‘It all came together’: Eastern Washington ramps up energy, execution on both sides of football in dominant opening win
As the Eastern Washington defense was carving up the Monmouth (New Jersey) offense in the Eagles’ 42-27 season-opening victory on Thursday night at Roos Field, the Hawks’ defense was struggling to do the same to Eastern’s counterpart.
That imbalance wasn’t so common last season, when the Eagles frequently found themselves in scoring shootouts.
To Derek Ganter Jr., the difference ran deeper against the Hawks.
“Everything felt different from last year,” the redshirt freshman safety said. “The energy is different. Our captains are talking, they are letting us know. It’s just everything as a whole is different.”
Ganter played in four games last year – the maximum allowed for a player who is still going to redshirt that season – and started two. He didn’t start against Monmouth, but he was one of many second-string defenders who got plenty of playing time, and not just because the Eagles built an early two-touchdown lead.
“Coach is going to put guys in to make plays, and we’ve got a lot of dudes who can do a lot of different things,” Ganter said. “One thing we can say is, we’ve got depth.”
The coach he’s referring to is first-year coordinator Eric Sanders, who last year joined the EWU staff as its linebackers coach after numerous stops elsewhere, including the NFL. He was promoted last offseason.
Sanders has preached the standard of “ACT,” Ganter said, which is an acronym for attack, communicate, together.
“That’s something we take to heart, and that’s something that we want to do every time we step on the field,” said Ganter, who tied for the team lead with six tackles on Thursday. “It all came together (against Monmouth).”
A lot went well for the Eagles’ defense in the game. It held the Hawks to 49 rushing yards on 21 carries, a total it held just one opponent to last year: Idaho State, which threw and threw and threw the football in a feverish – and successful – comeback last season over the Eagles in Pocatello, Idaho. Six other EWU opponents last year ran for at least 200 yards.
“It’s got to be a privilege for teams to pass the ball against us, and we know that (stopping the run) was a weak point for us last year,” Ganter said. “That’s something we take very personally here, and that’s the change in the culture that we’re setting here. We want to stop the run. We want to. We get to.”
The Eagles also held on fourth down at the end of two crucial third-quarter drives when the Hawks stalled on the edge of field-goal range. On the first fourth down, the Eagles forced an incomplete pass; on the second, Kentrell Williams Jr. stopped receiver Tra Neal 1 yard shy of the mark on a 4-yard reception.
Eastern’s offense answered each of those stops with touchdown drives, doubling a 14-point lead into a 28-point advantage.
After that, the Eagles allowed back-to-back touchdowns on drives of 75 and 89 yards, souring a bit the finish for Eastern’s defense.
“We haven’t figured out all the things,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said. “There was a lot that I heard in the headphones … It’s still new. It’s our first game on defense with some of those checks. Some guys got behind us in situations with 5 minutes left in the game. When we’re three scores ahead, we can play a little more intellectually and situational.”
The Eagles played 13 underclassmen on defense, and it was against those younger players in the secondary that the Hawks found open space on their final scoring drives. But the younger players also made plenty of plays: redshirt freshman linebacker Samarai Anderson made five tackles; Dishawn Misa, another redshirt freshman, had a sack and three tackles.
With Eastern’s offense finding space and taking its time down the field, the Eastern defense was also spared from overuse. The Hawks ran 63 plays, 20 fewer than the Eagles , and they possessed the ball for 22 minutes, 42 seconds.
The last time Eastern had such a lopsided advantage in time of possession was against UC Davis in 2018, when the Aggies had the ball for 22:45 of a game the Eagles won 59-20.
Eastern’s next game comes again at home on Saturday against the Drake Bulldogs, whose first game of the season on Thursday against Division II Quincy was declared a no contest after severe weather forced its cancellation after halftime. Drake led 10-0, but all stats from the game were nullified.
The two programs have never played football against each other.