‘He was a different dude today’: EWU’s Efton Chism III leads offensive showcase in season-opening win over Monmouth

There was little doubt around the Eastern Washington football team this preseason that it was going to have plenty of options offensively.

An All-American wide receiver. The reigning Big Sky passing leader. An offensive line with four returning starters.

On Thursday, that offense delivered.

Eastern churned up the front half of Monmouth’s defense with a methodical, variable rushing attack, and Kekoa Visperas and Efton Chism III carved up the Hawks’ secondary as the Eagles won their season-opener 42-27 at Roos Field in front of an announced crowd of 4,612.

“I think there was a seriousness about us; I think there was intent and purpose,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said. “Losing sucks, no matter if your daughter is playing monopoly or if you’re at home playing a non conference (football) game. It’s hard to take, and I think they’ve got some resolve, and they showed that tonight.”

On each of their first seven drives, the Eagles ran at least eight plays. Over that span they scored six touchdowns. The senior Chism caught three of those, tying his single-game career-high.

“Just his passion for the game, his love (and) his character really showed today,” Visperas said of Chism. “He attacked his role to the fullest.”

Chism finished with a career-best 173 receiving yards (on 12 receptions) and climbed to eighth on the program’s all-time career list with 2,714 yards; he is eight yards shy of tying his one-time teammate Talolo Limu-Jones for seventh place.

Most of Chism’s yards – 134 of them – came after the catch. His third touchdown exemplified his ability to make players miss: With the Eagles up 35-14 early in the fourth quarter, Chism caught a pass at the 15-yard line, avoided a tackler and veered away from the sideline and toward the end zone, dodging two more defenders as he maneuvered his way to a touchdown.

“He faces guys up, he’s got multiple moves, and he knows what he’s got to do with the ball,” Best said. “He’s always got a plan.”

Making his 12th start, the redshirt junior Visperas was at his most efficient. He completed 25 of 28 attempts for 275 yards and a career-high five touchdowns while also rushing for 29 yards. He even caught a pass for seven yards and a first down on a play where Best said Visperas was Jared Taylor’s first passing read, if he elected to throw (as he did) instead of run.

It was part of a three-headed quarterback attack for the Eagles, who seamlessly transitioned between Visperas, senior Michael Wortham and the redshirt junior Taylor in the shotgun behind senior center Jack Seelye.

Wortham finished with 37 rushing yards on eight carries. Taylor ran 14 times for 64 yards.

“When we put all three guys out there, all three can get first downs with their legs and arms,” Best said.

Yet they were all outdone on the ground by redshirt junior running back Tuna Altahir, who looked agile and powerful on his way to 108 yards on 16 rushes.

To Visperas, Altahir – who had the third collegiate 100-yard rushing game and surpassed 1,000 yards in his career at Eastern – looked changed.

“He was a different dude today,” Visperas said. “He literally told me on the sideline like, ‘I’m here to have fun, and if I’m not having fun I’m doing it wrong.’ I seriously haven’t heard him talk on the field in the past two years. To see him open up and really be enjoying his role and attacking, that was cool to see.”

It all added up to a huge night for Eastern’s offense, which racked up 547 yards, more than it accrued in all but one game last season. Their 265 rushing yards were the Eagles’ most in a game since gaining 323 against Division II Central Washington on Sept. 11, 2021, and it was their most against a Division I opponent since the final game of the 2019 season (299 against Portland State).

Defensively, Eastern Washington delivered on the promise that it would be more aggressive and shifty, especially in the first three quarters.

After Monmouth scored two touchdowns to tie the game at 14, Eastern held the Hawks scoreless on their next three drives. That included two fourth-down stops when the Hawks were hovering on the edge of field-goal range and opted to go for it instead of kicking.

“Once you score at first, teams are going to come out and give you their best shot right then and there,” said redshirt freshman safety Derek Ganter Jr., who had a team-high six tackles. “So we knew we had to do what we had to do: slow it down, don’t get too high, don’t get too low.”

That defense was exposed late, when Monmouth scored touchdowns on back-to-back fourth-quarter drives, cutting Eastern’s lead back down to 15.

But by then the Eagles had done enough offensively to cushion the blows.

Eastern’s next drive stalled after one first down, and Monmouth got the ball back after a punt with 2:08 to go. But Kentrell Williams Jr. ended that drive with an interception – the only turnover of the game by either team – with 1:12 to go.

Monmouth ran 21 times and gained 49 yards; last season, opponents averaged 232 yards per game against Eastern.

Now the Eagles will get a couple extra days to prepare for another home game on Sept. 7 against Drake, a second straight nonconference FCS opponent.

“In (all) three areas I think we won that ballgame tonight,” Best said, “and that was really nice to see in Game 1.”