Perigo’s Td Return Gives Eastern Breathing Room

Not all cupcakes have cream-filled centers.

Eastern Washington University discovered as much Saturday night while taking a bite out of another NAIA football opponent.

The Eagles, behind three touchdown catches by Jeff Ogden and Maurice Perigo’s game-breaking 84-yard kickoff return for a fourth-quarter score, eventually gobbled up Eastern Oregon 38-14 in front of a Woodward Stadium crowd of 1,806.

But EOU, which was expected to offer little more than token resistance against the Division I-AA Eagles, proved to be anything but a soft-in-the-middle pastry like the Rocky Mountain College team Eastern dusted off 63-7 last weekend.

Coach Rob Cushman’s well-schooled Mountaineers confused the Eagles with their spread option offense and had closed within 24-14 early in the final quarter on a 29-yard pass from freshman quarterback Chuck Nyby to slotback Jeremy Riggle.

“We had some octane in our tank right there,” Cushman lamented after his first game as a head coach. “That was obviously a chance for us to get back in it, but they knocked the wind out of us with the kickoff return.

“They just had a little too much speed for us, and they popped one. You kind of thought it might happen.”

Perigo, a senior free safety and big-play specialist, buried the Mountaineers by breaking though a hole in the middle of their coverage unit and then outracing a final defender down the right sideline.

Backup tailback Mike MacKenzie added another touchdown on a 58-yard run less than 4 minutes later and the Eagles (2-0) sneaked off with a win that was not nearly as lopsided as the final score indicated.

Fourth-year coach Mike Kramer described his team’s effort as “not necessarily efficient, but workmanlike.”

“The defense played outstanding,” Kramer added, “and that’s really saying something, because that offense is a lot different than anything we’ve ever been around.”

EOU, with Nyby running the option like a fifth-year senior, nicked the Eagles for 16 first downs and 254 yards of total offense. But in the end, it was the push of Kramer’s defensive line that wore the Mountaineers down.

Senior tackle Chris Scott made 10 tackles, including three for losses. Avont Grant added seven stops - two for losses - before suffering a knee sprain that could sideline him for next Saturday’s Big Sky Conference opener at Portland State.

“Their defensive line, I thought, was the difference,” Cushman said.

“Chris Scott was magnificent,” Kramer added. “Chris, (Steve) Mattson and Avont - until he got injured, they all played outstanding.”

The Eagles also did some good things offensively, especially with the run.

Senior tailback Rex Prescott rushed for 117 yards on 20 carries and MacKenzie added 110 yards and a touchdown on 10.

“We really wanted to establish the run this week as opposed to last week when we were kind of taking what (Rocky Mountain) gave us,” Kramer explained.

“And I felt like, at times, we were really successful.

“(Offensive tackle) Jim Buzzard was outstanding and Prescott and MacKenzie both did good job of finishing their runs.”

Quarterbacks Harry Leons and Griffin Garske combined for 257 yards and three touchdowns through the air. And Ogden, who had three touchdown receptions in last Saturday’s rout, burned the Mountaineers with scoring catches of 13, 15 and 10 yards.

Eastern’s dominance was not nearly as immediate or absolute as it was against Rocky Mountain, but Kramer seemed pleased with the effort.

“We were much improved over last week, but I thought we played a football team that’s not too bad,” said Kramer. “Those kids from Eastern Oregon are men. Give them credit, they played real well and real hard.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: EWU 38, E. Oregon 14 E. Oregon 0 7 7 0 - 14 E. Washington 0 17 7 14 - 38 EWUOgden 13 pass from Leons (Atwood kick), 13:44 EWUFG Atwood 26, 5:38 EOMarshall 3 run (Setser kick), 2:57 EWUOgden 15 pass from Garske (Atwood kick), 0:44 EWUOgden 10 pass from Leons (Atwood kick), 6:30 EORiggle 29 pass from Nyby (Setser kick), 12:48 EWUPerigo 84 kickoff return (Atwood kick), 12:32 EWUMacKenzie 50 run (Atwood kick), 8:47 A1,806 EO EWU First downs 16 25 Rushes-yards 49-142 33-234 Passing 112 257 Comp-Att-Int 11-22-1 19-29-1 Return Yards 116 101 Punts-Avg. 6-37 2-46 Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-1 Penalties-Yards 4-39 4-35 Time of Possession 33:03 26:57 RUSHINGEO, Marshall 18-55, Olsen 2-34, Riggle 2-20, Sicocan 5-15. EWU, Prescott 20-117, MacKenzie 10-110, Freese 2-4, Garske 1-3. PASSING-EO, Nyby 10-21-1-96, Olsen 1-1-0-16. EWU, Leons 11-18-0-144, Garske 8-11-1-113 yards. RECEIVING-EO, Washburn 6-55, Riggle 2-35, Goss 1-16, Hotchkiss 1-4. EWU-Ogden 5-77, Prescott 4-47, Correa 3-44, Knaevelsrud 2-20.