After falling behind 14-7 in the second quarter, the Eastern Washington University football team scored 28 unanswered points to close the 2022 season with a 45-21 victory over Northern Colorado Saturday (Nov. 19) at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash. Eastern had its best scoring output of the season as both schools finished the season 3-8 overall and 2-6 in the Big Sky Conference.
 
"We're going to let this one marinate a bit – these guys have worked their tails off the entire season," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "We put together our best game of 60 minutes at the end of the season. We didn't necessarily peak in the mid-season at the most opportunistic time, but we peaked in our 11^th game at home. I'm proud of our team – we're 1-0 this week and we haven't been able to say that too often this year. It was an all hands-on-deck effort and everybody had a hand in the win. We played pretty darn well in all three phases."
 
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kekoa Visperas made the first start of his Eagle career and completed 81 percent of his passes – 17-of-21 for 235 yards and two touchdowns despite EWU's top two receivers not playing in the game. Visperas, who is from Spanaway, Wash. (Bethel HS), had a 6-yard rushing touchdown to start the game's scoring.
 
Tuna Altahir, also a redshirt freshman, had EWU's best individual rushing total of the season with 153 yards on 23 carries, including a 51-yard touchdown rush during EWU's 28-0 scoring run. He also had a 7-yard receiving touchdown as Eastern finished with a season-best 262 rushing yards, eclipsing the previous best of 179 in a win at Cal Poly on Oct. 22.
 
Ten different Eastern players caught passes from Visperas and reserve Simon Burkett, as they played in place of injured starter Gunner Talkington. Starting receivers Freddie Roberson and Efton Chism III also didn't play, after combining for 97 receptions and 13 touchdowns in EWU's first 10 games this season.
 
Junior Anthony Stell Jr., made the sixth start of his career and led the Eagles with four catches for 78 yards and a 42-yard TD pass from Visperas to give EWU a 42-21 lead in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Nolan Ulm also started and had three grabs for 41 yards, and sophomore Malaki Roberson made the first start of his career and had a catch for seven yards.
 
Defensively, Eastern had season-best performances in holding UNC to 79 yards passing and 233 yards total. A trio of Eagles had nine tackles each – senior Mitchell Johnson, junior Ely Doyle and Jaren Banks. Johnson had four quarterback hurries and a sack to finish his 58-game career with and 18 1/2 sacks to rank 12th in school history, and finished with exactly 200 tackles.
 
Both teams had interception returns for a touchdown, with Northern Colorado's coming in the second quarter and giving the Bears a 14-7 cushion. Eastern's came in the third quarter when Tre Weed had a 40-yard return that gave EWU its biggest lead of the day at 35-21.
 
Eastern had 11 previous interceptions this season entering the game, but none were returned for any yardage.

Junior Demetrius Crosby Jr. also had an interception to help seal the win in the final quarter, and sophomore Matthew Brown had EWU's other sack.
 
True freshman kicker Soren McKee kicked his first field goal as an Eagle, a 33-yarder in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin. The 45 points scored bettered Eastern's previous best of 36 in its season-opening 36-29 win over Tennessee State. That was also the last time EWU won at Roos Field, as the Eagles lost home games since then versus fourth-ranked Montana State, fifth-ranked Sacramento State and Portland State – two of them by three points each.
 
Johnson Finishes Second in Career Games Played on Senior Day
Senior defensive end Mitchell Johnson played in his 58th and final game on Senior Day at Roos Field, ranking him second all-time in school history and first among defensive linemen. The only Eagle to play in more games for Eastern was offensive lineman Tristen Taylor with 60 from 2016-21.

Johnson also closed with 46 games started to rank seventh all-time, and No. 1 for defensive lineman. His 200 tackles ranks 43^rd in school history, and his 18 1/2 sacks is now tied for 12^th. He also closed his career with six forced fumbles, just one from the school record of seven set by T.J. Lee III from 2010-13.

Seniors Wyatt Musser and Debore'ae McClain each played in their 55^th games as Eagles, ranking them No. 3 behind Johnson and Taylor. Tight end Dylan Ingram played in his 54^th, becoming the ninth Eagle to play in at least that many games.
 
Scoring Summary and Game Details
Kekoa Visperas moved the ball down the field in his first career start. He was a perfect 3-of-3 on passes for 40 yards. Inside the redzone, Visperas called his own number and scampered for a six-yard touchdown rush. The drive was nine plays for 75 yards in 2:50. Tuna Altahir carried the ball five times for 29 yards on the drive.

