HAMMOND, LA — Eastern Washington’s football team has lived by how it has both used the ground game on offense and defended opponents rushing efforts.
The Eagles found out how it was to be on the other side of things Saturday evening during a 28-24 non-conference loss to Southeastern Louisiana in muggy Hammond on the turf at Strawberry Stadium.
A 23-yard touchdown run from Harlan Dixon in the opening moments of the fourth quarter vaulted SLU into a lead they would protect for the next 14 minutes, 46 seconds to win their first game in three tries in 2024.
After a win to openthe season, Eastern has now lost two in a row.
“They ran when they wanted to and we just couldn’t quite put a wall up to keep them behind the sticks,” head coach Aaron Best said in a post-game radio interview. “At the end of day they legitimately made more plays when they needed to.”
Following the score, the Lions used a pair of possessions to drain the clock, the most crucial being one spanning the game’s final 5:22 following Eastern’s failure to convert on a fourth down at the SLU 18. For the game the Lions had an edge in time of possession of over. Ine minutes.
Through two previous games against Monmouth and Drake, Eastern held opponents to 116 total running yards while churning out 471 themselves. Southeastern Louisiana ground out 253 — a clip of 5.4 yards per carry — with Anthonio Martin Jr. (149) and Dixon (92) doing the big damage.
Eastern had 90 net yards on 29 carries, a shade over three per play with Malik Dotson leading the Eagles with 47.
The teams played turnover-free football, but Eastern did fail on a pair of fourth down conversions.
The teams were tied at 21 following a pair of Eastern TDs from Dotson and then Noah Cronquist’s 43-yard score — the first of his career — with 33 seconds to play in the first half.
Soren McKee’s 36-yard field goal at the 8:42 mark of the third quarter let Eastern briefly regain the lead 24-21.
Quarterback Kekoa Visperas completed 21-of-28 passes for 243 yards, seven to Efton Chism III recorded his 250th career catch and moved into second on the all-time receptions lists with 254, passing Eric Kimble’s 253.
Eastern plays its second consecutive road game, traveling to Reno to face Mountain West Conference Nevada (1-2), Sept. 21, at noon. Eastern last faced the Wolfpack, then led by quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2010, losing 49-24.
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