CHENEY, Wash.  — Time has sped by since fall camp started in August and the 2025 season is coming to a close this weekend. Eastern Washington football travels to play Cal Poly on Saturday (Nov. 22) in San Luis Obispo, Calif. and kicks off at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans at home can listen to the game live on 700 ESPN and the Varsity App with the voices of the Eagles, Larry Weir and Paul Sorensen. 

Last Time Out
Eastern Washington hosted senior day this past week and its final home game of the 2025 season against Northern Colorado. Eastern defeated the Bears, 27-7, behind a shutdown defensive effort. The tone for the game was set early as there were only three points scored in the first quarter, by way of a Soren McKee 38-yard field goal. UNC scored early in the second quarter to take its first lead of the game. EWU responded quickly, marching 75 yards on nine plays to score, with Jake Schakel connecting with Cole Pruett for a 12-yard score. The Eagles would strike again, as Schakel found Nolan Ulm for a 14-yard touchdown later in the quarter. A late 22-yard field goal from McKee gave Eastern a 20-7 lead at halftime. In the second half, EWU added a one-yard touchdown run from Kevin Allen III, while the defense shut the Bears out in the half.

In the game, Eastern's defense made 5 interceptions and allowed UNC 326 yards of total offense. Jake Schakel passed for 299 yards on 31-of-41(75.6%) passing, with two touchdowns and one interception. Miles Williams caught 6 passes for 94 yards in the game. 

Closing out Against the Mustangs
Eastern Washington has controlled the series against Cal Poly in program history, holding a 12-2 advantage over the Mustangs. On the road, EWU is 4-2 against Poly, while being 8-0 at home. The Eagles have won the last 10 matchups in the series. The teams took a year off from playing one another, after facing off in Cheney in the 2023 season. Eastern defeated the Mustangs 48-13 on Roos Field. In the game, Eastern scored 45 points in the first half to put the game away early. Tuna Altahir rushed for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns in the game, while Kekoa Visperas passed for 2 scores and 169 yards. EWU rushed for 205 yards in the game. The last meeting in San Luis Obispo was during the 2022 season, as the Eagles left with a 17-10 win. Eastern forced 5 turnovers in the game to power the win. Read Sunn led the defense with 10 tackles in the game, his fourth double-digit tackling game of the season. 

Senior Celebration
This past Saturday was Eastern Washington's final home game of the 2025 season and the team celebrated senior day, honoring 20 student-athletes pre-game. Walking pre-game included Bryce Lucas, Jheison Saunds, Jaden Price, Fletcher Gibson, Riley Rudolfo, Brandon Thomas, Tariq May, Aidan Corning, Dylan Conner, Talon Betts, Wesley Garrett, Landon Cooper, Read Sunn, Landon Ogles, Noah Cronquist, Malik Dotson, Jared Taylor, Trevor Thurman, DaJean Wells and Nolan Ulm. The group had 3, 6-year players in Thurman, Wells and Ulm who started at Eastern in the 2020-21 COVID season. 

Five for Picks
It was a senior day to remember this past Saturday as Eastern Washington recorded 5 interceptions against Northern Colorado. The total is tied for 2nd in EWU history for a single game, matching 5-interception games in 2009 against Portland State and 2003 against Sacramento State. The single game record is 7 against Weber State in 1989. Jaylon Jenkins got the Eagles started with a 1st quarter interception. In the second quarter, Eastern ended 2 consecutive UNC drives with interceptions from Drew Carter and Jonathan Landry. Isaac Redford made a 3rd-quarter interception and JoJo Maxey-Johnson closed the game in the 4th quarter with a pick. Carter, Redford and Maxey-Johnson all made their first career interceptions, while Jenkins had his 5th and Landry his 2nd. The 5 turnovers forced was also the most since Oct. 22, 2022 vs. Cal Poly where they had 5 forced as well.

The Eagles had a streak of 7 consecutive games with a pick earlier this season, which matched the longest streak since 2018.Jonathan Landry extended the streak against Sacramento St. with an interception in the 1st quarter, his first career pick. Jenkins started the streak against Northern Iowa earlier in the season in what was his first career interception. Dre Greeley helped the streak with his first career interception against Western Illinois, returning it 46 yards to the WIU 4-yard line and setting up an EWU touchdown. Ambrose Marsh notched his first career pick against Montana State earlier this year. The 7-game streak is the longest since 2004 when Eastern intercepted a pass in 12 consecutive games (9/18/04-12/5/04). Overall this season, Eastern is tied for 2nd with 13 interceptions this season, ranking 6th in the FCS.

