Eagles’ season comes to an end

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – After earning the opportunity to compete in the FCS playoffs by winning four straight games – three after the NCAA lifted a postseason ban – Eastern Washington squandered opportunity after opportunity Saturday in a 44-33 loss to Stephen F. Austin at Homer Bryce Stadium.

Eastern Washington (8-4) saw its season come to an end in a performance that included the Eagles going 4 of 18 on third down, committing two turnovers and being outplayed on special teams.

Trailing 44-19 late in the third quarter, the Eagles drew to within 44-33 on running back Taiwan Jones’ 2-yard run and Matt Nichols’ third touchdown pass – a 5-yard throw to Nathan Overbay – with 9:38 left in the game.

But after Eastern Washington’s final score, the Eagles last two drives ended on an interception in SFA’s end zone with 7:04 to play and a missed field goal by Mike Jarrett with 1:43 to go that would have cut the Lumberjacks’ lead to eight points.

The Eagles lost despite compiling 595 yards on offense, including 461 yards passing by Nichols. The Eagles also converted three of four on fourth down to keep drives alive, recovered an onside kick and forced four turnovers.

“If we could only have converted on a few more things,” Eastern Washington coach Beau Baldwin said. “We just missed on a few things, especially on a couple of stops.

“Sometimes, it’s because they are a good team. They are a very good team.”

The Southland Conference co-champions this season, SFA (10-2) was making its first playoff appearance since 1995.

The Lumberjacks got a mixed passing performance by junior quarterback Jeremy Moses, who threw four touchdown passes, while being intercepted three times and failing to handle a snap from center on a fourth-down play that resulted in a change of possession.

But Moses’ third-quarter performance – 20 completions on 24 passes for three touchdowns – enabled SFA to build its 23-12 halftime lead to 44-19 going into the fourth quarter.

Moses threw scoring passes of 4 and 19 yards to Brandon Scott and a 4-yarder to Zek Fancher in the third quarter.

Both Scott and Fancher saw considerable playing time because of injuries the last couple of weeks to starters Aaron Rhea and Contrevious Parks.

“They got to rolling,” Eastern Washington defensive back Kevin Hatch said. “They had some play-makers out there.”

Senior receiver Duane Brooks led SFA with 15 catches for 124 yards in becoming the Southland Conference’s all-time leader in receptions.

Nichols had a big outing, completing 43 passes in 76 attempts with the one interception. Receivers Tony Davis (10 catches, 115 yards), Jones (10 for 68 yards) and Overbay (8 for 100 yards) all contributed to the Eagles’ rally.

EWU had 134 yards on the ground, including 118 by Jones on 15 carries.

Eastern Washington took an early 3-0 lead on Jarrett’s 40-yard field goal, before SFA tied it on a 20-yard field goal by Evan Engwall and took its first lead on Romonte Hampton’s 5-yard run late in the first quarter.

The Eagles tied it at 10-10 on Nichols’ 5-yard pass to Matt Martin.

EWU was making its first playoff appearance since 2007.

Stephen F. Austin 44, Eastern Washington 33

E. Washington	10	2	14	7	—	33
Stephen F.Austin	10	13	21	0	—	44

 EWU—FG Jarrett 40

SFA—FG Engwall 20

SFA—Hampton 5 run (Engwall kick)

EWU—Martin 5 pass from Nichols (Jarrett kick)

SFA—Roberson 24 pass from Moses (Engwall kick)

EWU—Safety

SFA—FG Engwall 34

SFA—FG Engwall 34

SFA—Scott 4 pass from Moses (Engwall kick)

SFA—Scott 19 pass from Moses (Engwall kick)

EWU—Kaufman 20 pass from Nichols (Jarrett kick)

SFA—Fancher 4 pass from Moses (Engwall kick)

EWU—Jones 2 run (Jarrett kick)

EWU—Overbay 5 pass from Nichols (Jarrett kick)

	EWU	SFA
First downs	32	28
Rushes-yards	23-134	33-131
Passing	461	432
Comp-Att-Int	43-76-1	43-57-3
Return Yards	9	64
Punts-Avg.	7-34.1	2-52.0
Fumbles-Lost	3-1	4-1
Penalties-Yards	6-42	7-75
Time of Possession	30:33	29:27

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—E. Washington, Jones 15-118, Nichols 7-17, Team 1-(minus 1). Stephen F.Austin, Pervis 16-125, Hampton 5-28, Ross 5-11, Team 3-(minus 16), Moses 4-(minus 17).

PASSING—E. Washington, Nichols 43-76-1-461. Stephen F.Austin, Moses 43-57-3-432.

RECEIVING—E. Washington, Davis 10-115, Jones 10-68, Overbay 8-100, Kaufman 6-70, Edwards 5-73, Gant 3-30, Martin 1-5. Stephen F.Austin, D.Brooks 15-124, Scott 11-89, Roberson 4-89, Crawford 4-53, Fancher 4-22, Hampton 2-5, Garre.Williams 1-27, Pervis 1-17.