DAVIS, Calif. — The streak continues. The offense came to life in the second half and the defense made big plays in critical moments as Eastern Washington extended their all-time record over UC Davis to 11-0, winning 27-24 over the 15
th-ranked Aggies in Davis on Saturday night. It was EWU's second-straight win over a ranked opponent and improves their record to 2-2 overall, 1-0 in conference play.
"We've been in a lot of these (type of games) over the years, been in three of these the last three weeks. I'm not going to say we're battle-tested, but we've been tested by three different ball clubs," said head coach
Aaron Best after the game.
"We got our first road victory, got our first Big Sky victory. It was a tough game. Far from perfect, but (the team) responded and we came out victorious. It's awesome."
Defensively, the Eagles played with their hair on fire, forcing three turnovers — including
Marlon Jones Jr. scoring on a pick-six for the second week in a row — and blocking a field goal to preserve the lead late in the fourth quarter. They added 7 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.
"It was not clean, but against good teams it's probably not going to be that clean," Best added. "We were gritty, we were tough, we were resilient. All of those things that Eastern Washington football resembles, we were all those tonight and we had to be."
EWU is now 70-4 since 2010 when winning the turnover margin. Saturday night was the first time this season they had done so.
Jones stepped in front of a hitch route outside the numbers and scampered 38 yards down the sideline to make it a 10-3 game with 2:05 left in the first quarter. The Preseason All-Big Sky selection had a game-clinching interception for touchdown against then 19
th-ranked Southeastern Louisiana last week and now boasts 8 career picks.
The Eags made it 17-3 early in the second with a 6-yard touchdown run from
Justice Jackson — his third in as many games — but the Aggies responded quickly as star running back Lan Larison exploded up the middle for a 78-yard score minutes later to cut the EWU lead to 7. Larison finished the game with 256 yards on 22 carries but left with an apparent leg injury late in the third quarter. A short touchdown reception by UCD tight end Josh Gale made it 17-17 at halftime.
Eastern's
Soren McKee kicked his second field goal of the game on the Eagle's first drive of the third quarter to make it 20-17 but Davis responded with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped with another short touchdown, this time on a shuttle pass to receiver Trent Tompkins, putting the Eagles behind 24-20 headed into the fourth.
Eastern scored the only points of the final frame, and what would ultimately be the game-winning touchdown, on a fake reverse by backup quarterback
Michael Wortham around the left side with 13:08 left in regulation. The junior transfer from Sierra College lined up at running back, took a handoff from
Kekoa Visperas and faked a pitch to the reversing receiver before darting 10 yards to the left pilon for his second career score, pushing EWU ahead by 3.
The Eagle defense stepped up in the fourth, allowing just five first downs in the quarter and securing their third turnover with an intereception by team captain
Brock Harrison, who dropped into coverage from his defensive end position and leaped up to snare the ball near the left hash.
With under three minutes to play, the Aggies moved the ball into Eastern territory but stalled at the 14-yard-line, settling for a 31-yard field goal attempt to tie the game. Defensive tackle
Isaiah Perez, a transfer from BYU, was able to get his arm up for the block, sending the Eagle sideline into a frenzy and stunning the crowd of over 14,000 at UC Davis Health Stadium.
Visperas finished the game 22-of-31 for 208 yards through the air, adding 33 yards on the ground. Jackson led the rushing attack with 62 yards on 13 carries.
Robert Mason III led Eagle receivers with 4 catches and 63 yards.
Efton Chism III kept his reception streak alive at 34 games with 4 for 41 yards and is now just 97 yards from 2,000 in his career.
Linebacker
Ben Allen led tacklers with 9 including 1 TFL. Defensive end
Da'Marcus Johnson was a menace particularly in the second half, finishing with 5 tackles, 2 TFL and a QB hurry.
The Eagles return home next week to take on 7
th-ranked Idaho at home on Sept. 30. The Vandals improved to 3-1 with a win over Sacramento State in Moscow on Saturday afternoon.
Eastern's next home game is Saturday, September 30 vs. Idaho. It will be Welcome Weekend at Roos Field in Cheney as we welcome students and faculty back to campus. Tickets for Sept. 30 and all EWU Athletics events are available at goeags.com/tickets or via the EWU Athletics Ticket Office at 509-359-6059.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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