Murrietta stops EWU
Eastern Washington University’s young offense showed it was capable, but it was Northern Arizona that showed how bright the Eagles’ football future could be.
Veteran quarterback Jason Murrietta engineered a high-powered and clutch offense that led the Lumberjacks to a 44-36 win to spoil homecoming for 5,498 fans on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Woodward Field.
“We played well,” Murrietta said. “If they’re going to have six guys in the box, we’re able to run the ball effectively and our passing game is going to be that much better.”
Murrietta directed an offense that piled up 541 yards, the most, by far, the Eagles have allowed a conference opponent.
Eastern countered with 464 yards, a large chunk of it credited to freshmen, including Brynsen Brown’s receptions for 138 yards and three touchdowns and tight end Nathan Overbay’s first career touchdown.
“We gave up too many big plays on defense,” Eastern coach Paul Wulff said. “We moved the ball well today on offense, but we still had some opportunities we didn’t capitalize on. Bottom line is our kids played hard, and whenever you do that you give yourself a chance to win.”
The Lumberjacks (4-4, 3-2 Big Sky Conference) had to recover an onside kick with 2:32 to go and pick up two first downs before they could keep the Eagles (2-7, 2-4) winless at home.
It was NAU’s running game that surprised the Eagles, with redshirt freshman Alex Henderson breaking loose for 265 yards – including a 68-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the game and a 30-yarder in the third.
Murrietta did a nice job picking apart the defense with 14 completions in 22 attempts for 238 yards and three TDs.
“I think we got too cute with the game plan. We tried to stop specific plays and in the meantime we lost focus,” EWU defensive coordinator Jody Sears said. “I take full responsibility. The kids played hard, but there’s no excuse for that performance.
“You have to tip your hat to them. They had a great game plan. We did a good job of making adjustments, now we just to do a better job of preparing. We have to stay with the fundamentals, base defense.”
After a miserable start – Murrietta took the Lumberjacks 59 yards in five plays on their second possession – Eastern recovered to score four times to trail 20-16 at the half. Then the Eagles opened the second half with an 11-play, 80-yard drive capped by Matt Nichols’ 29-yard strike to Brown. Brett Bergstrom, who had three first-half field goals, missed his first extra point of the season so the lead was 22-20.
Then Murrietta took over, directing three scoring drives for a 41-22 lead entering the fourth quarter. The last one was the back-breaker, as safety Brady Smith got all turned around and missed the ball as Alex Watson hauled in a 42-yard floater after Murrietta evaded a blitz. It was the first play after the Eagles got stuffed on a fourth-and-1.
The Lumberjacks added a quick field goal on the next possession, after Ryan Donckers’ school-record 71-yard punt, before junior quarterback Chris Peerboom led a late rally. The QBs alternated in the first half, but Nichols suffered a neck injury at the starter of the fourth quarter and didn’t return.
Brown got the first touchdown on a 9-yard reception with 5:43 to play. After Peerboom threw an interception in the end zone on first-and-10 from the 10, Jason Belford ripped the ball away from Henderson at the NAU 24. On the next play, Peerboom hooked up with freshman Tony Davis for a touchdown, setting up the onside kick.
Bergstrom’s third field goal was a 52-yarder, his third of the season at least that far, tying Ed Stein’s 1987 school record for three 50s in a season.