OGDEN, Utah — Call it winning streak as Eastern Washington Eagles, football earned its first road victory of the season on Saturday, defeating Weber State, 23-20, on Saturday. Eastern’s defense delivered with a pair of turnovers and powered the team to its third consecutive win. EWU improves to 3-1 in the Big Sky and evens its overall record at 4-4. The Wildcats fall to 1-3 in conference and 3-5 overall.
“Three games in a row we have won on defense; it’s an incredible feat,” head coach Aaron Best said. “It’s the first road win of the year and these guys played out of the world. They don’t just take our messages and run with them; they sprint with them. They’re young and coachable. I’ll run with this crew any week. We want to continue to win and play for bigger stakes next week.”
The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with the lead changing three times. The Wildcats scored first but Eastern had the quick response. The Eagles forced a safety to take the lead, but Weber St. scored a touchdown in the second quarter to take the lead back. EWU then rattled off two touchdown drives in a row to take control of the game at halftime, 23-13.
The second half was a slog as neither team found the endzone. The Wildcats converted two field goals but could not get any closer to the Eagles. Eastern’s defense closed out the game with an interception.
The defense held Weber to 345 total yards, and forced two turnovers, adding another on special teams.
Jaylon Jenkins and Ambrose Marsh each had an interception, while Wesley Garrett came up with the fumble recovery on a muffed punt. Read Sunn led the team with 11 tackles and Myles Mayovsky had 8.
Nate Bell completed 20-of-29(69.0%) passes for 169 yards and one touchdown. Jared Taylor rushed for two of the Eagles’ touchdowns and had 23 yards on the ground.
Scoring Summary
Weber St. opened the game strong, quickly driving 75 yards in 3 plays to score on a 34-yard rush. The Wildcats were up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.
After the EWU offense was forced to punt, Weber St. muffed the punt and Eastern had the ball back at the Weber St. 2-yard line. Jared Taylor ran the ball in on the next play and the Eagles tied the game at 7.
In the second quarter, the Wildcats put together an 8-play, 60-yard drive, scoring on a 5-yard touchdown run. Weber St. retook the lead, 14-9, with 9:34 left in the half.
Looking to respond, EWU began moving the ball through the air. Nate Bell found Nolan Ulm in tight coverage for a 24–yard reception. Following a Wildcat penalty, Bell next found Kevin Allen III for 16 yards and the Eagles were in the redzone. Bell would scramble on a second-down play and Jaxon Branch hauled in a 7-yard touchdown reception. Eastern was back in front, 16-14 with 4:32 remaining. The drive spanned 12 plays and 75 yards, taking 5:02 off the clock.
The Eagles were on the move in their next drive as Bell connected with Noah Cronquist for 21 yards. Bell then rushed 3 times for 26 yards to move EWU into the redzone again. On the 2-yard line again, Taylor powered in for his second score of the game. Eastern was up 23-14 and 31 seconds remaining in the half.
Weber St. was driving in the third quarter and cut into the Eagle lead with a 38-yard field goal. EWU was now up 23-17 with 5:57 on the clock.
Into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats again drove into Eastern territory, but the Eastern Washington Eagles defense bent and did not break. Weber St. inched closer on the scoreboard with a 37-yard field goal. The EWU lead was 23-20 and 6:23 remaining in the game.
Eagles Notes
- Eastern has won three-straight games for the first time since 2021 (11/13-11/27).
- Jaylon Jenkins intercepted a pass for the third consecutive game and now has 4 this season. Eastern Washington has now intercepted a pass in 6 consecutive games, the longest streak since 2018, when the Eagles had interceptions in 7 consecutive games (11/3/18 – 1/5/19).
- Ambrose Marsh notched his second interception of the season and matched his career-best with 6 tackles.
- Jared Taylor scored his third and fourth rushing touchdown of the season. It gives Taylor 16 rushing touchdowns for his career. The game was also Taylor’s fourth career multi-rushing touchdown game.
- Eastern recorded its first safety since Sep. 25, 2021 against Southern Utah.
- EWU blocked its fifth kick of the season.
- Read Sunn matched his career-best with 11 tackles, his second career double-digit tackle game.
- Jaxon Branch hauled in his second career touchdown reception. He finished with 4 receptions for 26 yards.
- Noah Cronquist matched his career-best with 5 receptions for the second consecutive game. He totaled 66 yards in the game to lead the team.
- Tariq May notched his second consecutive game with a sack.
Up Next
Eastern Washington returns to Roos Field next week to host Sacramento State for a 1 p.m. Pacific Time kickoff. The game will be Eastern’s kickoff for Native American Heritage Month.
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