Eastern keeps UC-Davis winning streak rolling

DAVIS, Calif. — Special teams blocked a field goal to preserve the lead late in the fourth quarter and Marlon Jones, Jr. delivered his second interception return for a touchdown in as many games.

Those two plays proved critical as Eastern Washington recorded a 27-24 victory over University of California-Davis on the opening week of Big Sky Conference play.

With less than 3 minutes to play, the Aggies moved the ball into Eastern territory but stalled at the 14-yard-line, settling for a 31-yard field goal attempt to tie the game. Defensive tackle Isaiah Perez, a transfer from BYU, was able to get his arm up for the block and stunning the crowd of over 14,000.

The Eagles, who evened their season record at 2-2, not only won their second straight game but also kept alive their all-time record against the Aggies at 11-0.

“We’ve been in a lot of these (type of games) over the years, been in three of these the last three weeks,” head coach Aaron Best said after the game. “I’m not going to say we’re battle-tested, but we’ve been tested by three different ball clubs.”

Another area of perfection for Eastern were turnovers, where they had a 3-0 advantage. The Eagles are now 70-4 since 2010 when winning the turnover margin.

Trailing 24-20 going into the fourth quarter, Eastern scored the only points of the final quarter and that would ultimately be the game-winning touchdown.

It came on a fake reverse by backup quarterback Michael Wortham around the left side with 13:08 remaining.

The transfer from Sierra College lined up at running back, took a handoff from Kekoa Visperas and faked a pitch to the reversing receiver before going 10 yards to the left pylon for his second career score.

Jones also tricked the Aggies’ offense with the score tied at 3-3 with 2:05 remaining in the opening quarter. He stepped in front of a hitch route outside the numbers grabbed the Miles Hastings’ pass and went 38 yards to make it a 10-3 game.

Eastern got a second pick by team captain Brock Harrison with 11:49 to play, but the Eagles were not able to generate points, going three-and-out.

Trailing 3-0, Eastern reeled off the next 17 points on a Soren McKee 40-yard field goal, Jones’ pick-six and a Justice Jackson short TD at the 12:17 mark of the second.

Davis would score to tie before halftime but McKee would kick a 24-yard field goal for a 20-17 Eastern lead at 12:12 of the third. UCD would take its final lead with a Trent Tompkins TD at the 6:35 mark of the third.

Visperas finished the game 21-of-30 for 205 yards passing, adding 33 yards on the ground. Jackson led the rushing attack with 62 yards on 13 carries. Robert Mason III topped Eagle receivers with 4 catches and 63 yards. Efton Chism III kept his reception streak alive at 34 games with 4 for 41 yards and is now just 97 yards from 2,000 in his career.

Linebacker Ben Allen led tacklers with 9 including 1 tackle for loss. Defensive end Da’Marcus Johnson was a menace particularly in the second half, finishing with 5 tackles, 2 TFL and a QB hurry.

The Eagles return home next week to take on 7th-ranked Idaho (3-1) at 1 p.m. Sept. 30.