Bobcats break third quarter tie to win 42-28
CHENEY - Eastern Washington had just battled back to earn a 28-28 tie with the second-ranked Montana State Bobcats, Nov. 2 at Roos Field on back-to-back touchdowns from Tuna Altahir as the third quarter wound down.
The momentum they gained lasted all of 19 seconds when 'Cats quarterback "Touchdown Tommy" Mellott dashed 76 yards on the first play from scrimmage following the kickoff to remain the lead.
Montana State added insurance with 3:15 to play on a 61-yard pass play from Mellott to Ty McCulloch and won 42-28, remaining a perfect 5-0 in Big Sky Conference play, 9-0 overall.
"We need to make the left side of (win-loss) column bigger than the right side," he'd coach Aaron Best said in a post-game radio interview. "We're not doing that, but it's not for lack of preparation."
The game proved to be a familiar rerun of most of the previous games for the Eagles now 1-4 in the BSC and 2-7 overall.
After starting with a stop on MSU's first possession and forcing a Bobcat punt, big plays once again put Eastern in a hole. Montana State would punt just twice on the afternoon.
Long plays of 27 and 24 yards led to MSU's first score and similar gains of 23 and 20 yards helped put them ahead 21-7.
Trailing 14-0, Eastern closed the gap on Efton Chism, III's touchdown catch from Jared Taylor with 57 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Taylor Playe din place of regular, but injured starter, Kekoa Visperas.
Eastern further trimmed the deficit to 21-14 with Michael Wortham's 75-yard run with 11:35 to play in the first half.
The Eagles were unable to take advantage of an Ahmani Williams interception in the fourth quarter. Montana State won the turnover battle, 2-1, getting an interception and a fumble recovery.
Chism finished with 9 catches for 78 yards and a score, the 33rd in his career and passing Shaq Hill for fifth place all-time at Eastern.
Taylor passed for a career-best 144 yards, completing 20-of-27 passes. He had a career-high 25 carries for 80 yards as well.
Derek Ganter Jr. recorded his third straight double-digit tackle game with 11.
Eastern is on the road Saturday, Nov. 9 to play Northern Colorado at 11 a.m.
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