Obedient Eagle Chooses Well

Defensive coordinator Jerry Graybeal gave Maurice Perigo the opportunity to choose and pick during Eastern Washington’s decisive defensive stand in last Saturday’s 27-21 upset win at Boise State.

In essence, Graybeal told his starting free safety that if he chose to do what he was told, he would pick off a Broncos pass.

Perigo exercised the option, aligned himself as Graybeal suggested and reacted properly by stepping in front of a Broncos receiver, picking off Tony Hilde’s pass and returning it 28 yards for the winning touchdown with just under 5 minutes left in the game.

Afterward, Eagles coach Mike Kramer gave Graybeal all the credit for putting Perigo in position to make the interception.

“He drew (the defensive alignment) up at halftime and then he drew it up again on the sidelines just before they ran the play,” Kramer explained. “Then he told Perigo, face-to-face, ‘Now if you do this right, you’ll get the interception.”’

According to Kramer, the Eastern secondary gave Hilde a certain look but then failed to take their normal drops out of that particular alignment.

“I’m sure their quarterback thought we were going to drop to the coverage he had seen on film, but the adjustment call made by a defensive coordinator, through a position coach to a position player, went against what their quarterback had been taught.

“So, he ended up making a blind throw and we got a touchdown.”

Perigo came up with another huge play moments later, jumping on a Boise State fumble on the Broncos’ ensuing possession. From there, the Eagles were able to run out the clock.

“Lay the win on Jerry Graybeal’s doorstep,” Kramer said after the game. “After the way we ended up the 1995 season (giving up 178 points in the final three games), it makes for a tough winter of sleep.

“But I think tonight Jerry will finally be able to punch his pillow, roll over and get the 40 winks he deserves.”

Bad timing?

David Romines has to be wondering what it takes to be named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week.

Cal State Northridge’s senior wide receiver caught 18 passes for 219 yards and three touchdowns in last Saturday’s 56-31 win over University of California-Davis and didn’t get a sniff.

Timing, in this case, seemed to be everything.

Romines’ incredible effort came on the same day Northern Arizona’s Archie Amerson rushed for 221 yards and two TDs on 29 carries.

Jackson back

The bad news that offensive guard T.J. Ackerman will be lost for the rest of the season with a knee injury was tempered at EWU when it was learned that senior wide receiver Jerrold Jackson has been given medical clearance to play Saturday in the Eagles’ 6:35 p.m. home opener against Southwest Texas State.

Jackson, a bug-quick, 5-foot-8, 145-pounder from Seattle, broke his hand during two-a-day practices earlier this fall and was held out of Eastern’s first two games.

In his three seasons, Jackson has caught 58 passes for 1,007 yards - an average of 17.4 yards per catch. He has 11 touchdown receptions.

Sky writings

Former Montana coach Don Read, who retired last April after leading the Grizzlies to the Division I-AA national championship, has moved to Colorado, but he is scheduled to do color commentary for Prime Sports Northwest on selected Big Sky games… . PSN will kick off its seven-game Big Sky package Saturday with a live 12:35 p.m. telecast of the Northern ArizonaPortland State matchup… . The Big Sky and Southern conferences are the only two leagues with four teams ranked in this week’s Sports Network I-AA poll. Big Sky teams in the top 25 include Montana (No. 2), Northern Arizona (16), Weber State (17) and Idaho State (19). Eastern Washington and Cal State Northridge also received votes. , DataTimes The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - Big Sky football notebook