Plus Side of Turnovers
The turnover battle is key in any game and Eastern Washington knows this first hand. Since 2010, EWU is 76-9 when winning the turnover margin. EWU was +4 on turnovers against Northern Colorado this past week. It was the largest turnover margin since Sep. 28, 2019 vs. North Dakota, when the Eagles were +6. The +5 margin this past Saturday puts Eastern at +3 cumulative for the season, with 18 forced and 15 committed. On the leaderboards, Eastern ranks 3rd in the Big Sky and 37th in the FCS in turnover margin. They rank 2nd in the conference in turnovers created - 16th in the FCS - and 7th in turnovers committed. 

Top Ball Hawk in the Nation
Jaylon Jenkins is the opportunistic safety in the secondary for the Eagles. After making his 5th interception of the season, Jenkins is now tied for the FCS lead in the category. Jenkins is 2nd in the Big Sky with 12 passes defended, averaging 1.18 a game. He has 7 pass breakups to go with the 5 interceptions. The redshirt-sophomore is tied for 12th in the FCS in total passes defended, and is tied for 36th with 7 pass breakups. Jenkins' interception against Weber St. gave him 3 consecutive games with a pick. Not to shy away from contact, Jenkins ranks 4th on the team with 47.0 tackles, 34 of them solo. 

Only Single Digits Here
Eastern allowed a season low, 7 points to Northern Colorado this past week. It is also the lowest point total allowed by the Eagles since Nov. 9, 2019 vs. Idaho State when they won 45-5 over the Bengals. Over the last 5 games, the defense is allowing 17.2 points. For the season, Eastern averages 29.0 points per game. 

Stepping in at QB
The Eagles continue to suffer from injuries at the quarterback position. After Jake Schakel exited the game on Saturday, true freshman Kaden Rolfsness entered the game to lead the offense. Rolfsness showed toughness, rushing 8 times for 36 yards (4.5 per carry). He only attempted 1 pass in the game. Originally from Puyallup, Wash., Rolfsness played 22 games for Puyallup in his high school career. He passed for 1147 yards, throwing 13 touchdowns and carrying a 56.2 completion percentage. On the ground, Rolfsness rushed for 449 yards, scoring 6 touchdowns on 86 attempts(5.2 average). In addition, Rolfsness had 10 tackles for Puyallup. Rolfsness was rated a 2-star prospect by 247Sports.com.

Kicking Consistent
Soren McKee is the steady scoring presence for the Eagles this season, accounting for a team-leading 52 points. McKee averaged 4.7 points per game that ranks 24th in the Big Sky. He has converted 9-of-11(81.8%) of his field goal attempts this season, with a long of 51-yards. Over the last month, McKee has made 2 field goals in 3-of-5 games, with 1 make against Montana. On PATs, McKee is 25-for-26 and is 123-of-124 for his career. After this past game, McKee moved into 4th on the all-time PAT list, passing Troy Griggs(1999-01) mark of 120. His streak of consecutive made PATs ended earlier this season against Western Illinois after making 107 consecutive attempts. McKee is 28-of-39(71.8%) on field goals for his career. He is currently tied for 5th all-time in makes and is 7th in attempts. McKee's averaged puts him 5th all-time. His 207 career points scored ranks 11th in program history. 
 

---

2025 EWU football tickets are now on sale! Join Spokane County's team for all five home games at Roos Field in Cheney starting as low as $99. Group tickets, fundraising options and single game tickets are also available. For more info, visit goeags.com/fbtickets or contact the EWU Ticket Office at 509-359-6059 or tickets@ewu.edu. 

Join the Eagle Athletic Fund for as low as $50 per year! Support Eagle student-athletes on and off the field while enjoying exclusive EAF perks such as season ticket and tailgating priority, invitations to special events, exclusive access, and more. Visit goeags.com/eaf for more information.

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.

FOLLOW THE EAGLES
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram