EWU-Montana rewind: Fourth-down meltdowns, a special day for special teams, and Efton Chism III’s big day

As much as Eastern Washington’s 52-49 loss to Montana came down to anything on Saturday, fourth downs were crucial.

The Eagles are now 1-4 overall and 0-1 in Big Sky play. They have a bye this week before playing at Sacramento State on Oct. 12, when they will look to end a four game losing streak. Three of those losses have come by four points or less.

Against the eighth-ranked Grizzlies (4-1, 1-0), Eastern’s defense was gouged for 701 yards by Montana’s offense, a figure that even the statistically bad defenses of the last two seasons never allowed. Of those yards, 89 came on three different fourth-down plays.

“It’s tough when it’s not three yards on fourth and 2, (but) when it’s 43 yards and the field flips and all of a sudden they’re in the red zone,” EWU head coach Aaron Best said. “We must be better.”

Montana’s first fourth-down conversion came in the second quarter when the Grizzlies led 17-14. Following a seven-yard gain on third-and-8, Montana quarterback Logan Fife dropped back and acted as if he was going to hand the ball off, only to keep it in his hands instead.

Eastern’s defense bit on the play-action, which allowed both Junior Bergen and Keelan White to get behind the Eagles’ secondary. Fife had his pick of either open receiver.

He chose Bergen, who caught the ball inside the 10 and ran the rest of the way for a 47-yard touchdown to make it 24-14, Montana’s first double-digit lead of the game.

“The one to Junior, we drew that up all week,” Fife said. “They were heavy into stopping our run, that was evident, and on fourth-and-1, I’m sure everyone’s thinking, get the ball inside.”

The next two conversions came in the fourth quarter as Eastern was making its comeback. Similar to the previous fourth-down conversion, this one was set up by a significant gain on third down. Needing 17 yards, Fife threw to Sawyer Racanelli for a gain of 15, setting up a more manageable fourth-and-2.

Rather than punt from the EWU 41-yard line, Montana went for it and gave Xavier Harris the ball on a jet sweep. He took the ball all the way to the EWU 1-yard line, and two plays later Fife threw to running back Nick Ostmo for a touchdown that extended Montana’s lead once again to 10 points, 45-35, with 5:11 to go.

“There were some crucial third and fourth downs when it would have been great to get a stop and get the ball back to the offense,” EWU senior cornerback Cage Schenck said. “We fought the whole second half. We kept trying to make plays and cut into that lead they had.”

The final conversion came after a 62-yard run by Ostmo got the Grizzlies into the red zone with just under 3 minutes left and Montana leading 45-42.

Facing third-and-goal from the 2, Fife threw incomplete in the end zone, and Montana was flagged for holding. Eastern opted to decline the penalty, setting up Montana for a fourth-and-2 play that afterward Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said the Grizzlies were ready to go for, rather than lining up for a field goal.

Best said his choice to decline the penalty was driven by a desire to conserve the clock.

“I wanted to buy the time and save the timeout,” Best said. “That was part of the thought process.”

Best said he also expected that Montana would go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 2.

“I trusted our (defense),” Best said. “We were in position. Fife made a play. Fife was a warrior today.”

Fife threw a two-yard touchdown to Jake Olson, Fife’s fifth of the game, giving Montana a 52-42 lead. And while Eastern answered with a touchdown, they did so with only 52 seconds left and zero remaining timeouts.

Special teams break Eagles’ way

Against a program known for its abilities in the kicking game, Eastern Washington, by Montana head coach Bobby Hauck’s estimation, had the edge Saturday.

“I thought they outplayed us in the kicking game, frankly,” Hauck said. “They just did a really good job.”

While both teams missed a field goal – after Ty Morrison opened the game’s scoring by making a 29-yard kick for Montana, every other score in the game was a touchdown or point-after kick – Eastern had a distinct edge in kickoff returns.

EWU kickoff specialist Jackson Cleaver booted five of his six kickoffs for touchbacks, and Montana’s lone return, by Junior Bergen, went for 21 yards.

Cleaver also recovered his own onside kick during Eastern’s second-half comeback.

“He’s pretty good at what he does, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” Schenck said. “We just know that no moment’s too big for him.”

Montana kicked off nine times and six of them were returned by Eagles senior Michael Wortham for 184 yards. His longest one – for 46 yards – set up a short field for the Eagles to score late in the fourth quarter to make it 45-42.

Wortham ranks second in the Big Sky in kick return average (26.1) and has returned 20 kickoffs, seven more than anyone else in the league.

“He’s a game changer, a playmaker. He’s got juice,” EWU senior receiver and punt returner Efton Chism III said. “… We’re trying to keep him going (so he is) not getting frustrated with not getting a touchdown, because I know he probably is.”

Run game shines

The Eagles recorded their third 200-yard rushing game of the season, with a net of 263 rushing yards on 39 carries, their best average (6.7) of the season.

It was a group effort. Redshirt junior Malik Dotson led the team with 14 carries for 77 yards, the fifth straight game in which he has had a higher rushing total than his last. He now has 271 rushing yards on the season and leads the team with three rushing touchdowns.

Redshirt junior Tuna Altahir ran 12 times for 74 yards (he leads the team with 306 yards on the season) while redshirt junior quarterback Kekoa Visperas ran for a career-high 61 yards and two touchdowns, and Jared Taylor, also a redshirt junior, ran for 51 yards on two carries that included a 48-yard touchdown run that got the Eagles going in the second half.

Chism climbs in record book

Another big day improved Chism’s status in the Eastern Washington record books.

He had the third three-touchdown game of his career – and his second of the season – to give him 31 career touchdown receptions, moving him into sixth place on Eastern’s all-time list. He is one behind Shaq Hill and two behind Nicholas Edwards and Brandon Kaufman, who share third place.

He also added eight receptions to give him 273 in his career, which already ranks second in program history behind Cooper Kupp (428).

Chism’s 107 receiving yards helped move him into sixth place on the program’s career list with 3,054 yards. Kendrick Bourne ranks fifth with 3,130 yards.

Through five games, Chism has 47 catches for 513 yards and seven touchdowns, each of which leads the Big Sky.