, after a finish like that Frontier conference coaches feel different about these Mounties. When the 2007 preseason poll was released, Eastern was picked fourth out of the six schools. Although second year head coach Ian Shields is not too concerned in the preseason poll, "We are optimistic about our season regardless of where we are in the poll. We just need to have a good training camp, get to the season and play the games."
Shields continued on this season, “Our only focus right now is to improve each practice and to prepare to play to the best of our ability when the time comes to face outside competition. So far, we have been doing a decent job in training camp of working together and becoming a team.”
In his first year at the helm, Coach Shields changed not only the outcome on the field, but in the classroom as well. The team GPA had an increase from 2.3 before his hire to a 2.9 after the fall term of 2006. 15 student-athletes were named to the Dean's List and three were named to the NAIA Academic All-Americans.
Eastern returns six players on offense and eight on defense to the field this year from their 2006 team. Fans will see 43 new faces from the Shields second recruiting class. “We certainly are in front of where we are a year ago, but that is to be expected in our second year and with a solid group of returnees that have taken a bunch of snaps,” Shields said on his experienced players.
OFFENSE
Quarterback
Junior Ian O'Brien returns to the QB position this year for the Mountaineers after throwing five touchdowns and seven interceptions last season. O'Brien completed almost half the passes he threw (43%) and threw for 1173 yards (146.6 yards a game).
Freshman Brad Padayao could see some time for Eastern this season as well. Padayao is 5'11”, 195 pounds, from Kapolei, Hawaii. He was named to the All-State football team and was the OIA Red West player of the year.
Running Backs
Junior fullback Travis Morsheck is back in the backfield for EOU. Morscheck ran 108 times last season for 534 yards, an average of 4.9 yards per carry and found the end zone twice.
It's all about new faces though this season carrying the ball. Fans need to watch for a couple of NCAA transfers, Jordyn Jackson from Western Washington University and Gavin Smith from the University of Idaho.
Jackson is a 5'10” 190 pound SB out of Vancouver, Washington. In high school his junior year he first team All-Region and All-State, and his senior season he was first team All-Region and All-State again, and state player of the year.
Smith is a 5'8” 175 pound SB out of Seattle, Washington. His high school honors include first team All-King County, first team All-State, All-Eastside Player of the Year, and set a Washington state record by running for 231 yards in the state championship game.
Wide Receivers
The EOU receiving core lost a play maker in Jomo Wilson to graduation, but returns a couple experienced players at the position. Senior James Mayfield returns for his final season as a Mountaineer after catching 11 balls last season for 142 yards (12.9 average yards per catch).
Clint Rodgers will make his offensive debut on the field this year for Eastern after playing in seven games and recording two tackles last season. Rodgers is a 6'4” 220 pound receiver from Hermiston, Oregon.
Offensive Line
A strong and experienced offensive line will return to the field for the Mounties this season, led by a new face. Junior Shawn Flanagan comes to La Grande as a transfer from the University of Oregon. Flanagan is a 6'5” 305 pound lineman who was All-State Offensive and Defensive Lineman at Pendleton High School, 1st Team All-IMC both offense and defense, Team Defensive MVP, holds school weightlifting records, 440 bench/330 power clean/620 squat, SuperPrep and PrepStar magazine All-Region, 11 sacks and 50 tackles as senior.
Sophomores Chad Achatz, Kevin Biddle, and Todd Johnson all return with experience at the position.
DEFENSE
Defensive Line
The D-line loses second team All-Frontier conference performer Jimmy Hoffman to graduation, but brings back NG James Williams, DE Ty Murdock, and has new talent in DE Kyle Witty. Williams recorded 24 tackles last season, 3.5 for losses; he had two sacks and recovered two fumbles, forcing one. Murdock had 47 tackles, 4 for losses; he recorded 2.5 for sacks, recovered one fumble, and deflected a pass.
Witty is a 6'4” 220 pound freshman staying home here in La Grande after graduated last year from LGHS. His high school honors include, 1st Team G.O.L Defensive Line, G.O.L. Defensive Player of the Year, All-State, and as a wrestler he was District Champion 2005 and 2006, 3rd place finish at state as Junior, 6th place as sophomore, and State Champion in 2007.
Linebackers
The four top tacklers for Eastern last season all return to this position.
Corey Dunn and Mario Olivares lead an experienced linebacker core for EOU. Dunn, a sophomore, was first-team All-Frontier conference last season; recording 89 tackles, 10 for losses, 2.5 sacks, two fumbles recovered, two fumbles forced, four passes broke-up, an interception, and a touchdown.
Olivares, a junior, had 73 tackles, six for losses, 1.5 sacks, three fumbles recovered, one forced fumble, and one blocked kick.
Senior Michael Eby and sophomore Terrance Pharr return to the position as well. Eby recorded 67 tackles, two for loss, one for sack, three passes broke-up, and recovered one fumble. Eby was also Academic All-Conference and received an NAIA Scholar Award. Pharr had 62 tackles, 3.5 for losses, 1.5 sacks, one pass broken-up, and one blocked kick.
Secondary
Sophomore Rodell Razor returns the cornerback position this year. Last season, Razor had 27 tackles, three interceptions, six passes broke-up, and was Academic All-Conference. Senior Josh Geiger is back after recording 59 tackles, six for losses, three sacks, two pass deflections, five passes broken-up, and one forced fumble.
Free Safety sophomore
Jeff McNally returns after having 30 tackles, one pass deflection, and three passes broken-up.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Sophomore Thomas Akers will have the kicking privileges again this season for EOU. Akers made seven of his 14 attempts last year with a long of 44 yards. He made 17 of his 18 point after touchdown attempts. Akers punted 23 times last season with an average of 39.3 yards leaving five inside the 20-yard line.
Rodell Razor returned seven kicks last season for 98 yards an average of 14 yards per return and had a long of 20 yards on a return.
SCHEDULE
For the first time in school history Eastern will have six home games. The Mountaineers open the season Saturday, September 1 in La Grande. EOU will open Frontier conference play the following week at Montana-Western. Montana-Western will also be the opponent for this year's homecoming game on October 13th.
EOU will then try to pull the upset on October 20th here in La Grande over perennial power Carroll College. Eastern will close out the season and honor seniors on November 10th against Montana State- Northern.
Coach Shields, “As far as upcoming games, we look forward to the competition when that time comes- but at present we really don't concern ourselves with anything other than what we can control. There certainly is some hard work in front of us in the next couple of weeks and we have a ways to go as far as mastering our systems of play offensively, defensively, and within the kicking game. To quote country music great Jerry Reed 'we have a long way to go and a short time to get there' prior to our opening game on Sept. 1st.”
