Eagles pleased to host Sam Houston State
The bracket for the I-AA football playoffs is hard to figure, but the Eastern Washington Eagles aren’t complaining.
The 14th-ranked Eagles (9-3) are home, facing No. 9 Sam Houston State (10-2) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Woodward Field
“It’s a great opportunity to have the first playoff game at the school,” EWU coach Paul Wulff said. “I’m very happy for our kids and coaches. It’s nice being at home after the last two games were on the road.”
Still, the reasoning behind the good fortune is hard to figure.
Try to figure this out.
Big Sky co-champion Eastern, which lost the automatic bid by losing to Montana 31-28, goes on the road to beat Gateway champion and top-ranked Southern Illinois 35-31.
Western Kentucky, second in the Gateway but ranked third in the nation, goes on the road and is walloped by Sam Houston 54-27.
Southland Conference co-champion and 15th-ranked Northwestern State, which won the automatic bid by whipping Sam Houston 45-27, goes on the road and is crushed by Montana 54-7.
New Hampshire, one of four teams from the powerful Atlantic 10 Conference in the playoffs, goes on the road and shocks fourth-seeded and fourth-ranked Georgia Southern 27-23, the first first-round loss for the Eagles in 15 playoff appearances.
Yet, unlike Sam Houston and Eastern, which reverse roles, fifth-ranked NH (10-2) stays on the road and seventh-ranked Montana (10-2) stays home for a matchup Saturday in Missoula.
It’s all good in the eyes of Eastern, which played three home games at Albi Stadium in 1997, losing in the semifinals. Especially since SHSU went 8-0 at home this season.
“I don’t know (why),” Wulff said. “Without question we’re worthy of a home game and we got it.”
The Eagles go from facing a dominant running team that was dominant against the run to a team that lives by the pass and allows big chunks of yards on the ground.
The Bearkats throw for 347 yards a game and allow 167 on the ground.
Eastern was a balanced team for most of the season but has been nothing short of sensational passing the ball in the last three games. Quarterback Erik Meyer has thrown for 1,226 yards with 12 touchdowns and Eric Kimble has 30 receptions for 542 yards and nine scores.
Despite that, the Eagles have rushed for 451 yards in the three games and are encouraged by the return to health of Darius Washington, who had 101 yards and two touchdowns against SIU. The senior now has 971 yards and 13 touchdowns despite missing one game and combining for eight carries in the last two games before the playoffs.
“We know they’re very athletic and very skilled,” Wulff said. “They beat Montana by a large margin early down there. At 10-2 they’ve done quite well. We have not watched them a lot on tape. We’re going to find out shortly.”
Now, follow the bouncing ball one last time.
The third week of the season, Sam Houston clobbered the visiting Grizzlies 41-27 as Dustin Long threw for 329 yards.
In Week 10, Northwestern State shredded the Bearkats with 446 yards, including 258 by Derrik Johnese in that 54-27 win at home.
In Week 12 , the first round of the playoffs, Montana piled up 545 yards against Northwestern State and held the Demons to 177 yards, 75 on the ground.
It was below freezing in Missoula on Saturday, something not lost on Wulff.
“Obviously to have a home game and have somebody not necessarily used to your elements, that’s one little extra advantage,” he said.
Ticket information
Tickets for the game go on sale at 9 a.m. today by calling 459-4339 or 1-855-4GO-EAGS or through Tickets-West outlets.
Like the Montana game in October, Eastern officials expect to increase seating at Woodward to 10,000. Tickets are priced from $19 for premium reserved to $15 for general admission. There are 2,000 student tickets priced at $5.
Current season ticket holders have to purchase their tickets by noon Wednesday to keep the same seats.
“We’ll need to sell every ticket we can,” EWU athletic director Scott Barnes said. “We are counting on the communities of Spokane and Cheney to step up in a big way in support of our team.”