QB Mitchell has best game as an Eagle, defense's picks stop three Wildcat scoring chances
FROM STAFF AND NEWS SERVICE REPORTS
The Eastern Washington University Eagles discovered, albeit somewhat reluctantly, there is football success without Taiwan Jones.
Without their biggest total yardage producer and electric big play man, Eastern scored 21-straight second-half points to beat the Weber State Wildcats 35-24 in a Big Sky Conference football game last Saturday at Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah.
Junior quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell passed for 337 yards and four touchdowns and the defense had three interceptions that led to scores. Mitchell was 23-of-36 as he finished with his first 300-yard passing game for the Eagles.
“It felt really good – I was proud of the way we responded,” Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin said. “We came out with a focus.” His team lost 30-7 a week earlier at Montana State.
“They made a little run and got the lead in the third quarter, but our guys kept fighting back,” he added. “There were a couple of different times where I was really proud of that fight.”
And Mitchell was a key cog in the effort.
“He took each play one at a time and kept taking what they would give him,” Baldwin said of Mitchell. “He took underneath routes when they were there and led us to first downs.”
Senior Ashton Gant had career highs with five catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Kaufman added five grabs for 138 yards.
With Jones and his 238.8 average all-purpose yards not available, backup Darriell Beaumonte rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown. True freshman Mario Brown added 36 yards on the ground. The Eagles had 128 rushing yards.
Beaumonte and Brown each caught touchdowns passes. The Eagles finished with 465 yards of offense to Weber State's 459.
“We talked about two goals in this game -- to try and win the rushing game and winning the turnover battle,” Baldwin explained. “I told them if we could do that and take each play one at a time, we could win this game. The players executed that really well.”
Defensively, Buck Buchanan Award candidate J.C. Sherritt had an interception and 11 tackles. Matt Johnson had the 13th interception of his career that led to a first-quarter scoring drive for the Eagles.
“We had our hands full defensively, but our players did a good job,” Baldwin said. “We slowed them down early so we were able to get a lead and keep a lead going into halftime.”
Eastern scored on its first possession putting together a nine-play, 66-yard drive that was capped by a 12-yard touchdown strike from Mitchell to Gant.
The Eagles then used a 13-play, 65-yard drive to score with five seconds left in the first half, with Brown scoring his first career touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Mitchell and led 14-3 at the half.
Eastern put together a 68-yard drive early in the second quarter, but it ended when Mitchell threw an interception in the end zone on a second down play with Eastern at the Wildcat 12-yard line.
The Wildcats, behind the arm of one of the league's top quarterbacks in 2008 Big Sky Offensive MVP Cameron Higgins, got back in the game in the second half. Weber State scored on its first possession of the third quarter, then scored on its next offensive play on a 65-yard flea-flicker play to take a 17-14 advantage.
Barely two minutes later, the Eagles regained the lead on a 37-yard TD pass from Mitchell to Gant to cap a six-play, 80-yard drive.
On Weber State's next possession, Eastern's Tyler Washburn intercepted a deflected pass at EWU's goal line, returning it 32 yards, stopping a 73-yard Wildcat drive. That led to a 68-yard EWU scoring drive, capped by a 16-yard TD pass from Mitchell to Beaumonte.
History repeated itself on the next possession, but this time it was Sherritt who had the interception at the goal line and returned it 33 yards. A 67-yard drive ended with Beaumonte's 7-yard touchdown run and a 35-17 lead with 9:43 to play.
Eastern is now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Sky. Weber State is 2-3 and 1-2 in the league. After splitting a pair of road games, Eastern next hosts Northern Arizona on Oct. 9 on Hall of Fame Day at Eastern. Kickoff is 1:05 p.m. at Roos Field.
Northern Arizona University at
Eastern Washington
TV: Televised in the Spokane area by SWX TV. Radio: 700-AM ESPN “The Ticket” in Spokane. Larry Weir returns for his 20th season calling the play-by-play, with analysis handled by Paul Sorensen. Internet Radio: http://www.espnnorthwest.com. Weekly Coaches Show: Mondays, 6 p.m. at the Q Sports Bar and Restaurant at Northern Quest Resort & Casino. 700-AM ESPN “The Ticket” in Spokane and http://www.espnnorthwest.com. Watch Parties: All road games will be available to watch at the Q Sports Bar and Restaurant at Northern Quest Resort & Casino. Webcast: http://www.bigskytv.org. Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWUAthletics.
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