Wildcats predate Grizzlies by decades as THE RIVAL for Eagles
File photo Whenever Eastern Washington and Central Washington meet - like in this game at Qwest Field in Seattle in 2010 where Matt Johnson makes a defensive play - the battles have generally always been fierce. Eastern won this game 35-32 in the last meeting between the two schools and went on to win the Football Championship Subdivision national championship.
Decades before football games between Eastern Washington and Montana were marked on the calendar well in advance, their first and arguably the most notable rivals were the Central Washington Wildcats.
While today's fans might look down their nose a bit, oldtimers recognize that when the Savages met the Wildcats on any sports field or court, it was largely the equivalent of war, waged 180 miles apart, sometimes twice a season in the old NAIA and Evergreen Conference days.
Former Eastern player Ray Stookey, a running back on the 1967 Savage team that played in the NAIA national title game, losing 28-21 to Fairmont State in West Virginia, remembers it well.
"They were always the team you had to beat to win the league championship and we had to play them twice a year," Stookey said.
And he has a lasting souvenir.
"They were always very physical and sometimes they took some cheap shots," Stookey recalled. "I have a false tooth from taking a cheap shot when fair catching a punt."
The Eagles and Wildcats have not played each other since 2010 - that a nail-biting 35-32 EWU win at Qwest Field in Seattle - and have met just seven times since EWU moved to the Football Championship Subdivision in 1984.
The first meeting in the series came in 1921, and the two teams met at least once each season from 1921-42, and again from 1946-79. Eastern has won eight of the last nine meetings but lost in an upset at then Woodward Field 21-14 in 2006.
And it was against Central in 1967 when the "new" Woodward, and present Roos Field, opened with a 25-21 Eastern victory.
Eastern great Billy Diedrick fondly remembered that "hard fought win" over Central in which the North Central High grad and Little All-American completed 14 of 26 passes for three touchdowns in the victory.
"There was great respect between the teams, both of us were very physical and there was always some chirping between teams," Diedrick said.
He remembered the Wildcats had a great linebacker, big physical and was an All American.
"As we broke the huddle, he was pounding his chest saying,'Run to my side, run to my side," Diedrick said. "Well, I checked at the line of scrimmage to a quick pitch to his side and Stookey ran for about 45 yards."
Eastern is 34-30-4 all-time against Central, which is an NCAA Division II school. Both the Eagles and Wildcats are picked to win titles in their respective leagues - EWU in the Big Sky Conference and CWU in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Eastern is ranked seventh in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll for NCAA Football Championship Subdivision teams, and Central is ninth by AFCA in Division II.
"We have to dot every I and cross every T, because Central is going to come in and play their best game this Saturday," head coach Aaron Best said.
And this year's meeting, Eastern's home opener on Saturday, Sept. 1, with a 1:05 kickoff at Roos Field, offers another twist not often seen as Central's current quarterback is former Eagle Reilly Hennessey. He directed CWU to an 11-1 record and perfect 8-0 mark in the GNAC in 2017 and will be reunited with former Camas (Wash.) High School, and Eagle teammates, Zach Eagle and Roland Alcobendas.
Hennessey played in 11 total games from 2015-16 at EWU, starting a pair and finishing with 1,017 yards and seven touchdowns. One of those scores was the fake field goal with 43 seconds to play that found Beau Byus for Eastern's memorable Roos Field victory over Northern Iowa.
"Reilly Hennessey knows us inside and out - he has walked these halls for three years," Best said. "So he will have an upper hand as far as knowledge, not only from a personnel standpoint but for schematics too."
Eagles vs. Central Washington
No. 9/7 Ranked Eastern Washington University vs.
No. 9 Central Washington, Saturday, Sept. 1, 1:05 p.m.
Roos Field (8,600). TV: Regionally in Eastern Washington on SWX. Radio: 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area. Larry Weir returns for his 28th season calling the play-by-play, with analysis handled by Paul Sorensen for the 16th year. Broadcasts begin one hour prior to kickoff and include an expanded post-game show.
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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