Interceptions are key to Eagles 38-31 win

CHENEY - Through three quarters of their game with Eastern Washington on April 10 at Roos Field, the Idaho Vandals ran, ran - and ran some more.

The ground game had been good to Idaho with 278 yards on the day and helped them earn a 31-24 lead on the red turf through the halfway point of the third quarter.

Sure, they used the pass too, but pretty sparingly considering their quarterback Zach Borisch had not taken a "live-fire" collegiate snap since graduating from Kamiakin High School several years ago. One pass let Cheney High grad Logan Kendall loose for a 25-yard score on Idaho's opening drive of the second half and put Idaho up 24-17.

But with the score tied at 31-31, two Vandal pass plays in the fourth quarter, however, turned this budding upset of the No. 9 ranked Eagles into a 38-31 Eastern win. The teams opened the season on Feb. 27 in Moscow where Idaho claimed a last-minute 28-21 victory in the Kibbie Dome.

Facing a third-and-17 on their own 42, Borisch's pass landed in the arms of Keshaun King with 8 minutes, 52 seconds to play. Two minutes and two seconds later Dennis Merritt had his third score of the day and his Eagles led 38-31. Merritt was Eastern's second leading ground gainer on the day with 64 yards on nine carries, behind the 71 net yards on 16 carries from Tamarick Pierce.

Idaho (2-3) took over on their own 34 with 6:43 remaining and drove to the Eastern 37 when Borisch passed again on fourth-and-one. This time the Eagles' Mitchell Johnson gobbled up the ball allowing his team to run out the clock on a win crucial to playoff hopes.

 "We did enough to win this game and that's what it's all about," head coach Aaron Best said.

Eastern finished the truncated winter/spring Big Sky Conference schedule at 5-1, just behind 5-0 Weber State and the Eagles hope their body of work as winners of five straight games impresses the selection committee? The field of 16 teams will be chosen Sunday, April 18 to play towards a May 15 date in Frisco, Texas for the Football Championship Subdivision title.

"We were 5-1 in a six-game conference, and ranked in the top 10," Best said. "Our resume is pretty strong. We did what we needed to do and are undefeated at home during this abbreviated spring season. If that doesn't cement one of the six at-large bids, I'm not sure what does."

The Vandals tried hard to kill that postseason buzz before it had a chance to get started.

With Borisch taking snaps and his running wild at will for 205 yards, Idaho toyed with claiming the upset - and a third consecutive victory over Eastern. Normally a wide receiver, Borisch was tabbed as starting QB when a trio of regular Vandal signal callers were unavailable due to a variety of issues. He scored twice and ate tons of clock that gave the Vandals a sizeable 36:23 to 23:37 edge in time of possession.

Borisch's counterpart, Eric Barriere did just enough to allow his team to win on a windier than usual day in Cheney as strong westerly gusts played tricks on balls both thrown and kicked. He completed 18 of 38 passes for 309 yards, a pair of touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Freddie Roberson caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Barriere on the game's first drive and then Talolo Limu-Jones sped 66 yards for the score in just 37 seconds to tie the games at 24-24 early in the third quarter.

Eastern's bend not break defense found the opportune times to finally stifle Idaho's ground game. After stopping the Vandals just once in the first half they forced three Idaho punts - and the two turnovers - in the second.

Anthany Smith had a career-high 17 tackles for EWU, eclipsing the 10 he had earlier this season at Idaho. Others with double figures for tackles were Jack Sendelbach (14).

"It was astounding," Best said of his team's late-game heroics, especially the key plays and stops made by EWU's defense. "The average field position for Idaho was about the 35-40-yard line. No matter who is running an offense, it's going to be extremely difficult for your defense when it's out there every time at mid-field."

Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at [email protected].