Eastern would again move into UNC territory on their next drive, marching 85 yards on 15 plays. The Eagles were stopped on fourth down at the Bears' one-yard line in a drive that lasted 5:48. The score remained 7-0 Eastern.

In the second quarter, UNC drove into Eastern territory and faced fourth-and-one with 6:01 on the clock. The Bears converted the fourth down conversation. On the next play, UNC quarterback Dylan McCafferey connected with his receiver for a 20-yard touchdown pass and the game was tied at seven with 5:32 left in the half. The drive was 16 plays for 77 yards that took 8:31 off the clock.

The Bears created pressure on Visperas on Eastern's fourth drive, forcing the redshirt-freshman to throw an interception at their own 48 yard line. UNC returned the interception for a touchdown and the Bears had their first lead at 14-7 with 3:28 on the clock.

After the UNC touchdown, Justice Jackson returned the kickoff 44 yards and gave the Eagles great field position. Visperas then orchestrated a five play, 48-yard drive, with Silas Perreiah scoring a two-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14. The drive took 1:22 off the clock and left UNC 2:06 in the half.

Following the touchdown, the Eagles defense forced a three-and-out from UNC and had the ball back with 1:10 to try and take the lead back. Visperas hit Nolan Ulm for 34 yards on the crossing route and Eastern was inside the Bears 20. Two plays later, Visperas would find Altahir on a short seven-yard pass for the redshirt-freshman's first career touchdown reception. The drive went five plays for 62 yards in just under 30 seconds.

Eastern went into the half with a 21-14 lead.  

Altahir found the endzone again in the third quarter, racing for a career-long 51 yards to score his third rushing touchdown of the season and fourth for his career. The run also gave Altahir his first career 100 yard game. The drive was three plays for 66 yards in just under a minute of game time to extend the Eagle lead to 28-14.

On UNC's next drive, Tre Weed stepped in front of McCaffrey's pass and to took it 40 yards for the touchdown. It was Eastern's first interception returned for a touchdown since Oct. 9, 2021, also against Northern Colorado. The touchdown was Weed's first career TD and gives him three interceptions in 2022 and six for his career. Eastern now held a four-touchdown lead over the Bears.

UNC responded on the next drive, stringing together a 12 play, 65-yard drive to score a six-yard touchdown pass from McCaffrey. The Eagles now led, 35-21, with 3:12 left in the third.

Demetrius Crosby Jr. came up with his second interception of the season with 12 seconds left in the third quarter. Crosby Jr. took advantage of a deflected pass caused by Gabriel Johnson and now has five interceptions in his career.

The Eagles would take advantage of the turnover, as Visperas found Anthony Stell Jr. across the middle for a 42-yard touchdown pass. It was the longest career pass and the longest career reception for Visperas and Stell Jr. respectively. The drive was five plays for 54 yards in 1:30 as Eastern doubled up the Bears, 42-21.

Soren McKee would convert his first career field goal, a 33-yard kick to put Eastern up 45-21. The drive comprised of nine plays for 39 yards in 3:16.
 
More Comments from Aaron Best
 "The seniors played their last game – we knew it would be memorable. From start to finish I thought our guys played really well in all three phases. Kekoa played very efficient, very well and very confident. The pick-six didn't phase him, and sometimes with young guys it can drive them to a bad spot or drive them to say it's done. It was fun to watch him – he loves to celebrate with his teammates and it was fun to celebrate 45 points for sure."
 
On Weed's Return: "It's kind of the ebbs and flows of a game – it's the first interception all year where it gained yards. It was a big one. It was a turnover and we always try to get on the plus side of things. If there is one thing we did well this year from start to finish was to be on the plus side of turnover margin. There are other things we needed to do better to help those numbers out, but it was huge. You have big plays in moments of games like that where you don't necessarily need them, but you highly want them. It just means a little more."
 
On Seniors: "They mean everything – it's the same every year. There are so many things you don't see that mean a ton. We do what we do because of those kids. You just see the ball (games), but we get to see everything else. The product wasn't awesome this year, but the people are. I'm forever privileged and humbled to be a part of the lives of 18-to-23 year olds. Hopefully I can be a factor in one way, shape or form. I thank those guys because we ask them to do a lot. College athletics is hard, and it's not just playing games for 60 minutes and keeping score. They put a lot on the line and sacrifice a lot. I appreciate that."