Eastern comes out punching
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Walkup Skydome became a woodshed, and 8,974 fans witnessed a whippin’ inside Saturday afternoon.
The 15th-ranked Eastern Washington Eagles dominated Northern Arizona from start to finish, administering a 42-14 thrashing of the hometown Lumberjacks.
“As a team it was definitely our best game,” Eagles quarterback Erik Meyer said. “We ran the ball, we were able to pass the ball, and the defense played well. So for sure, it was our best game this year.
That sets up an important Big Sky Conference football game in Missoula next weekend, when Eastern (3-2, 2-1) faces fourth-ranked Montana (4-1, 3-0).
By the start of the fourth quarter, the only suspense was whether Eastern All-American wide receiver Eric Kimble would set the school record for all-purpose yards. He didn’t.
Otherwise, the only thing to do was wait for the final numbers to be posted, and they were staggering.
Eastern ran 100 plays to 40 for NAU.
The Eagles piled up 583 yards – 261 on the ground – with 35 first downs to just 185 total yards and nine first downs for the Lumberjacks (2-4, 0-3). And in the 60-minute game, EWU held the ball for 41 minutes, 58 seconds.
“We played better,” Eastern coach Paul Wulff said.
“We ran the ball well, and our kids played hard. When we run the ball well, that sets up everything for us. When you do that, you have a chance to win games.”
Meyer completed 23 of 31 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns, Kimble had seven catches for 95 yards and a big TD, Raul Vijil had seven catches for 82 yards, Ryan Cole had 158 yards and a TD on 29 carries, and the defense was stifling.
“Before the game the coaches really called out the defensive line as a whole and told us it was up to us,” tackle Garrett Quinn said.
“If we wanted to win, we had to come out on fire.”
NAU had 69 yards on the ground, but that included the one real defensive mistake, which allowed Alex Watson to score on a 68-yard reverse. The Lumberjacks also got a late 25-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Brian Wriston, but for the game he was just 7 of 12 for 83 yards after starter Jason Murrietta went 4 of 12 for 33 yards through three quarters.
“Basically we lost the game at the line of scrimmage,” NAU coach Jerome Sauer said. “We didn’t manage to run the ball enough, we didn’t pass protect and we weren’t able to consistently stop their running game.
“I don’t know if you can say enough about Erik Meyer. … Eric Kimble is the real deal. They’ve been making plays for a long time.”
The Eagles scored on their first three possessions for a 17-7 lead and then duplicated that in the second half. It was 42-7 with 11:27 left when the benches emptied.
“It’s tough to win down here, I know that,” Wulff said.
“It’s a good win for us on the road. You have to win on the road if you expect to be in the hunt at the end. We found a way to do it this time.”