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By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter 

Eagles return home to face UC Davis following big win at NAU

 

Last updated 9/29/2016 at 1:07pm



He has the stadium named after him.

Now Michael Roos will have another place of permanence at Eastern Washington University when he is inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the Eagles’ football game Saturday, Oct. 1 with the University of California at Davis.

The Eagles enter their game against the 1-3 Aggies on a roll, having improved to 3-1 (1-0 in Big Sky) following a 50-35 victory last Saturday over Big Sky Conference preseason favorite, Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Kickoff at Roos Field is 1:10 p.m.

“Regardless of what our record is, I like where our team is right now,” Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin said of the big picture at this juncture of the season. “Whatever we were going to be after four games, the important thing was feeling good about our progress.

Eastern hardly seemed to notice that last Saturday’s game was played at 7,000 feet elevation. The Eagles dominated on offense — and defense.

The Eagles had their first turnover advantage of the season, coming against an NAU team which had just one fumble lost and no interceptions through three games this season. Eastern had a trio of interceptions by Zach Bruce, D’londo Tucker and Nzuzi Webster. Bruce’s pick came in the end zone, ended a Lumberjack drive and allowed Eastern to score a crucial touchdown by Tamarick Pierce, the first of two on the day for him, making it 19-7 EWU.

After the ‘Jacks scored back-to-back touchdowns to lead 21-19, the Eagles marched down the field just before halftime to kick a 44-yard Roland Alcobendas field goal and take a lead they would never surrender. Eastern outscored NAU 31-7 and led 50-28 with 8 minutes, 53 seconds to play.

Cooper Kupp returned to the lineup after missing the last game-and-a-half with a shoulder injury. He had a team-leading 11 catches for 111 yards, but no touchdowns.

Quarterback Gage Gubrud completed 35 of 56 passes for 392 yards, and also rushed for another 95 for a total of 487. He had two touchdown passes and one on the ground.

Along with the three interceptions, tackle leaders were Miquiyah Zamora with 10. Albert Havili finished with eight stops and Samson Ebukam and Ketner Kupp each had seven. Alek Kacmarcik, who missed two games with a concussion, had seven tackles.

Eastern returns home for two games and a bye after playing three of its first four games on the road. The Eagles have won all four previous meetings against the Aggies – 2005, 2007, 2012, 2014.

The Aggies entered their league opener at home versus Weber State playing three lopsided games, losing to Oregon 53-28, beating Southern Oregon 52-35 and falling to Wyoming 45-22.

Eastern remained fourth in this week’s STATS FCS Top 25 poll, and also held steady at fifth in the coaches poll. North Dakota State remains No. 1 in both polls. In the Athlon Power Rankings, the Eagles are second behind North Dakota State.

Eagles vs. Aggies

FCS No. 4 Eastern Washington University versus UC Davis, Saturday, Oct. 1, 1:10 p.m. Roos Field.

(8,600).TV: Live regionally on ROOT Sports Northwest. Radio: 700-AM ESPN in Spokane. Larry Weir returns for his 26th season calling the play-by-play, with analysis handled by Paul Sorensen. Broadcasts begin one hour prior to kickoff and include an expanded post-game show. Cheney watch parties: Wild Bills Long Bar.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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