Eagles, Atwood Lauded

Eastern Washington continues to receive conference and national recognition for its football team.

The Eagles are No. 11 in two NCAA Division I-AA polls released Monday and kicker Josh Atwood is the Big Sky Conference special teams player of the week after he broke one school record, tied one and extended another in Eastern’s 51-7 win over Idaho State.

EWU is No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today media poll for second week and moved up from No. 12 in the Sports Network poll of sports information directors. Don Hansen’s Football Gazette continues to rank the Eagles sixth.

Northern Arizona, which EWU meets in two weeks in Flagstaff, Ariz., with the Big Sky lead on the line, ranks 10th, 10th and ninth. In the Sagarin computer ratings, the Eagles are No. 6, NAU No. 13.

Montana, which has lost to Eastern and Northern Arizona in consecutive weeks, is seventh in the Sagarin ratings and 13th, 15th and 14th in the three polls, respectively.

Atwood had three field goals against ISU, the 12th time that’s happened in school history. He hit from 24, 26 and 34 yards. He also made six extra point attempts, extending his school record of conversions without a miss to 37.

His 37 extra points this season are a record. The old mark of 35 was shared by three. He has 132 points in two years, third most in Eastern history in kick scoring.

Travis Brown of Northern Arizona, who hit 29 of 47 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-24 win over Montana, and Aaron Flowers of Cal State Northridge, 43 of 69 for 469 yards and three TDs in a 45-38 overtime win over Cal State Sacramento, share the Big Sky offensive player of the week award.

The defensive award went to end Charles Gilmore of Portland State, who had eight unassisted tackles and two fumble recoveries in a 44-0 shutout of Montana State.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - Big Sky football notebook