Eastern Washington football adds University’s Waylon Romero, Mt. Spokane’s Bode Gardner to signing class

Eastern Washington bolstered its line and its fleet of wide receivers with the signing of five more football recruits on Wednesday.

Four of the five are from Washington state, including two from the Spokane area: University High’s Waylon Romero, a defensive end; and Bode Gardner, a wide receiver from Mt. Spokane High School.

The additional signees gives Eastern 28 total recruits in the 2024 class after it announced 23 other players during the early signing period in December.

The oldest player signed Wednesday is defensive end Caleb Manson, a defensive end originally from Orange, California, who spent 2021 and 2022 at the University of Nevada. Listed at 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, Manson has three years of eligibility remaining. He took the 2023 season off.

Romero, listed at 6-4 and 230 pounds, was a first-team All-GSL defensive lineman and is the son of Dario Romero, who was a two-time All-Big Sky defensive end for Eastern Washington in 1999 and 2000.

The Eagles also signed one offensive lineman, Alex Hach, from Tumwater High School, where he was the Washington High School Football Coaches Association 2A State Defensive Player of the Year. The Eagles expect the 6-4, 250-pound lineman to switch to offense.

The two wide receivers signed Wednesday were the 6-2 Gardner and Aiden Nicholson, a 6-1, three-star recruit from Mountain View High School in Vancouver.

Like Romero, Gardner is the son of a former EWU football player: Brian Gardner was an Eagles linebacker in 1995 and 1996.

Of the 28 recruits in the 2024 class, 12 are from Washington.

The Eagles, who went 4-7 overall last year, will open the 2024 season on Aug. 29 at home against Monmouth.