Eastern 'D' leads way to win over Cal Poly

The battle between longtime friends Aaron Best and Beau Baldwin decided a critical place in Big Sky Conference standings. Not first as one might expect but last as both Eastern Washington and Cal Poly have struggled in 2022.

But the Eagles' defense repeatedly held off the Mustangs, forcing five turnovers, and their offense did just enough to escape the Big Sky standings cellar, and San Luis Obispo, Calif. Oct. 22 with a 17-10 win.

"We have a lot of respect for Coach Baldwin and all those guys over there," head coach Aaron Best said. "We've spent a lot of time with them over the years. It's unfortunate that someone had to lose in a situation like this, 17-10. I wouldn't have guessed it would have been, 17-10, but it was." 

Besides Baldwin, the EWU Cal Poly connection includes former head coach Paul Wulff and Payton Award winning quarterback Erik Meyer.

The game, played at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, was tied at half 10-10 and remained that way until the 8 minute, 54 second mark of the fourth quarter. That's when Freddie Roberson collected a Gunner Talkington pass, ground and spun his way into the end zone for the deciding points.

But it was the Eagle "D" that sealed the deal. Following Roberson's TD, Cal Poly held the ball just two plays before Conner O'Farrell forced a fumble recovered by Kentrell Williams Jr. with eight minutes remaining.

The next Mustang possession lasted but three plays and 48 seconds before Demetrius Crosby Jr. nabbed a Bo Kelly pass at the 5:11 mark as Eastern ran out the clock and ended a five-game losing streak.

Eastern won the turnover battle, 5-3, which also included additional interceptions from Ely Doyle, Keshaun King, plus a fumble recovery by Matt Brown. The Eagles enjoyed a significant time of possession edge of 31:57 to 20:24.

"It seemed like they (turnovers) came in bunches the second half," Best said. "We didn't have one in the first half. I challenged the guys at halftime to find one or two (turnovers) and we found five," helping Eastern improve to 1-3 in conference play and 2-5 overall. Cal Poly drops to 0-4 and 1-6 in Baldwin's third season as head coach.

In what turned out to be a defensive contest certainly did not start that way as on a fourth-and-three from their own 27, Cal Poly true freshman quarterback Kahliq Paulette sped 51 yards down the left side for a score that put the Mustangs up 7-0 with just 1:55 gone.

Eastern tied it on an eight-play drive, the final 32 on a Talkington pass to Efton Chisim III with 8:08 left in the first quarter. With 25 seconds left in the first quarter, Wyatt Hawkins connected on a 34-yard field goal ending a clock-eating 13-play, 66-yard drive. Cal Poly tied it with a Jaden Ohlsen 33-yard field goal with 7 seconds remaining in the half, points set up by a Talkington interception which, ironically, came a play after Doyle's pick.

Talkington completed 21 of 29 passes for 170 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Justice Jackson led the team in rushing yards with 91 on 18 carries. Chism hauled in 57 yards on nine catches, while Roberson added another 64 on seven catches.

 Defensively, Ely Doyle (six tackles, interception) and Keshaun King (five tackles, interception) led the way.

Eastern returns to Roos Field Oct. 29 to face Portland State (1-3 Big Sky, 2-5 overall) in a 1 p.m. kickoff.