Eagles cruise in finale

The thank-you card was sealed with a lot of hugs and a few tears, the gift a promise of a better future.

They were delivered at Woodward Field Saturday afternoon in the form of Eastern Washington’s season-ending 40-6 thrashing of Idaho State.

Promising underclassmen fed off the leadership and emotion of 13 seniors playing their last game to erase some of the disappointment of the first losing record in eight football seasons.

“It was all effort and want,” freshman quarterback Matt Nichols said. “We just wanted it more. We were playing for a lot of reasons. We were playing for pride, we wanted to prove we weren’t as bad as our record says and we wanted to send the seniors out on a positive note.”

The Eagles (3-8, 3-5 Big Sky Conference) took control of the game in the first quarter when they held the Bengals (2-8, 1-6) to 8 yards of offense to take a 9-0 lead and polished it off in the third quarter when they scored 17 points, while ISU had just 6 yards. Those were the two quarters ISU had a biting 15 mph wind at its back.

“I think it was one of those things, me not knowing that we gave up 14 yards, that shows how focused we were and how much effort we put into not worrying about outside things,” said senior safety Brandon Keeler, who led Eastern with nine tackles. “We were concentrating on what we needed to do, people doing what they were coached to do. It showed up on the field.”

Despite the conditions – weeklong rains turned the field into a quagmire – the Eagles ground out 226 yards rushing and completed 16 of 27 passes for 138 yards. They converted 7 of 15 third downs and 2 of 3 fourth downs.

Ten different Eagles carried the ball, including left guard Harrison Nikolao in an unsuccessful goal-line situation. Four different players completed passes, including punter Ryan Donckers, whose 6-yard strike to linebacker Shea Emry kept the final scoring drive alive. Ten different players had receptions, including a first-play strike to senior Brandon Nicholson for his first, and only, catch of the season.

Idaho State finished with 92 yards rushing and 87 passing and failed on 10 of 11 third downs and two fourth downs.

“We just finally put together a complete game together,” said senior defensive tackle Keith Grennan, who finished the game with his left hand in a cast after breaking it in the second quarter. “Everybody was basically in the zone physically and mentally. They were basically out of it after the first touchdown. We kept bringing the heat, never let up and they just laid down.”

Emry and Keeler had interceptions. Emry and Greg Peach recovered fumbles. Peach also had two sacks, one resulting in a safety.

“It was a great performance by our kids,” Eagles coach Paul Wulff said. “This was the first time in 11 games that we came out and played a complete ballgame and executed the way we wanted to.”

Besides Nicholson’s reception and Sheldon Weddle booting, the opening kickoff there were two other key moments for the seniors.

Strong-legged Brett Bergstrom, who passed on a makeable field-goal attempt because of poor footing only to miss a 32-yarder four plays later, tied the school record with his 15th three-pointer of the season, a 28-yarder in the third quarter.

And the final touchdown was a 2-yarder from Chris Peerboom to tight end Tim Calhoun, who missed two seasons with injuries and played his last three games with a cast on his right hand.

“I just wished we could have played like that all year,” Calhoun said. “It’s nice to go out with a win. I think everybody remembers their last game.”

Though the game belonged to the seniors, freshmen were prominent.

Nichols hit Nick Ramos with a 28-yard strike to open the scoring and Ramos scored on a 28-yard reverse, his second career TD, to open the third-quarter onslaught. Nichols capped that burst by scrambling 35 yards around left end. And, finally, a 46-yard TD run by Jesse Hoffman early in the fourth quarter was nullified by a penalty.

“To win a game like this, with the season being what it is, is a great stepping stone for next year,” senior running back Ryan Cole said.