Eagles outlast Cal Poly in three OTs

Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 436 yards and five touchdowns, and Eastern Washington stopped Cal Poly on a two-point conversion in triple overtime to hang on for a 53-51 victory Saturday night in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Mitchell hit Greg Herd for a 25-yard touchdown in the third overtime, then ran in the two-point conversion to put the Eagles (5-5) on top 53-45.

Andre Broadous answered with a 1-yard TD run on fourth down on Cal Poly’s possession, but the Mustangs (5-5) failed on the two-point conversion when Broadous’ pass was batted away.

Mitchell’s 22-yard TD to Cory Mitchell with 1:51 left in regulation sent the game into overtime.

The teams exchanged field goals in the first extra period, before Broadous scored on a 1-yard run and Nicholas Edwards caught a 25-yard wide-receiver pass from Herd in the second overtime.

Edwards had 10 catches for 136 yards and two TDs, while Cory Mitchell had seven for 132 and a score.

Jake Romanelli had 179 yards rushing and a TD for Cal Poly.

“It’s unreal,” Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin said after his Eagles won for the eighth time in the last two years after trailing in the fourth quarter. “I’m so proud of our players and the guts they have.

“They didn’t give in and they didn’t give up. They came down here and played this just like it was the biggest game of their lives. I’m proud of our players – we were playing a very good Cal Poly team who was 4-0 at home coming into this game. It was a challenge for us and our players stepped up.

“I thought how we competed down here was going to reveal a lot about who we are after coming off a bye week and two weeks after we were eliminated from the contention for the postseason. I wanted to see how we would compete in a game that was, quote-unquote, meaningless as far as postseason play, but still meaningful.”

Mitchell has nine 300-plus-yard performances in his 25-game EWU career, including seven this season.

Weber State 34, Northern Arizona 31: C.J. Tuckett set Weber State’s single game all-purpose yards record with 407 yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats (4-6, 3-4) rallied in the final minute for a victory over the Lumberjacks (4-6, 3-5) at Ogden, Utah.

The junior tailback, who entered the game with 197 yards rushing on the season, ran for 254 yards and added 144 in the return game.

Sacramento State 24, Idaho State 9: Garrett Safron passed for a touchdown and ran for one to help the Hornets (4-6, 3-5) defeat the Bengals (2-8, 1-6) at Sacramento, Calif., and snap a three-game losing streak.

Portland State 23, Northern Colorado 17: Connor Kavanaugh had 270 total yards and threw for a touchdown, Zach Brown kicked three field goals and the Vikings (7-3, 5-2) hung on to beat the Bears (0-11, 0-8) at Greeley, Colo., to keep their playoff hopes alive.