Eastern Washington football faced No. 16 Montana today (Nov. 12) in its fifth matchup against a ranked Football Championship Subdivision this season. The Grizzlies were in control of the game from the beginning and won, 63-7 in Missoula. Eastern Washington now falls to 1-6 in the Big Sky and is 2-8 overall this season. Montana improves to 4-3 in conference and 7-3 overall this season.

The Grizzlies compiled 604 yards of total offense, with 337 yards on the ground. They averaged 7.8 yards per rush. The Eagles recorded 310 total yards. Time of possession was similar, with Eastern holding the ball for 29:10 and Montana controlling for 30:50.

"[Montana] started fast and continued fast. They made a lot of big plays early and they put points up. We couldn't counter-punch what they were doing," head coach Aaron Best said. "They went in as a run-first team and they opened it up against us. Our guys competed as always. They love each other, but it wasn't our day today. We played a team that was playing really good football at the end of the year. We didn't execute enough today. It was a physical team we played , and we lost some guys in the process. Kekoa [Visperas] came in and played well in the second half. It was his first time playing, knowing he was going to be in there for an extended time. He battled, made some plays and moved the ball. The future is bright for him. The guys look forward to compete behind anyone and in this case, it was Kekoa."

Montana jumped on Eastern in the first quarter, scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions. Eastern had four three-and-outs on its first five drives.

At halftime, Eastern was down 42-0 after the Grizzlies scored 21 points in the second quarter.

Kekoa Visperas took the reins at quarterback in the third quarter. Visperas connected with Blake Gobel for a six-yard pass. Visperas's touchdown pass was the first of his career. The redshirt-freshman completed 9-of-12 passes for 69 yards.

On the receiving end, Efton Chism III caught eight passes for 71 yards, while Freddie Roberson had five catches for 79 yards.

Silas Perreiah led the Eagles in rushing with 60 yards on 11 carriers.

Marlon Jones Jr. notched his third interception of the season and sixth for his career, with a goal-line pick in the third quarter. Jones Jr.'s interception was the only turnover in the game.

Eastern Washington will play its final game of the 2022 season next Saturday, Nov. 19 at Roos Field when they host Northern Colorado. The game will kickoff at 1 p.m. Pacific Time and will be broadcast on SWX along with being streamed on ESPN+. 
 
Scoring Summary and Game Details
Montana would score first on an 18-yard touchdown pass that was set up by an earlier 45-yard completion for Grizzlies. The drive was three plays for 65 yards in just under a minute of game time at 57 seconds.

The Grizzlies would then jump ahead 14-0 on an 80-yard rush. The drive was only one play and accounted for 12 seconds of game time. The lead was then extended to 21-0 on a five-yard touchdown pass to finish a seven-play, 70-yard drive in 2:40.

Opening the second quarter, Montana struck with its fourth touchdown, a two-yard run. The drive was four plays for 65 yards in 1:18. The Grizzlies continued to rack up yards, organizing an eight-play, 69-yard drive to score the team's fifth touchdown in 3:17. The touchdown was a 23-yard run. Montana added another touchdown with eight plays for 53 yards in 2:39.

Eastern put together a good drive into Montana territory, marching 56 yards in nine plays. The drive ended with a missed 37-yard field goal and Eagles trailed 42-0 at halftime.

Starting the third quarter, the Grizzlies scored twice in the first five minutes with 15 and 22-yard touchdown runs. Montana had a 56-0 lead.

Kekoa Visperas came into the game in the third quarter and led Eastern down the field for the team's first touchdown. Visperas threw his first career touchdown pass to Blake Gobel, a six-yard completion. The drive was 12 plays for 87 yards that lasted 5:11.

With 2:02 left in the third quarter, Marlon Jones Jr. intercepted the Grizzlies at the two-yard line to halt the drive.

Montana would add their ninth touchdown of the game at 7:25 left in the game on a 19-yard touchdown pass. The drive was 13 plays for 85 yards that took 7:24 off the clock.

Additional Comments from Coach Best

On Silas Perreiah
"Silas ran hard and created some lanes for us. He had some juice in the second half. He got us going and got the sticks moving. He was able to move the chains which allowed us to extend plays and let us get into the rest of the playbook. Silas definitely played with a little bit of an edge today."

On Montana's offense
"They played more physical than us and they were hungry after October. They came to play against Cal Poly last week, and then played well against us today. They did attack somewhat different than what they showed on film. They had some explosive plays, but that was partially due to some missed tackles and opportunities. You have to give a team credit when they take advantage of when we were not in the right position. There were guys who made big plays for us today. Marlon Jones Jr. had a good day. There were guys flying around and trying to take on two blocks at one time."