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By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter 

EWU heads east in search of first win

Eastern meets Patriot League’s Fordham for first time

 

Last updated 9/14/2017 at 9:49am



From the program that helped NFL Hall-of-Famer Vince Lombardi get his start, Eastern Washington University hopes it sees first-year head coach Aaron Best earn his initial victory.

Kickoff against Fordham University at Jack Coffey Field in the Bronx is 10:06 a.m. with only radio coverage on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area.

The Rams are 1-1 after an opening crusher of a loss, 64-6 at Army and a 38-31 come-from-behind win over Central Connecticut, both on the road.

Eastern (0-2) comes off a pair of definitive nonconference drubbings, 56-10 at Texas Tech, Sept. 2 and 40-13 at home to North Dakota State last Saturday. They open Big Sky Conference play Sept. 23 at Montana.

“We will have our hands full again on the road against an offensive team with offensive weapons,” Best said. “We have to lock-in and focus, and have to understand our first two games are behind us.”

Senior quarterback Kevin Anderson completed 17 of 29 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns in the win over CCS. He brings his career total to 6,579 yards with 62 touchdowns, both third best on the Fordham career lists.

Andrew Prince hauled in a pair of touchdown passes in the win where the Rams scored the game’s final 17 points.

Fordham plays in the Patriot League against the likes of Georgetown, Lehigh and Holy Cross and have been a conference power the past several seasons.

The Rams closed the 2016 season with an 8-3 record overall and was the Patriot League runner-up with a 5-1 mark. Fordham lost to Lehigh 58-37 late in the 2016 season, costing the Rams their fourth-straight trip to the FCS Playoffs.

In 2012 and 2013 Fordham reached the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. They lost to Towson, which later defeated Eastern in the FCS semifinals in 2013.

This will be the first-ever meeting for EWU against the Rams, a collegiate football powerhouse in the 1930’s. It was back then that Lombardi was part of Fordham’s “Seven Blocks of Granite,” offensive line guided by then assistant and future Notre Dame head coaching great Frank Leahy.

The game at Fordham will be just the eighth occasion all-time that EWU has played east of the Mississippi River. The last time came in 2013 in Ohio when Eastern fell at Toledo 33-21. That was only EWU’s fourth game ever in the Eastern time zone.

Eagles vs. Rams

No.12 Ranked Eastern Washington versus Fordham.Saturday, Sept. 16, 10:06 a.m. Jack Coffey Field (7,000) • Bronx, New York. TV: none. Radio: 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area. Larry Weir returns for his 27th 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.

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

 

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