Football | Eastern dominates Northern Arizona
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Matt Nichols threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns as Eastern Washington beat Northern Arizona 52-24 Saturday in a battle for second place in the Big Sky Conference and a possible playoff spot.
The Eagles (7-3, 5-2 Big Sky) end their regular-season schedule next Saturday against Weber State as they try to earn a Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth.
The 52 points EWU scored was the second most in a Big Sky Conference victory.
“In this ballgame it was big - it would be nice if it carried over to the next game,” said Eagles coach Paul Wulff. “To get a quick score on defense was something we hadn’t done all year. Starting fast was our goal, obviously. We were able to get that done, and that just set the tone. We were able to keep the pressure on and never allowed them to kind of resurface.”
Northern Arizona (6-5, 5-3) failed in its bid to win six conference games for the first time since 1996.
Dale Morris had 109 yards on 16 carries including a 3-yard touchdown run for Eastern Washington, which led 28-7 after the first quarter and 31-10 at halftime.
Morris also caught an 8-yard scoring pass from Nichols, who finished 17 of 22.
Defensive end Jason Belford’s interception and 4-yard return on the third play from scrimmage gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
Tight end Tom McAndrews recovered a fumble in the end zone to make it 14-0 less than four minutes later.
Nichols also threw an 80-yard scoring strike to Shane Eller and a 21-yarder to Aaron Boyce in the first quarter. Nichols’ 18-yard TD pass to A.J. Jimerson in the third quarter made it 45-10.
Local college summaries
E. WASHINGTON 52, N. ARIZONA 24
E. Washington
28
3
21
0
–
52
N. Arizona
7
3
7
7
–
24
First quarter
EWU — Belford 4 interception return (Macias kick), 13:49.
EWU — McAndrews 1 pass from Nichols (Macias kick), 10:13.
NAU — Watson 55 pass from Kriesien (Dehaze kick), 8:32.
EWU — Eller 80 pass from Nichols (Macias kick), 8:18.
EWU — Boyce 21 pass from Nichols (Macias kick), 5:07.
Second quarter
NAU — FG Dehaze 40, 10:01.
EWU — FG Macias 46, 6:12.
Third quarter
EWU — Morris 3 run (Macias kick), 9:40.
EWU — Jimerson 18 pass from Nichols (Macias kick), 7:30.
NAU — Sweeney 13 pass from Kriesien (Dehaze kick), 6:08.
EWU — Morris 8 pass from Nichols (Macias kick), 1:37.
Fourth quarter
NAU — Scott 20 run (Dehaze kick), 5:12.
A — 4,166.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — EWU, Morris 16-109, Nichols 11-48, Jimerson 6-35, Cole 7-21, Eller 2-18, Ramos 1-6, Smart 2-3. NAU, Scott 12-77, Henderson 17-70, Sayles 4-59, Kriesien 19-52, Hargis 3-15, Watson 1-13, Anthony 1-4, Toailoa 1-1, Team 1-(- 2).
Passing — EWU, Nichols 17-22-0-316, Smart 0-2-1-0. NAU, Kriesien 17-31-3-180, Hargis 0-1-0-0.
Receiving — EWU, Boyce 4-67, Davis 3-27, Morris 3-19, Eller 2-102, Jimerson 2-44, Overbay 2-42, Brown 1-15. NAU, Watson 6-68, Fitzpatrick 4-57, Mahone 3-25, Rauschert 1-17, Sweeney 1-13, Henderson 1-5, Scott 1-(- 5).