Defense makes its case in second EWU spring scrimmage

Big-play offense in the form of touchdown passes of 63 and 70 yards from quarterback Gage Gubrub to Nsimba Webster provided the second Eastern Washington spring scrimmage with its flash.

But it was the defense that got a lot of the attention from head coach Aaron Best last Saturday at Roos Field.

“The guys in the red jerseys brought the energy,” Best said of his defensive squad. “It was obvious in certain situations — they made things happen.”

The offense generated 294 yards through the air on 33 attempts, while rushing 33 times for 104 yards. But eight sacks generated by the defense resulted in 37 yards of losses, giving the offense a total of 360 yards on the day.

The defense also had seven passes broken up in holding EWU’s quarterbacks to a 14 of 33 passing performance. The defense even recorded safeties on back-to-back situational plays, both inside the 3-yard line. Taking away three big pass plays, the defense surrendered only 191 yards on 71 plays, just 2.7 yards per play, an improvement over last week’s 3.4.

Gubrud finished 7 of 12 for 202 yards and also led a 10-play, 55-yard drive to open the scrimmage, but it ended with a blocked field goal by Andre Lino.

Defensive end Albert Havili was one of eight different players to record sacks to go with four total tackles. Jay-Tee Tiuli also had a sack, four tackles and forced a fumble — the lone turnover of the day by the offense — that was recovered by teammate Darnell Hogan.

Eastern closes out spring practice with the annual Red-White Game on Saturday, April 29 at 2 p.m. at Roos Field which is open to the public with no admission charge.

Killin Dinner tickets still available

Tickets are still on sale for the 36th Annual Killin Dinner, Dance and Auction, which is the featured event of “Eagle Week” at Eastern Washington University. The event follows the annual Red-White Spring Football Game on April 29th at 2 p.m. at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.

Tickets are $100 per individual and $700 for a table of eight. More information is available via: http://goeags.com/killin. A registration link on that page may be used to order tickets.