Eastern setback stings
Every national mention of Eastern Washington University this week is going to make the Eagles cringe.
That’s because Sacramento State, which last won a football game on the road in 2002 at Woodward Field, did it again Saturday, doing an about-face in the second half to stun EWU and 6,738 fans 21-20.
The Hornets ended a 19-game road skid, including a record 12 straight in the Big Sky Conference, with their first road win after 18 losses under fourth-year coach Steve Mooshagian.
“I told the players this was all new to me,” Mooshagian said after addressing his team on the field. “What a great way to get your first one in a game like that. The kids persevered, they fought through. After everything we talked about at halftime, I said it was time to quit talking and play. That’s what they did.”
The Hornets (1-3, 1-1) put together three long drives in the second half, capped by Ryan Hastie’s 1-yard run with 1 minute, 46 seconds to play, and true freshman Craig King sealed the win with an interception at the Hornets 24-yard line a minute later.
“It’s a combination of things – turnovers, miscues on defense late.” Eastern coach Paul Wulff said. “Very seldom is it one play when you win a game or when you lose a game.
“We had way too many opportunities that we didn’t convert. I said if this didn’t improve, it would come back and bite us and it did.”
Sacramento State had every reason to fold.
The Hornets had just three first downs and 76 yards of offense in the first half – going 0 for 6 on third down – and were down to their fifth-string tailback.
The Eagles, however, despite 261 yards of offense, only had a 10-0 lead to show for it.
The play that will haunt Eastern (1-4, 1-1), especially freshman quarterback Matt Nichols, was the last play of the half.
With 1:34 to play and the ball on the 4, a Sacramento State pass interference penalty, a 50-yard bomb to Shane Eller and a perfectly thrown ball to Aaron Boyce put the ball on the Hornets 1. On the next play, Nichols underthrew tight end Tim Calhoun in the back of the end zone and linebacker Cyrus Mulitalo pulled down a one-handed interception.
A touchdown there and Wulff said the Hornets may have given up. Instead, it changed the momentum.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have any timeouts and we couldn’t run the ball,” Wulff said. “We had to throw it and they made a nice play on the interception. You only get so many opportunities in a ballgame and we had opportunities.”
Sacramento State opened the second half with an impressive nine-play, 80-yard drive.
Quarterback Marcel Marquez, who threw for 22 yards in the first half, hit all five of his passes for 49 yards. His 14-yard bootleg around left end set up Rainbow Mauga’s 1-yard TD run.
“I don’t know (what was said at halftime),” Marquez said. “I was pulled out of the locker room because they were going to get their intensity up. I don’t know if the coaches wanted me to be so high-strung when I came out. I think they wanted me to keep my poise.”
Still, the Eagles got that back and more. Brett Bergstrom kicked a 22-yard field goal – his second short one of the game after Eastern stalled inside the 10 – and Toke Kefu capped a 72-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
After the teams traded interceptions, the Hornets went on a 17-play, 95-yard drive. They converted five third downs, including one on a roughing-the-passer penalty, before Marquez hit Mauga with a 4-yard scoring pass.
Then Eastern had just its third three-and-out possession, setting the Hornets up on their 19 with 2:42 left.