Eastern batters Hornets
Taiwan Jones rushed for a career-high 191 yards and four touchdowns Saturday night to help 19th-ranked Eastern Washington defeat Sacramento State 56-30 in sweltering heat at Sacramento, Calif.
The Eagles (3-1, 2-0 Big Sky Conference) were coming off a 16-0 shutout of Northern Colorado.
Matt Nichols completed 18 of 28 passes for 255 yards and one touchdown for Eastern Washington, which built a 35-9 halftime lead.
The Eagles, 10-0 in road games against Sacramento State (0-3, 0-1), avenged last year’s 15-13 Hornets win in Cheney.
Nichols is 593 passing yards and 666 yards of total offense from setting school career records in those categories.
Hornets quarterback Jason Smith completed 26 of 34 passes for 320 yards and one touchdown. Wide receiver Brandyn Reed had a career-best eight receptions for 141 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
“We started hot that first half and built a lead,” Eagles head coach Beau Baldwin said. “We found ourselves reeling (in the third quarter), but we snapped back out of it, which was great. I’m really proud of our team – it’s never easy winning on the road. To come down here and win is huge.”
Jones’ yardage total was No. 29 in school history and the best by an Eagle since Dezmon Cole had 199 versus Weber State on Oct. 23, 2004.
Coupled with 69 yards on kickoff returns and a pass reception for 20 yards, Jones finished with 279 all-purpose yards.
The 56 points EWU scored were the most since beating Cal State Northridge 63-35 on Oct. 27, 2001.
Linebacker J.C. Sherritt, who was last week’s Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, led the EWU defense with 14 tackles.
“We didn’t play a full 60 minutes – we had some hiccups,” Baldwin said. “But you are going to have that, because Sacramento State is a great team and I believe they will win a lot of games in this conference.” The temperature was 97 degrees at kickoff.
Montana 41, Northern Arizona 35 (OT): After scoring on the first play of scrimmage in overtime, the Grizzlies (4-0, 2-0) came up with an interception on the Lumberjacks’ ensuing drive for a win at Flagstaff, Ariz.
Matt Myers of the Lumberjacks (1-2, 0-1) kicked a 47-yard field with 3 seconds remaining in regulation to send it to OT.
Weber State 36, Portland State 29: Quarterback Cameron Higgins and receiver Tim Toone saved the Wildcats (2-2, 2-0) from a second-half meltdown by connecting for a 38-yard TD pass with 17 seconds remaining to rally Weber State over the host Vikings (1-3, 0-2).
The Vikings started chipping away late in the third quarter when Aaron Woods returned a kickoff 97 yards for a score, pulling Portland State to within 28-17. An interception return for a TD by DeShawn Shead and a 15-yard scoring pass from Drew Hubel to Woods with 1:15 remaining put the Vikings ahead 29-28.
Montana State 25, Northern Colorado 7: Mark Iddins threw two touchdown passes and the Bobcats (2-1, 1-0) used a swarming defense to defeat the Bears (1-3, 0-2) in Greeley, Colo.