Eagles to face Northern Colorado Saturday after nail-biting loss to Montana
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 months, 1 week AGO
Wide receiver Michael Wortham of the Montana Grizzlies turns up field after making a reception during the second half against the Eastern Washington Eagles in Missoula Nov. 8. The Eagles will face the Northern Colorado Bears at home Saturday.
COURTESY PHOTO/RYAN BRENNECKE/UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | November 13, 2025 2:40 AM
CHENEY — Eastern Washington University’s football squad made a good showing last weekend, narrowly losing to No. 2 Montana, according to a statement from EWU Athletics.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 22-0 lead early in the second quarter, led by Keali'i Ah Ya,t who completed 14 of his first 15 passes. EWU cut that lead by eight points, leaving the score 22-14 at halftime.
The Eagles abandoned running for passing in the second half, as freshman QB Jake Schakel racked up more than 400 yards, including an 11-play, 63-yard touchdown drive. Eastern scored three of the last four touchdowns and a field goal. Eastern recovered an onside kick with a minute left to go, according to UM, and found themselves trailing by five points on the Griz 5-yard line with five seconds on the clock. A muffed spike by Schakel let the clock run out, UM wrote, and the Griz squeaked out a 29-24 victory.
"That (is) about as wild as it gets,” said Mondana head coach Bobby Hauck. “Everything from giving up the onside kick at the end, and I can tell you we weren't good enough on third down on either side of the ball. We had a hard time making plays on the ball. We didn't run it effectively enough, but in the second half, I thought our defense was tremendous, stopping them and not letting them in the end zone.”
Schakel passed for 451 yards on 43-of-63, or 68.3%, the most yardage in a single game since December of 2021, according to EWU. The Eagles had two 100-plus yard receivers against Montana, with Miles Williams grabbing 11 passes for 136 yards and Cole Pruett finishing with 10 catches for 133 yards and one touchdown.
Montana’s defense set a record of its own with eight sacks against Schakel, according to UM Athletics, the most of any Big Sky team to date.
The Eagles will play the last home game of the 2025 season Saturday as they face Northern Colorado. Eastern Washington has a 15-1 record against the Bears, with the lone loss coming in the 1981 season, according to EWU Athletics.
"(EWU is) a team on the rise," said UNC head coach Ed Lamb. "They've gotten better every week; a real testament to their culture. They should've had two or three chances to win at Montana in the final seconds. They're angry, motivated, and confident."
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”