SACRAMENTO, Calif. — You would have thought the odds were against Eastern Washington football, on the road against a ranked opponent, but that was not the case on Saturday night. Eastern defeated No. 18/20 Sacramento State, 35-28, at Hornet Stadium, ending a four-game losing streak. EWU improves to 1-1 in the Big Sky and 2-4 on the season.
"I guess the best way to put it is a tale of two halves. There were six possessions total in the first half. You could hear the fans in the stands because both teams possessed the ball and scored at the end of the drives. In the second half, you're talking about a fake punt, a missed field goal and an onside kick. It was a bizarre 60-minute ballgame, cut into 30-minute pieces," head coach Aaron Best described. "There was a tone of resilience. We talked at halftime with the defensive staff that we can't keep doing what we've been doing. We have to challenge the team to make the opponent play faster. We did that by putting a little bit more pressure on them defensively. Took a shot with a surprise onside kick for the second week in a row. Offensively, we wore them down and it was a good, stout rush defense that we attacked in a lot of different ways. There is a ton of credit that goes to the offensive line, tight ends and running backs. We executed at a high level on offense for the better part of the day."
The third quarter was the turning point of the game, after Tuna Altahir scored from four yards out on a pass from Kekoa Visperas on the Eagles' opening drive of the second half.
EWU then got aggressive, recovering an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff.
Eastern turned to the grown game on their drive, moving the ball into the redzone with rushes from Altahir, Visperas, Malik Dotson and Jared Taylor. It was Taylor's turn and he stretched the wing out with a 14-yard TD run.
In the third quarter, Eastern outgained Sac. St. 185 to 6 in total offense. EWU's defense held the
For the game, the Eagles rushed for 286 yards on 54 attempts - 5.3 average per attempt. Altahir had a game-high 102 yards on 16 carries and one touchdown. Taylor rushed 17 times for 98 yards and two scores.
Scoring Summary
Sacramento St. opened the scoring with a 13-touchdown pass after a 13 play drive, going 75 yards.
Undeterred, Eastern marched down the field in response, as Kekoa Visperas found Efton Chism III for 2 catches and 19 yards. In Hornet territory, Tuna Altahir took the handoff and darted for 25 yards and into the endzone. The Eagles tied Sac. St. at 7 each.
The Hornets answered with another long drive, going 75 yards in 15 plays to score on a 1-yard TD throw.
It was Eastern's turn for a long drive, and they moved the ball down the field, with Malik Dotson carrying the ball 3 times for 25 yards. After Jared Taylor found Michael Wortham for a 14-yard catch, EWU was in the redzone. Two plays later, Visperas called his own number and ran the ball in from 1 yard out to tie the game at 14 with 8:13 left in the half.
Staying with the theme, Sac. St. produced another 15 play drive for 76 yards, ending in a 13-yard TD reception. The Hornets were now up 21-14 and 1:13 on the clock. The score held until halftime.
Visperas was sharp out of the break, finding Noah Cronquist for a 32-yard strike into the redzone. Visperas moved the team closer with a pass to Chism. At the 7-yard line, Visperas found Altahir out of the backfield for the untouched run into the endzone. The Eagles tied the game at 21.
The Eagles turned to the grown game following an onside kick recovery, as Dotson, Altahir, Visperas and Taylor drove the team down the field for 55 yards in 8 plays. Taylor carried the ball for 14 yards and the go-ahead touchdown. Eastern had its first lead of the game, 28-21, at the 7:46 point of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Eastern drove nearly the length of the field - 99 yards - to separate from the Hornets. Taylor scored his second touchdown from 23 yards out and EWU had a 35-21 lead with 2:46 left in the game. Taylor carried the ball 5 times for 51 yards on the drive.
Sac. St. had one last effort, driving 75 yards in 48 seconds to cut the lead down to 7, at 35-28. Eastern had built a large enough lead and won the game.
Eag Notes
- Eastern Washington improved to 13-1 against Sacramento State in Sacramento and 20-6 overall in series history. The win broke a two-game losing streak against the Hornets.
- Alphonse Oywak recorded his first career interception in the third quarter. He's played in 23 games for EWU and finished with 3 tackles against the Hornets.
- Tuna Altahir scored his second rushing touchdown of the season and first receiving touchdown. It is Altahir's fourth career game with a rushing and receiving touchdown. He now has 16 career touchdowns, 12 rushing and four receiving.
- Eastern defeated a ranked team for the first time since last season when they defeated No. 15 UC Davis, 27-24 in Davis, Calif. It was head coach Aaron Best's 11th win against a ranked opponent.
- The Eagles have recovered an onside kick in two-straight games after Conner O'Farrell recovered Jackson Cleaver attempt tonight. Samarai Anderson recovered Sac. St.'s onside kick attempt at the end of the game.
- Efton Chism III led the team with 67 receiving yards on 7 catches.
Up Next
Eastern will be back at home next week for homecoming week and hosting the current No. 6 team in the nation, UC Davis. The game will kickoff at 4 p.m.
Season and single game tickets for the 2024 football season are now available! Ticket packages can be purchased online via your Paciolan account, over the phone at 509-359-6059, or by emailing tickets@ewu.edu.
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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