LA GRANDE, Ore. – Despite a career rushing day from
Colby Brown and a solid performance from the defense, the College of Idaho struggled in the red zone, as Eastern Oregon rallied for a 21-10 victory at a blustery Community Stadium.
Brown, getting his first start of the season at running back, rushed for 141 yards, but the Yotes (3-8, 3-7 Frontier) were turned away by the EOU defense six different times inside the Mountaineers 30-yard-line, getting just one field goal out of the opportunities.
C of I opened the scoring on their second drive, taking advantage of a 30 mile-per-hour tailwind to march 45 yards in seven plays.
A.J. Martin bowled in from 3-yards out for the 7-0 lead.
After an Eastern (4-7, 4-6) punt, a Brown 34-yard run, the longest of the season by a Coyote, set up a
Hartvig Bondo 28-yard field goal.
EOU answered with the wind, as Zach Bartlow found Joshua Richards on a 17-yard strike to cut the deficit to 10-7 and after a short C of I punt, needed just five plays to go 25 yards, with a Bartlow to Brenden Kelly touchdown pass giving the Mounties a 14-10 lead.
Eastern extended the lead to 21-10 midway through the third quarter as Richards hauled in a 59-yard touchdown reception from Billingsley and turned the game over to their defense – as the Mounties stopped C of I four different times on fourth down in or near the red zone.
Both defenses were stout, as EOU held the Yotes to a season-low 266 yards of offense, while C of I limited the potent Eastern attack to just 342 yards – well below their season average.
Teejay Gordon was 15-of-29 for 117 yards and two interceptions in the loss, with
Tyler Higby catching seven passes for 49 yards.
Bartlow finished 15-of-27 for 179 yards and the three scores, with Richards catching four passes for 105 yards. Alfred Gross led EOU with 113 yards on 17 carries.
C of I closes out the season next Saturday, hosting Carroll College.
NOTES:
- B.J. Newman led the Yotes defensively with 13 tackles, including a tackle for loss, with Nate Moore recording 11 stops; eight different C of I players recorded a tackle behind the line of scrimmage
- The two lowest scoring games by the Yotes since football returned last September have been at EOU – today's 10 point effort and last season's 47-7 loss to the Mountaineers.
- Gordon needs just four yards passing vs. Carroll to become C of I's all-time leader in passing yards, as his 3,808 yards is just shy of Lon Troxel's record of 3,812 set from 1966-69; Gordon also became the first C of I quarterback to pass for over 2,000 yards in a season (2,074) and the first player to eclipse 5,000 yards in total offense for a career
