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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eagles’ Allen hangs up football cleats


Skyler Allen played four different positions for Eastern in two injury-plagued seasons. 
 (File/ / The Spokesman-Review)

Skyler Allen, who played four different positions during two injury-marred seasons with the Eastern Washington University football team, has decided not to play any more.

“I think he wants to pursue his academic interests,” Eagles head coach Paul Wulff said. “I think it’s a good decision for him. He wasn’t happy.”

As a redshirt freshman in 2003 Allen lost the battle for quarterback to redshirt sophomore Erik Meyer. Allen started one game, an 8-5 win over Idaho and in seven games completed 45 of 79 passes for 419 yards and two touchdowns. In the spring of 2004 he switched to wide receiver and was making a good impression on the coaches when he broke an arm.

When Allen returned last fall, he competed for both the kicking and punting jobs. He split time with Sheldon Weddle as the kicker and backed up punter Ryan Donckers.

Allen made two of four field goals and 34 of 36 extra points, but the one field goal attempt that was blocked would have clinched the second-round playoff game against Sam Houston State. The Eagles lost 35-34 on the last play of the game. Weddle made 5 of 9 field goals with two blocked, including a last-minute kick that could have sent the game with Montana into overtime, and 25 of 29 extra points, with one of the misses in that playoff loss.

Allen also punted nine times and handled all the kickoffs.

Though neither kicker seized the job last year or dominated in the spring Wulff said the staff decided to make Weddle the starter.

“He’s a competitor and wants to be a bigger factor,” Wulff said. “He’s a great kid.”

Allen, a two-time Big Sky Conference All-Academic team member, who led Pasco to the 2000 State 4A championship, plans to attend law school.

High expectations

Though practice doesn’t start for another six weeks and the season opener is more than two months away, the Eagles have high expectations.

Obviously they’re not the only ones.

Lindy’s and Street and Smith magazines, ranked Eastern fifth and sixth, respectively, in their preseason polls. AnyGivenSaturday.com picked the Eagles third.

“Basically we take it for what it’s worth, which is nothing, and move on,” Wulff said. “This team hasn’t done anything yet. They base everything on last year’s performance and some returning kids, but we’re so far away from dealing with the reality of where we’re ranked. You can’t worry about anything like that until November.”

The Eagles were 9-4 last year, losing in the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs. They were 7-1 in the Big Sky Conference, sharing the title with Montana, which advanced to the I-AA championship game.

Combining the three polls so far, national champion James Madison is No. 1, followed by the Grizzlies, Furman, Eastern and Georgia Southern.

Individual recognition

The All-America record-breaking pass-catching combination of EWU seniors Erik Meyer and Eric Kimble is the best there is in the eyes of The Sports Network.

Both are ranked No. 1 at their position.

Meyer is the top QB after finishing his last season ranked No. 1 in passing efficiency and fourth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player in I-AA. On his way to Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP honors, Meyer completed 58 percent of his passes for 3,707 yards with 31 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Kimble is No. 1 at wide receiver after 83 catches for 1,453 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also returned two punts for touchdowns and is ranked fifth among return specialists.

That recognition isn’t really surprising, but seeing sophomore Rocky Hanni’s name atop the list for tackles is.

Hanni was an All-American last year and shared the league Newcomer of the Year honor, the first time a lineman has been so honored. But all that came with Hanni playing guard. The Eagles plan to move Hanni to tackle to replace All-American and second-round NFL draft pick Michael Roos.

“It’s quite funny Rocky Hanni No. 1 at offensive tackle and he hasn’t played a down at tackle in college,” Wulff said. “You can’t tell me there aren’t a couple kids who have played offensive tackle for a couple of years who aren’t better than him right now.”

Other Eagles in the rankings are senior cornerback Isaiah Trufant and senior linebacker Joey Cwik.

“Some people recognize we have some good kids in the program, and we do,” Wulff said. “These whole rankings … are people’s opinions, they don’t look at every kid in America. It’s hard to rank those things. Those kids have a lot more to prove and have a lot to do for our team to have success.”

Notable names from the Big Sky Conference include Montana’s Kevin Edwards, a Lewis and Clark graduate, third at cornerback four spots in front of Trufant, Portland State’s Antonio Narcise No. 1 at center, and Weber State’s Brady Fosmark No. 2 at defensive end behind Cal Poly’s Chris Gocong. Cal Poly is on Eastern’s schedule again this year. Montana State’s Travis Lulay is No. 3 at quarterback and Bobcats guard Jeff Bolton is fourth, as is Montana defensive end Mike Murphy.

Sky writing

In ranking the toughest non-league schedules, TSN put UC-Davis, which visits Cheney Nov. 29, second (also playing PSU and Sacramento State), Portland State third (playing at Oregon State and Boise State), Cal Poly, which plays host to EWU Nov. 15, fourth (playing Sac State, MSU and UM besides Eastern) and MSU fifth (playing at Oklahoma State).

Every Big Sky team plays a Division I game, with EWU opening at San Jose State on Sept. 3.

The other Big Sky I-A games are Montana at Oregon, Weber State at Fresno State, Northern Arizona at Arizona, Sac State at California and Idaho State at Kentucky.

Northern Colorado, which will join the Big Sky next year, has the third easiest schedule with two Division II games.

Big Sky fans have a chance to predict the 2005 football standings and win a trip to a I-AA playoff games. “Sky Line” allows fans to submit their predictions to www.bigskyconf.com.

The final results will be revealed along with the preseason coaches’ and media poll at the Big Sky Conference Summer Kickoff on July 18. All ballots which correctly predict the order of finish of all eight teams will be entered in a drawing for free airfare, lodging and a ticket to a I-AA first-round playoff game featuring a Big Sky team. The winner will also receive Big Sky Conference merchandise.

The deadline is July 11. So far Montana is heavily favored by the fans, with Eastern second.