Vincent still finds ways to contribute to Eagles playoff run

The bus for Bozeman leaves Friday morning and Doug Vincent plans to be on it, crutches and all.

The standout senior linebacker for the Eastern Washington football team broke his left foot in practice two weeks ago and has had to watch his teammates battle for survival without him.

But Vincent has remained positive, even as the Eagles prepare to face Montana State on Saturday with a chance to win at least a share of the Big Sky Conference championship and a probable berth in the I-AA playoffs.

“At times it’s tough but overall, seeing the guys come out here and playing like they do and as hard as they do, it’s almost even better than being out there,” Vincent insisted after the then 21st-ranked Eagles beat No. 11 Cal Poly 38-21 last Saturday. “It’s great seeing them playing their hearts out. It’s tough but in the long run it’s awesome, definitely.”

Vincent was eighth on the EWU career tackle list when he was injured, just eight behind his brother Luke, who finished with 235.

The brothers played alongside each other for one year before the younger brother took over.

Despite the cold weather since the injury, Vincent has yet to miss a practice.

“I’m going to be there for these guys every day, day in and day out, I’m not going to abandon them,” he said. “I’d like to think it’s not over for me yet. Hopefully I can come back in the playoffs. That’s my goal. I’m not mad, sad about anything, I’ll just shoot for that goal right now. We’ll see what comes.”

Cat tales

It’s hard to figure those Montana State Bobcats.

A week after rolling to a 53-0 halftime lead and crushing what was originally expected to be a good Northern Arizona team they go to Sacramento State and fall 38-28.

But of course MSU coach Mike Kramer saw the bright side.

“We spent a week at the top of Big Sky Conference in November and we’re not really, really used to being there,” he said. “We really didn’t know how to play and prepare. Though we barked at them pretty good we just underplayed ourselves enough we’re back in our comfort zone, fighting for our life.”

Bobcat quarter back Travis Lulay continued his torrid passing by throwing for 516 yards at Sac. Surprisingly all four touchdowns were Lulay runs. He also had two interceptions and the Cats lost two fumbles while Sac had just one turnover.

Passing fancy

Idaho State attempted a I-AA record 79 passes against Portland State but it was all for naught as the Bengals fell 42-21.

The previous record for pass attempts was 78, set by Towson against Lehigh in 1999. The Big Sky record was 74 by ISU against Nevada in 1983. The Bengals ran 100 plays and piled up 518 yards of offense, 465 through the air.

Quick kicks

Nick Chournos was the first back in the conference to reach 1,000 yards when he had 124 in a 31-17 loss to North Dakota State, giving him 1,010 … Eastern’s Eric Kimble became the first 1,000-yad receiver with 1,011 … Eagle quarterback Erik Meyer is No. 1 nationally in passing efficiency at 175.2.