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."