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Eagles win a wild one

From wire and news services | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 years, 3 months AGO
by From wire and news services
| September 30, 2012 9:00 PM

CHENEY - The way Montana had gouged Eastern Washington for the better part of the second half, this one will go down as the mother of all rallies.

Scoring two touchdowns in the final 2:19, the No. 7 (FCS) Eagles rallied for a 32-26 victory over the 21st-ranked Grizzlies on Saturday before 10,529 at Roos Field.

"It was a wild finish and our guys just kept believing," EWU coach Beau Baldwin said. "We have been in similar situations - and a lot of guys out there on the field have been in similar situations. You have to keep believing. Montana was taking it to us in the second half. Absolutely taking it to us."

The Eagles (3-1, 2-0 Big Sky) allowed 407 rushing yards, and at one point in the second half Montana had 169 total yards compared to a minus-4 for EWU. But Eastern put together an 82-yard scoring drive to pull within two points on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Vernon Adams to Brandon Kaufman. After Shaquille Hill successfully recovered an onside kick for the Eagles, Eastern scored again on a 20-yard TD pass from Adams to Ashton Clark with 53 seconds to play.

The Grizzlies (2-3, 0-2), who out-gained EWU 533-447 yards in total offense, drove 62 yards on five plays, but ran out of time to complete their own rally.

Adams completed 25-of-41 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns in his second career start for EWU, and also added a team-leading 54 yards rushing. He overcame an interception and a fumble in the fourth quarter to become one of several heroes for the Eagles.

"He's a freshmen playing football for the first time in college - you are going to go through highs and lows," Baldwin said. "I see sophomore, junior, even senior quarterbacks sometimes go through low and high moments. That's the way football works.

"The best thing he did was when he came to the sideline, he didn't pout or slam his helmet. He just kept saying we are going to get another shot. Even if we had come up short, the guys carried the same attitude the entire time. That always gives you a shot. One of our mottos is 'panic will always end in defeat,' but as long as you don't panic, you give yourself a shot."

Jordan Canada ran for 167 yards on 19 carries and Peter Nguyen added 119 yards on 23 attempts for Montana.

The Eagles led 17-10 at halftime, but Montana scored 16 straight points on TD runs by Trent McKinney and Canada and a 25-yard field goal by Chris Lider.

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