Eagles hope Weber win will attract fans

The Eastern Washington football team proved it can bounce back.

Now the Eagles are hoping the fans come back.

Eastern returns to Woodward Field this weekend for the first time since playing Montana with first place in the Big Sky Conference on the line two weekends ago.

That game drew a record 10,756 fans for a game won by the visitors 31-28 when they blocked a field goal with 18 seconds to play.

“It was a great college football game and great college football atmosphere,” Eastern athletic director Scott Barnes said. “I think a lot of people were surprised at the atmosphere we were able to bring to our venue. Our biggest concern was getting people in and out of Cheney and seated in our new stadium format. … Events of that magnitude in a town of this size don’t come without their problems, (but) we felt it went very, very well in terms of logistics.”

The Eagles rebounded to crush Weber State on the road 51-7. Now the Eagles, back into the I-AA rankings at No. 25, face Sacramento State, which visits Cheney for homecoming. Game time is 2 p.m.

“Homecoming is typically one of our best attended games,” Barnes said. “We would expect there to be 7,000 or more. I’d like to see more than that, but we’re hoping for at least that.”

Beating the Hornets (2-5, 1-3) is critical for the Eagles (5-3, 4-1). That would set up a season-ending game Nov. 13 at Montana State, currently ranked 24th, with the possibility of a share of the league title and/or a playoff berth on the line.

“Although the Montana loss stung, I think the Weber State win gets us back on track to accomplish some of our goals as a football program,” Barnes said. “I’m hopeful the community would see that we’re absolutely in the race and how important that game is for us.”

The Nov. 6 home finale against undefeated Cal Poly, ranked fifth, also factors into the playoff scenario.

A week before the Montana game, EWU played 16th-ranked Northern Arizona before 5,171 fans.

Basketball is also about to tip off, and Barnes is hoping for a bounce in attendance with the Eagles as the defending league champions and NCAA Tournament participant for the first time.

“We certainly feel there is a tremendous amount of momentum coming into this year,” he said. “We would like to see that grow our season ticket base more than it has. We have seen an increase, but as athletic director, I’d like to see more. Certainly the buzz is there like never before.”