‘Angry’ Eagles give Wildcats grief

OGDEN, Utah – It was miserable at cold, wet and windy Stewart Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The football game was worse – at least for the home team.

Eastern Washington University got a few breaks, created many more and generally had its way with winless Weber State, rolling to a 51-7 victory that rejuvenated spirits after losing the showdown with Montana for the Big Sky Conference lead last weekend.

If there were any residual effects from getting knocked out of the conference lead, it didn’t show against the Wildcats (0-8, 0-5), especially when the Eagles (5-3, 4-1) scored four touchdowns in less than 9 minutes during a second-quarter blitz for a 35-0 lead.

“Everybody’s doing a pretty good job of playing one game and letting it go,” EWU junior linebacker Joey Cwik said of the 31-28 loss to Montana. “(But) yeah, it was a pretty sore subject. I guess we were kind of angry at ourselves we let that happen.”

Angry, as in limiting Weber State to 147 yards of total offense, including 30 on the ground thanks to nine sacks by a defense that had seven for the season.

“I think the situation had a big part in it, but we ran a few blitzes we haven’t run in the last few weeks,” said Cwik, who had 10 tackles and matched Tom Finnerty with three sacks, doubling his career total. “It maybe took them by surprise a little bit.”

Running back Nick Chournos, who ripped the Eagles for 194 yards last year, had 81, but 54 came in the second half after EWU led 35-0.

“We just thought we had to stop the run,” Eastern coach Paul Wulff said. “If we got them in obvious in passing situations … it’s real easy to rush the quarterback. … If (Chournos) had 200 and we won, it was OK. It’s not a personal battle. It’s about our team winning.”

Despite the conditions, Eastern rolled up 416 yards, even with the dangerous combination of quarterback Erik Meyer and wide receiver Eric Kimble making minimal contributions. Meyer completed 5 of 7 passes for 68 yards, one to Kimble for 4 yards.

It was a punishing ground attack that controlled this game. Sophomore running back Dezmon Cole, starting because seniors Darius Washington and Reggie Witherspoon were banged up, piled up 199 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns. Freshman Tako Kefu added 89 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.

“I found out (Friday) night. I was more anxious than nervous,” Cole said of his first start. “I just wanted to win. Just about everything (worked). The offensive line was getting off the ball. The holes were there, all I did was run.”

The second quarter decided the outcome.

It started with Nate McFarlane’s 24-yard interception return one play after Skyler Allen’s 38-yard field-goal attempt hit the left upright.

“Javid Shoemaker told me to watch out, it was going to come,” said McFarlane of his first play after replacing Shoemaker at weak safety. “It did. It just came to me. That’s what they’ve been telling us, just execute what the coaches teach you and the play will come to you.”

The Wildcats attempted to bounce back three plays later, but a 68-yard touchdown pass was called back because of offensive pass interference. After a sack, Gregor Smith blocked a punt that Kyle Long recovered in the end zone. Cole followed with a tackle-breaking, 20-yard run on a draw play before Kimble returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown.

“Those are all one play, big plays. A landslide like that and you continue to play well on defense and the game is over,” Wulff said. “That’s what’s so scary about special teams. You block a punt, it’s the most deflating play in all of football.”

Weber scored with 4:43 left to spoil EWU’s first chance at a shutout since 1988.

When the Wildcats had a chance to match Kefu’s 21-yard first-quarter touchdown run, they had an illegal procedure penalty and two sacks that turned first down on the 20 into a 52-yard field-goal attempt that came up short.

Weber State matched the worst start in school history, which is one reason only 4,623 fans turned out for the homecoming game.

Even when Weber scored with 4:43 remaining – spoiling the Eagles’ chance at their first shutout since 1988 – it came when a lineman recovered a fumble in the end zone at the tail end of a 9-yard run by Chournos.

On Eastern’s first offensive play of the second half Cole went 67 yards for a touchdown, ending the day for many starters. Kefu followed with a 23-yard run for his second score. A bad snap on a punt went through the end zone for a safety to end Eastern’s scoring early in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles are home next week to play Sacramento State for homecoming.