Ewu Seniors Dominate All-Big Sky Team Playoff-Bound Eagles Claim Both Top Individual Honors
Eastern Washington coach Mike Kramer still recalls the pain and anguish of his young players following a 52-35 loss to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in late November of 1995.
The lopsided defeat dropped the curtain on a 3-8 season that had all but destroyed the confidence of a talented class of sophomores who were beaten and bruised after 11 weeks of cruel on-the-job training.
Quarterback Harry Leons was lying down on a bench next to his locker, staring at the ceiling. When Kramer walked over, he sat up.
“Coach, what can I do?” he asked. “What can I do?”
“I just wrapped an arm around him and said, ‘Hang in there with us until ‘96,”’ Kramer said. “And at that moment, I wasn’t sure I was going to be around to watch him.”
Leons - like Kramer - hung in there, fighting through a season-ending knee injury in 1996 to lead the Eagles to a 10-1 record, a Big Sky Conference championship and a postseason playoff berth this fall.
And Tuesday, his perseverance was further rewarded when he was named the Big Sky’s offensive player of the year and joined eight of his senior teammates - including tackle Chris Scott, the league’s defensive player of the year - as first-team selections on the 1997 All-Big Sky football team.
Other Eagles named to the first team included running back Rex Prescott, center Kevin Peterson, offensive tackle Jim Buzzard, wide receiver Jeff Ogden, defensive end Steve Mattson, linebacker Derek Strey and free safety Maurice Perigo.
“Nine guys make first team out of one class? Good God!” Kramer exclaimed. “That ‘95 season was such a bruising, brutal, nasty, wicked thing to them that they were absolutely committed, like nobody I’ve ever been around, to avenge it - not for their coaches, but for themselves.
“This whole senior class just embodies the fact that no matter how you struggle when you’re young, you always have a chance as a senior if you’re willing to be diligent. And that’s what these guys have been.”
Leons was perhaps the most pleasant surprise. After playing in only five games last year, he emerged as the leader of an offense that averaged 505.6 yards per game and was the most productive among I-AA schools. The 6-foot-2, 211-pounder threw for 2,588 yards and 21 TDs and led the Big Sky with a 169.53 rating, the fourth-highest in the country.
Scott, a 6-2, 250-pounder, anchored a defense that allowed an average of just 17.2 points per game and led the conference in rushing, passing and total defense.
He finished the regular season with 59 tackles, including 10 sacks, and recovered two fumbles.
Buzzard, Strey and Perigo were repeat first-team selections.
“This group of seniors just responded with poise and dedication, set their jaws and gave us an opportunity to be the kind of football team we’ve become,” said Kramer, who will send his Eagles up against Northwestern State at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the I-AA playoffs at Albi Stadium.
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