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Big Sky honors Zamora, Custer as Eagles move up in polls

Eastern Washingtons Miquiyah Zamora puts a stop on Northern Iowa’s Tyvis Smith for a loss in Saturday’s game at Roos Field in Cheney. Zamora recorded 14 tackles against Northern Iowa and was named the co-defensive Big Sky player of the week. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Eastern Washingtons Miquiyah Zamora puts a stop on Northern Iowa’s Tyvis Smith for a loss in Saturday’s game at Roos Field in Cheney. Zamora recorded 14 tackles against Northern Iowa and was named the co-defensive Big Sky player of the week. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo

Two Eastern football players won honors from the Big Sky Conference on Monday for their roles in the Eagles’ 34-30 win over Northern Iowa on Saturday.

Senior linebacker Miquiyah Zamora was named the co-Defensive Player of the Week after making 14 tackles, and true freshman running back Antoine Custer Jr. is the Special Teams Player of the Week after momentum-turning 93-yard kickoff return to start the second half.

The win – Eastern’s first over UNI in seven tries – also pushed the Eagles into the top five in both Football Championship Subdivision polls announced Monday.

The Eagles, 2-1 going into Big Sky play Saturday at Northern Arizona, moved up two spots to fifth in the FCS Coaches Poll, one place above Big Sky rival Montana. Eastern made a bigger jump in the STATS media poll, going from eighth to fourth.

Five-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State tops both polls.

Saturday’s game marked Zamora’s seventh career double-digit tackle performance, and was two below his career high.

The team captain from Pasco, also had a sack, another tackle for loss, a pass broken up and a quarterback hurry versus UNI when he not only played his usual middle linebacker position, but because of injuries, had to play at strong-side linebacker as well.

“He didn’t just step up physically making plays, but he stepped up mentally in playing a role and position where he hadn’t taken a lot of reps at,” coach Beau Baldwin said. He was a tremendous leader for us, and showed great passion and energy. He brought a lot to the table, especially in the second half.”

Zamora is the first Eagle honored with the award since Ronnie Hamlin did it twice in 2012.

Eastern held Northern Iowa to 353 yards — Eastern’s best defensive performance since it limited Montana to 347 in a 37-20 win over the Grizzlies in the FCS playoffs in 2014.

Zamora now has 278 career tackles, moving him into 12th in school history.

Custer’s heroics came in the third game of his college career. With Eastern trailing 24-7, Custer took the second-half kickoff at the 7-yard line, scooted left a and followed his blockers down the sideline to put Eastern back in the game.

Custer’s TD return was the first by an Eagle since teammate Shaq Hill had a 90-yarder against Portland State in 2014.

Hill provided three blocks down the sideline during Custer’s return.

“It is a huge accomplishment for Antoine and for our program to receive that honor for the second time in three weeks,” said Baldwin, noting that kicker/punter Jordan Dascalo won the honor two weeks earlier after a 45-42 win at Washington State.

Custer was a California two-time All-State selection out of powerhouse De La Salle High School. He rushed for 4,429 yards (103.0 per game and 10.3 per carry) and scored 66 total touchdowns while helping his team compile a 41-2 record in three seasons.