Forte’s return boosts Eagles’ offense
The would-he-play-or-not question followed Eastern Washington running back Quincy Forte all week, from practice on Tuesday all the way to pregame warm-ups before Saturday’s FCS playoff game against Montana.
Hobbled for more than a month with a sprained ankle, Forte was questionable all week – “a 50-50 deal,” coach Beau Baldwin said as late as Thursday. But after “tweaking a few little things” all week with trainer Amir Owens, Forte was good to go.
Good enough, anyway. Good enough for a game-high 128 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown, a 27-yard run that gave the Eagles a 27-10 lead late in the third quarter and also proved to be the winning score.
“I felt great,” Forte said after his 10th career game over 100 yards rushing. “I didn’t go full speed … maybe 90 percent. But it was awesome to be back out with the guys, the playoff atmosphere and playing Montana. What more could you ask for?”
Upon further review …
Twice in the second quarter, the Eagles lost close calls in the replay booth.
Early in the period, Montana running back Larry Canada ran a sweep to the left side, but was stripped of the ball near the sideline at the UM 36-yard line by Eastern cornerback Victor Gamboa. Eastern defensive lineman Marcus Saugen recovered the ball.
The Eastern offense took the field and was set to run a play when they were waved off by the officials, who reviewed the play – for 5 minutes. Finally, they determined that Saugen never had possession and that the ball glanced off his leg and out of bounds.
Montana picked up a first down on the next play, but was forced to punt three plays later.
Later in the period, the Eagles appeared to score a touchdown on a pass from Vernon Adams Jr. to tight end Jake Withnell. The side judge ruled it incomplete, and after several more minutes, the officials agreed.
No matter. EWU scored two plays later on Adams’ 2-yard keeper with 9 seconds left in the half.
Delaney goes out with style
The game was the last for Montana coach Mick Delaney, who had announced his retirement earlier in the season.
After serving for four years as running backs coach under Robin Pflugrad from 2008-11, Delaney took over the program when Pflugrad was fired in 2012.
In three seasons, Delaney finished 24-14 and led the Grizzlies to the postseason the past two years.
“It has been such a humbling experience,” said Delaney, who began his coaching career in 1968-69 as the head wrestling coach at Montana while also serving as an assistant football coach.
“I just thank the Lord every minute that I was able to spend another three years with these guys. The coaches and their families, it is just more than a guy deserves probably,” Delaney said.
Adams hits milestone
After throwing for 182 yards against Montana, Adams passed the 10,000-yard mark for career yardage.
In two-plus season, Adams now has 10,012 yards. He’s third on the Eastern career list behind Matt Nichols (12,616 yards) and Erik Meyer (10,261).