Eagles get tough homecoming opponent
The first game of Eastern Washington’s football future is this afternoon, but that doesn’t mean the Eagles are giving up on 2006.
With the usual goals of a winning season and a playoff berth out of reach, the Eagles (2-6, 2-3 in the Big Sky Conference) want to win for the seniors and build momentum for the future.
Northern Arizona (2-4, 2-2) is the opponent for today’s 80th homecoming game at Woodward Field, which kicks off at 2:05 p.m.
“We want to win games,” Eagles coach Paul Wulff said. “We have to get back to .500 in league. Homecoming is always a big game for us and this week’s game is important.”
Eastern, which has struggled for consistency and is 0-3 at home, faces a stern test.
Although the Lumberjacks have lost to I-A Arizona State and Utah as well as the Montana schools, they have one of the top quarterbacks in conference history in four-year starter Jason Murrietta and an unusual defense.
Murrietta has thrown for 1,635 yards with a completion rate of 64 percent and has 17 touchdowns against only two interceptions.
“Murrietta is playing well and their offense is a lot more efficient this year,” Wulff said. “They’re not running the ball as much as they have. They have two receivers that are very fast. They can take a screen for a touchdown and can also run by you on the deep ball.”
Alex Watson is second in the conference with 46 catches for 673 yards and eight touchdowns. Skyler Moore, who missed one game, has 26 catches for 482 yards and six scores.
The Lumberjacks use the flex defense made famous by the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl champions and the University of Arizona’s Desert Swarm.
“It’s just a different animal,” Wulff said. “It’s a challenge.”
Especially for a freshman quarterback in Matt Nichols, who has 14 interceptions and just five touchdowns despite completing 55.7 percent of his passes for 1,450 yards.
“He’s been thrown enough curveballs, throw him another, what the heck,” Wulff said. “You’ve got to learn by fire. He’s going to continue to see things. The only way to make progress sometimes is by learning from your mistakes. That’s where we’re at.”
Eastern’s four primary receivers are also freshmen who may not always be in the right place at the right time and catch every ball. Still, Tony Davis has 35 receptions, Aaron Boyce 29 and Brynsen Brown 23, all for between 300 and 400 yards.
Despite the disappointment of seeing their seven-year string of winning seasons come to an end, Wulff said the Eagles haven’t given up.
“For three weeks we played pretty good football in regards to our focus and our energy level,” he said. “We made some mistakes that cost us, but by no means was it from lack of effort or lack of focus.
“We’ve played pretty emotional football the last three weeks. We need to keep that going. I think the kids are having fun in the process, we just have to now, in the games, eliminate the things that have hurt us.”