Vandals, Not Eagles, Go Airborne Fien-Wilson Combo Clicks For Idaho

As Antonio Wilson left the interview room, he turned toward the assembled media, grinned mischievously and blurted: “Bye, bye.”

He had introduced himself to Eastern Washington’s secondary over the previous 3-plus hours.

Idaho’s junior wide receiver hauled in a touchdown pass and 10 more catches for 171 yards as the Vandals went over the top - literally - of EWU’s secondary in a 37-27 non-conference football win Saturday in front of 10,107 fans in the Kibbie Dome.

In addition to quarterback Ryan Fien’s 388 passing yards and three touchdowns, Idaho chalked up 169 ground yards.

The balance was important - because EWU running backs Joe Sewell and Rex Prescott ripped off long scoring runs that kept the Eagles hovering uncomfortably close to the Vandals, despite only the hint of a passing attack.

“We were shattered a little on defense,” said Eastern coach Mike Kramer, whose club slipped to 6-3. “They ran the ball and that hurt our confidence a little bit.”

What hurt even more was the 6-foot-3 Wilson hurdling EWU’s shorter defensive backs for long receptions.

“That is not an uncommon occurrence (for Wilson) this season,” said UI coach Chris Tormey, who watched his club improve to 4-4.

“When you’ve got big receivers, like we did at UCLA with J.J. Stokes, you use them,” said Fien, the UCLA transfer. “It’s nothing scientific.”

No, it’s more of a vertical principle.

Asked what it was like defending taller receivers, 5-10 corner Ryan Moore said: “Which one?”

He laughed heartily and added, “They’re the most athletic receivers we’ve gone against. One time I was with Wilson and he just went after the ball and made the catch in coverage.”

Combined with Joel Thomas’ bruising 134 yards and zero turnovers, the passing game made the Vandals difficult to defend.

However, EWU’s wasn’t the only defense to be challenged. Sewell skipped through a huge hole for 42 yards to set up a field goal that trimmed Idaho’s lead to 7-3.

Idaho led 17-6 at half, but Sewell cruised 87 yards - his only resistance was Kevin Hill’s attempted tackle at Idaho’s 38 - as EWU closed to 17-13 in the third quarter.

EWU finished with 257 rushing yards - 192 on three plays alone - against a Vandals defense that had been allowing only 110 per game.

“Much to my pleasure, we went jawbone to jawbone and made some big plays,” Kramer said. “Idaho has a pressure defense, which means they don’t layer you, so if they miss a tackle, you can hit a home run.”

EWU’s last four-bagger came in the form of Prescott’s 63-yard sprint to the goal line in the fourth quarter. But that score still left EWU down 30-20 with 12:03 remaining.

Idaho’s response was immediate. On first down, Wilson snagged a 44-yard catch on an underthrown pass. Later, from the 27, Fien beat an EWU blitz with a toss that floated to Robert Scott working against a slow-reacting secondary. Scott wheeled and trotted the remaining 5 yards for the clinching score.

EWU used up 5 minutes pulling back to 10 points at 37-27 on Prescott’s 8-yard TD run. Idaho then chewed up the final 5 minutes to keep Eastern’s offense on the sidelines.

“We needed them to make a mistake,” Kramer said. He found solace in his offensive line, which yielded just two sacks.

“At no time, did I feel that defensive ferocity that we saw last year when we had eight straight series of three (downs) and out,” he said.

“In the second half, they expanded the lead, but our protection still stayed pretty solid.”

Idaho is at home against New Mexico State next Saturday. EWU takes on Northern Arizona in Cheney.

Idaho 37, Eastern Washington 27

E. Washington 3 3 7 14 - 27

Idaho 14 3 10 10 - 37

UI-Thomas 7 run (Scott kick) EWUAtwood 41 field goal UI-Griffin 7 pass from Fien (Scott kick) EWUAtwood 25 field goal UI-Scott 37 field goal EWUSewell 87 run (Atwood kick) UI-Scott 28 field goal UI-Wilson 4 pass from Fien (Scott kick) UI-Scott 41 field goal EWUPrescott 63 run 2:57 (Atwood kick) UI-Scott 27 pass from Fien (Scott kick) EWUPrescott 8 run (Atwood kick) A-10,107.

EWU UI First downs 16 29 Rushes-yards 32-282 37-175 Passing 139 388 Comp-Att-Int 21-9-1 46-30-0 Return Yards 120 60 Punts-Avg. 4-36.0 3-32.7 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 10-82 7-60 Time of Possession 25:11 34:49 Individual statistics RUSHINGEWU Sewell 15-172, Prescott 8-90, MacKenzie 1-8, Zurfluh 1-(-5). UI Thomas 28-134, Pace 6-22, Fien 3-13.

PASSINGEWU Garske 21-9-1-139. UI Fien 46-30-0-388.

RECEIVINGEWU Jackson 2-17, Correa 1-29, Miller 1-27, Prescott 1-18, Mitchell 1-14, Sewell 1-13, Naccarato 1-13, Knaevelscrud 1-8. UI Wilson 11-173, Griffin 8-74, Gilroy 5-43, Thomas 3-50, Scott 1-27, Berry 1-14, Price 1-7.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos