Defense makes plays as many offensive starters rest during Eastern Washington’s final scrimmage
The deck was stacked against Eastern Washington’s offense during the football team’s final scrimmage on Wednesday, considering who wasn’t playing.
No Kekoa Visperas, Michael Wortham or Jared Taylor. No Miles Williams, Nolan Ulm or Efton Chism III for the other quarterbacks to throw to, either, or the presumptive starting five offensive linemen blocking for them up front.
But a little extra confidence for the Eagles’ defense probably can’t hurt.
With just more than a week to go until they open their season at home against Monmouth (New Jersey), Eastern wrapped up preseason camp with its final scrimmage at Roos Field. It featured a couple of interceptions by redshirt sophomore safety Drew Carter and three sacks by sophomore defensive tackle Jirah Leaupepetele, who led a defensive unit that kept the offense out of the end zone.
“Playing a ton of young guys on offense isn’t an excuse for a lack of execution,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said. “But all in all, the No. 1 thing is we came out healthy. We’ve got all the guys to continue to compete throughout the season.”
Best said after the Eagles’ previous scrimmage on Sunday that the goal of this one was to settle on which depth players would make the travel roster. But that’s not something the Eagles will need to reconcile for a couple more weeks, as Eastern plays its first two games at home.
Redshirt freshmen Nate Bell and Aiden Carter and true freshman Jake Schakel handled all of the offensive snaps during the scrimmage. Bell’s numbers were best, finishing 5 of 10 for 51 yards on his five drives while throwing zero touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Carter (5 of 16, 53 yards) and Schakel (1 of 4, 4 yards) each threw an interception to Carter, one of the relative veterans who participated. Carter has played in 14 games for the Eagles, including three starts.
“There are still some guys that played today who’ve been playing on Saturdays for a couple of years,” Best said, noting Carter among them. “We’re never a finished product. We played more guys on defense because we have a new system on defense and those guys need more reps.”
On the offensive side, the Eagles rested running backs Tuna Altahir and Malik Dotson, a duo that figures to feature prominently in the rushing attack. Eastern has not released a depth chart for the opener, which kicks off at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Junior transfer Marceese Yetts got the most carries with eight (for 24 yards), with freshman Kevin Allen III getting five (for 16 yards) and redshirt sophomore Talon Betts another five (for 15).
Redshirt junior Visperas said he was in the ear of the quarterbacks who did play, offering them encouragement as they came off the field.
“There are a lot of thoughts and emotions as a quarterback,” Visperas said. “(I am) reminding them that it’s OK. Mistakes are meant to happen, and if you don’t make them then, you’re not going to be great.”
Eastern will turn its focus to preparing to play Monmouth, a team from the Coastal Athletic Conference that the Eagles have never faced.
Like Eastern, Monmouth is coming off back-to-back losing seasons; the Hawks finished 4-7 a season ago. Monmouth last played a Big Sky team in 2019, when it lost 47-27 to Montana in Missoula. The only other time it played a Big Sky team was in 2013, a 42-24 loss at Montana State.
As for the scrimmage, Best said the Eagles got out of it what they needed, and he is eager to hand out scouting reports in a couple of days.
At long last, the Eagles will be preparing for another opponent.
“We didn’t score many points (on Wednesday),” Best said. “But I would assume eight days from now, we’ll cross the goal line more than we did today.”