Eastern ends losing streak at Sac State, 35-28

“It was a bizarre 60-minute ballgame, cut into 30-minute pieces.”

— Coach Aaron Best

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eastern Washington found just the right medicine to end their four-game football losing streak Oct. 12.

A trip to Sacramento and Hornets’ Stadium.

Coming out of halftime and trailing 21-14, Eastern scored back-to-back touchdowns and 21 consecutive points rallying for a 35-28 Big Sky Conference victory over No. 18 Sacramento State in a place where they have a lifetime 13-1 record.

Jared Taylor, part of the Eagles’ two-headed quarterback system, scored the final pair of touchdowns.

“Jared Taylor was an absolute warrior tonight when it counted most,” head coach Aaron Best said in a post-game radio interview. “And he sealed the victory at the end of the day.”

Eastern is 20-6 overall in series history and the win broke a two-game losing streak against the Hornets.

Reaching the halfway point of the season, EWU improves to 1-1 in the Big Sky and 2-4 on the season. Sac State had its post-season hopes dealt a big blow in the loss that dropped them to 0-2 in conference play, 2-4 overall.

The Eagles were winless in September going 0-4, losing those games by a combined 11 points.

“It was a bizarre 60-minute ballgame, cut into 30-minute pieces,” Best said. “In the second half, you’re talking about a fake punt, a missed field goal and an onside kick.”

The win was Best’s 50th in his eight seasons as head coach.

The switch was first flipped when Tuna Altahir scored from seven yards out on a pass from Kekoa Visperas on the Eagles’ opening drive of the second half 4 minutes, 46 seconds into the third quarter. 

In that dominant third quarter, Eastern outgained Sac. St. 185 to 6 in total offense. And for the second consecutive game, an onside kick played a big part as Conner O’Farrell recovered Jackson Cleaver attempt. The Eagles used that play to set up another score — Taylor’s 14-yard jaunt that came 3:22 later.

“(We) took a shot with a surprise onside kick for the second week in a row,” Best said.

Taylor’s second score pushed Eastern’s lead to 35-21 and capped a 99-yard drive that carved 5:36 off the clock. Sac State’s final score came with 1:53 to play and Eastern’s Samurai Anderson successfully recovered the Hornets’ ensuing onside kick and ran out the final 1:52.

Sac State and Eastern traded touchdowns in both the first and second quarters with Altar’s 25-yard run evening the score at 7-7 with 3:35 to play in the opening 15 minutes.

Visperas again drew Eastern into a 14-all tie with 8:20 to play in the first half before Sac State took a 21-14 lead with 1:13 remaining.

For the game, the Eagles rushed for 286 yards on 54 attempts - 5.3 average per attempt. Coming into the game the Hornets had limited opponents to a total of 339 — in five games — for an average of 68 yards per contest.

Altahir had 16 carries for 102 net yards, an average of 6.4 per touch.

Eastern’s passing game was efficient with Visperas connecting on 15 of 17 attempts for 141 yards while Taylor added 14 more yards on his one completion.

Receiving leader Efton Chism III had seven catches for 67 yards.

“Offensively, we wore them down and it was a good, stout rush defense that we attacked in a lot of different ways,” Best said, adding that “A ton of credit that goes to the offensive line, tight ends and running backs.”

Eastern’s defense not only won the turnovers battle 1-0 with Alphonse Oywak’s first career interception in the third quarter.

DaJean Wells’ four solo tackles led the Eagles who had eight players with four solo or assisted tackles.

Eastern is at home Oct. 19 for Homecoming Week hosting the current No. 6 Football Championship Subdivision team in the nation, UC-Davis, at 4 p.m.. .