Eagles' fast start fades in narrow home loss to Cal Poly
- Story byColumbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, Wash.
- Eagles' fast start fades in narrow home loss to Cal Poly
Sep. 29—CHENEY — The Eastern Washington Eagles (1-4) fell to the Cal Poly Mustangs 31-27 Saturday. While the defense provided an energetic first half, late mistakes ultimately cost the Eagles at home.
"There's a combination of deflation a little bit," Head Coach Aaron Best said. "Ultimately, I think it came down to a myriad of things. The big things that stood out for me on the sideline — (we) didn't protect the passer well enough; they got after us. Secondly, 43 (carries) for 87 (yards), the only chance you have in any game like that is when you take the ball away three times, when you have a long kick return, and when you have a fourth down stop."
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Despite forcing three turnovers and a turnover on downs, Eastern Washington could not capitalize consistently enough to pull away. Missed kicks, poor pass protection and a struggling rushing attack eventually allowed Cal Poly to erase a fourth-quarter deficit and escape Cheney with a 31-27 victory.
The Eagles had two field goals blocked, while missing one of their own, which Best feels had a significant impact on the final score of the game.
"From a special teams standpoint, I thought we had a really poor day on special teams outside of a kick return and punt return (from) Jaxon Bell in those two situations," Best said. "We left seven points out there that are never free. Extra points aren't free. They have to be earned, and they got their hands on two, and we hooked one with the field goal, so we left seven points on the board."
First half
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The Mustangs took the ball first and moved downfield with ease before scoring a 31-yard touchdown to take the lead.
The Eagles offense took a couple drives to find their rhythm, but Nate Bell led the team on their first scoring drive with a 3-yard pass to David Cabrera for a touchdown. Their extra point was blocked, keeping them behind on the scoreboard 7-6. However, the defense came to play, forcing a three-and-out and giving the ball back to the offense. Bell went back to work dicing up the Mustangs secondary, finding Kevin Allen III and Jamai East to move the ball downfield. Knocking on the door of the endzone, Bell found East for the 6-yard touchdown, helping them claim a 13-7 lead over Cal Poly.
The Mustangs answered quickly, stringing together an explosive 2-play, 75-yard drive that was topped off with a 55-yard touchdown run, reclaiming the lead 14-13. The Eagles still finished the first half strong, forcing a turnover on downs just before halftime.
The Eagles first half was also highlighted by a Jaylon Jenkins interception in the first quarter, an Ambrose Marsh interception and a forced fumble by Dishawn Misa which was recovered by Bryce Smith.
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Second half
Bell and the Eagles went 81 yards to open the second half, capping it off with a 13-yard rushing touchdown by the quarterback to reclaim the lead 20-14.
The Mustangs once again responded quickly, as running back Jaden Green turned on the jets for a 53-yard touchdown, going ahead 21-20 over EWU.
Jaxon Bell injected new energy into the game with a 69-yard kick return to set Eastern up inside Mustang territory. A few plays later, Allen carried the ball across the goal line to put the Eags' up 27-21.
From there, the Eagles missed multiple opportunities to build on their lead as the Mustangs clawed their way back, starting with a field goal to cut the lead to 27-24. After getting the ball back in the late stages of the fourth quarter, Cal Poly organized a 70-yard drive, which was wrapped up by a 23-yard touchdown pass increasing their lead to 31-27.
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The Eagles had one last chance with 1:03 remaining in the game. What looked promising after a 21-yard pass completion to Cabrera helped them move the ball past midfield, ultimately failed to lead to any points as time eventually ran out on Eastern, sealing the win for Cal Poly.
Despite another narrow loss, Bell feels confident this team can remain united in their efforts on the gridiron this season.
"I don't think that'll be a problem for us. I feel like we're a very tight unit. We know that we'll have to just watch the film, take it on the chin and move on to UC Davis," Bell said.
For Best, a sense of urgency now enters the locker room as they look for a fast fix to some of their stumbles, like an underperforming run game this season.
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"That's awful, no matter what system you're in, no matter what defense you're facing, two yards per rush is bad," Best said. "We need a fast fix, and so if that means throwing the ball a little bit more — throw to run, maybe we've got to look into that. We have not done that consistently enough throughout."
Bell completed 23-of-37 passes for 253 yards, two touchdowns and threw two interceptions. The Mustangs' rushing attack was difficult to control, and they finished with 289 yards on 41 attempts. On the defensive side, Poly registered five sacks and limited the Eagles to 87 rush yards. Cal Poly led the Eagles in total yards 428 to 340. The Eagles hit the road Saturday as they travel to play UC Davis at 7:30 p.m.
BOX SCORE:
CPLY: 7-7-10-7: 31
EWU: 6-7-14-0: 27
