CHENEY, Wash. — It started at the end of July, but fall camp is now over for Eastern Washington football. Eastern's offense and defense went head-to-head for the second time to close out camp Friday afternoon at Roos Field.
After being held out of the endzone last week in Spokane, the offense stepped up with big plays on Friday.
Redshirt-freshman Jake Schakel found another second-year player, Boden Gardner, for an eight-yard touchdown on a fade route to the left corner of the endzone.
On the next drive, the two connected again, with Gardner racing for 72 yards and another score.
Schakel finished the scrimmage completing 9-of-14(64.3%) passes for 203 yards and the two touchdowns. He had a stretch of seven consecutive completions. Gardner posted three catches for 107 yards with the pair of scores.
Kyson Thomas also brought competitiveness on Friday, pulling in three catches for 75 yards. He had receptions of 45 and 25 yards.
Despite two touchdowns, the defense remained effective in the afternoon.
Vincent Macaluso led the team with four tackles, including 1.5 for a loss. Shea Robertson, Read Sunn and Jirah Leaupepetele each notched three tackles each.
From the secondary, Bjorn Birmingham, Marcus Lloyd, Ambrose Marsh and Dre Greeley recorded two tackles apiece. Samarai Anderson added two tackles for the day.
With fall camp complete, EWU now shifts its focus to the 2025 regular season, starting next week.
The Eagles travel to play No. 5 Incarnate Word on Saturday, August 30, with a 4 p.m. Pacific - 6 p.m. central - kickoff.
Redshirt-senior cornerback DaJean Wells earned a preseason All-American third team recognition from FCS Football Central earlier this summer. Wells ranked 16th in the FCS last season with 12 pass breakups and was also named to the
preseason All-Big Sky team.
Joining Wells on the conference's preseason team are defensive end Tylin Jackson and defensive end Trevor Thurman. Jackson enters his redshirt-sophomore year after making 24 tackles and one sack in 2024. Thurman made 16 tackles last season in nine games played.
Eastern was picked eighth in the Big Sky preseason media poll and ninth in the coaches'
*Note: Stats are unofficial
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.
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