HAMMOND, La. — The road is tough anytime and Eastern Washington football experienced it first-hand on Saturday night. Eastern dropped its first road game of the season to Southeastern Louisiana, 28-24. The Eagles fell to 1-2 on the season and the Lions improved to 1-2.
EWU took the lead in the third quarter on a Soren McKee field goal from 36 yards. SLU responded with a five-play, 54 yard drive to go ahead by four points. The defenses battled throughout the fourth quarter, with neither team producing a score.
Eastern could not get its offense going to retake the lead in the game and create a scoring opportunity.
SLU controlled the line of scrimmage, rushing 47 times for 253 yards.
Kekoa Visperas completed 21-of-28 passes for 243 yards with one touchdown. Noah Cronquist caught four passes for 71 yards and one touchdown. Malik Dotson scored two touchdowns and had 47 yards rushing.
Scoring Summary
It was the ground game that scored first for the Eagles, but the passing game set up the score. Efton Chism III took a pass from Visperas and raced 30 yards into the Lion redzone. Two plays later, Dotson ran in, standing up, for the touchdown. Eastern was up 7-0.
SLU tied the game on the next drive with a seven-yard toss to the running back. The game was tied after one quarter.
Now in the second quarter, EWU moved the ball again effectively. Visperas called his own number and burst through for a 32 yard game. On the next play, Visperas found Michael Wortham for a 22 yard pass, downed at the Lions one-yard line. One play later, Dotson carried the ball again for the score. The Eagles now had a 14-7 advantage.
After the teams traded defensive stops, the Lions managed to tie the game by way of a 35 yard rush from Harlen Dixon. Their next drive, SLU drove 62 yards on eight plays to take a 21-14 lead with 1:40 left in the half.
In the clutch, Visperas found Cronquist for a 43 yard touchdown pass to tie the game. It was Cronquist's first career touchdown. Visperas was poised on the drive, going 4-of-4 for 75 yards on the drive. The game was tied at 21 at halftime.
After stopping SLU on their first drive of the second half, Eastern organized a 12 play, 53 yard drive to put McKee into field goal range. The redshirt-sophomore converted the 36-yard opportunity and EWU had the lead back, 24-21, at 8:42 on the clock.
Eastern led going to the fourth quarter, but the Lions were driving into Eagle territory. Dixon was again difficult to stop, rushing for 23 yards and giving SLU a 28-24 lead seven seconds into the fourth.
Eag Notes
- Efton Chism III recorded his 250th career catch and finished with seven in the game for 83 yards. He moved into second on the all-time receptions lists with 254, passing Eric Kimble (253).
- Malik Dotson scored two rushing touchdowns in the games, first career touchdowns, marking his first scores as an Eagle.
- Noah Cronquist caught his first career touchdown pass in the second quarter to go into the half.
- Two Eagles earned their first sack against the Lions as Tylin Jackson recorded his first career sack solo. Ahmani Williams joined with Isaiah Perez for his first career time registering a half sack.
Up Next
Eastern Washington plays its second consecutive road game, traveling to Nevada in Reno, Nev. next Saturday, Sept. 21, with kickoff at 12 p.m. Pacific Time.
Season 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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