Eagles fall 40-38 to Youngstown State in crusher of a finish
Eastern Washington players, Mitch Fettig (left) and D'londo Tucker (right) watch replay officials determine if Youngstown State tight end Kevin Rader made a last-second legal catch for a touchdown. It was, they said, and Eastern lost a heartbreaker, 40-38.
One might say Youngstown State borrowed the pages of different teams in sending Eastern Washington down to yet another bitter defeat in the semifinal round of the Football Championship Subdivision Dec. 17 at frigid Roos Field.
The Penguins' 40-38 victory on a 5-yard pass play - a one-handed catch by tight end Kevin Rader from Hunter Wells with one second left - put YSU in the title game Jan. 7 at Frisco, Texas against James Madison.
Rader's grab came with unintended assistance from Eastern defender Ketner Kupp whose back provided the means to call it a good catch in the eyes of replay officials who agreed the receiver had possession as the two fell to the icy turf.
"The officials ruled it a catch and they reviewed it and ruled it a catch," EWU head coach Beau Baldwin said. "I couldn't tell - I couldn't call it from my vantage point, put it that way."
Eastern lost its 11-game winning streak and finished 12-2. Youngstown improved to 12-3, and is now 2-0 versus Eastern in semifinal games, having won 25-14 in Spokane's Joe Albi Stadium in 1997.
YSU reprised this finish, which was similar to two other previous heartbreaking playoff losses for the Eagles in Cheney.
One came in 2004 when Sam Houston rallied in a quarterfinal game to win 35-34 - after the Eagles led by 20 points.
The second was more recent, in 2013 when Towson University scored with 17 seconds to play to beat Eastern 35-31, erasing a 10-point Eagle lead in the final 5:09.
The latest hurdle in the Eagles' attempt to return to the title game in Texas that earned them the 2010 FCS championship over Delaware, kept Cooper Kupp from dotting the final I's and crossing the T's in his record-setting senior season.
Kupp scored twice and racked up 180 yards on 10 receptions while fellow senior Shaq Hill also scored twice, including a go ahead touchdown with 4:24 to play that put Eastern up 38-34.
The turning point, perhaps, if there was just one, came with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter with Eastern leading 31-20. An Eagles' score would have more-than-likely sealed the game and they were driving in that direction.
But Gage Gubrud's pass to Hill at the 1 ricocheted off of the hands or pads of either Hill or Youngstown defender Billy Hurst who settled under the ball for an interception. Fourteen plays and 6:47 later the Penguins closed it to 31-27.
Momentum stayed on the visitor's side as they forced Eastern into a three-and-out possession. Following a 38-yard punt from Jordan Dascalo. YSU put together a nine-play, 56-yard drive that took 4:30 and gave the Penguins their first lead, 34-31, since the opening quarter.
Eastern responded with a quick trip, just 2:04 to cover 80 yards, down the now pink Roos Field turf that had begun to be blanketed by ever-increasing snow flurries. Hill finished it with his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard run that put the Eagles back up 38-34 with 4:24 to play.
Youngstown then ground out their methodical final drive for the win.
After falling behind 7-0 at the 9:22 mark of the first quarter on the first of three Tevin McCaster touchdowns, set up by the first of two Gubrud interceptions, Eastern reeled off 17 consecutive points. Gubrud completed 18 of 33 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns.
That began with a 21-yard Roldan Alcobendas field goal and finished with touchdowns from Kupp and Kendrick Bourne, the latter an 83-yard catch and run that came just 3:36 apart for a 17-7 lead.
YSU cut it to 17-10 on a Zak Kennedy field goal but Kupp caught a Sam McPherson halfback pass with 2:48 remaining in the first half pushed the lead back to 24-10. McCaster cut it to 24-17 just before halftime.
Another Kennedy field goal with 8:19 to go in the third closed it to 24-20, but it took just 2:13 for Hill's first touchdown to give the Eagles their 31-20 lead that quickly melted away.
Senior linebacker Miquiyah Zamora concluded his Eastern career with a career-high 17 tackles.
"It's a special group that is going to leave a legacy and definitely a great example for the next crew as we get going in January," Baldwin said of 12 seniors who saw their careers come to an end in crushing fashion.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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