Idaho lets Eagles escape

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

CHENEY — Second and 32. 

You’d think the Idaho Vandals defense would be in good shape in that situation, after an errant snap flew over the head of Eastern Washington quarterback Nate Bell late in the first half with the Vandals leading by four points. 

Bell chased the ball down and fell on it at the Eastern 31. 

After two complete passes, the Eagles converted a fourth-and-2. 

Idaho held Eastern to a field goal on that drive, but that was just the start of a mess the Vandals made of the end of the first half, where Idaho lost the lead and suffered a 21-14 loss to Eastern in Big Sky Conference play Saturday before 6,071 at Roos Field. 

It was the fourth straight loss for Idaho (2-5, 0-3 Big Sky), which played without its top two quarterbacks for a second straight game. 

“I think you’re seeing our youth on display,” first-year Vandals coach Thomas Ford Jr. said. “We’ve got to find ways to get back to winning.” 

Eastern (3-4, 2-1), coming off a bye, won its second straight. 

After Eastern’s field goal cut Idaho’s lead to 7-6, The Vandals went three-and-out and shanked a punt on the next drive, the 18-yarder giving Eastern the ball at the Vandal 32. 

Three plays later, Bell hit an open Miles Williams in the back of the end zone from 9 yards out for a 13-7 halftime lead for Eastern. 

“Even though it was the second quarter, that might have been the difference in the game,” Eastern Washington coach Aaron Best said. “Those 10 points in that sequence were huge.” 

“That was definitely huge,” Ford said of Idaho letting Eastern off the hook when the Eagles were facing second and REAL long. “We had poor communication on a play, and they were able to convert. That was a huge possession.” 

Actually, Idaho had a chance to score right before the half, after Jack Wagner hit Marquawn McCraney for 23 yards to the Eastern 31x with 6 seconds left. Idaho eschewed a long field goal in hopes of a shorter field goal, but Wagner was hit trying to throw, and the clock ran out as his fumble slowly rolled to a stop. 

Ford said a 49-yard field goal try was at the edge of the range of his placekickers. 

With Idaho quarterback Joshua Wood missing a second straight game with a lower-body injury, and backup Sawyer Teeney (ankle) also out, Idaho’s struggles continued in the second half. 

Owen Adams of the Vandals missed a 39-yard field goal wide left early in the third quarter. 

Bell then broke a 54-yard run to the Idaho 17, then hit Wiliams on a fade route in the far corner of the end zone with a beautiful throw for a 6-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion made it 21-7. 

Idaho had a chance when the Vandals recovered a muffed EWU punt at the Eagles 37. But the Vandals were stopped short of a first down on fourth down. 

Idaho was 0 for 4 on fourth down until Nick Josifek, the third quarterback used by the Vandals in this game, hit Michael Graves deep on a 40-yard touchdown pass on fourth and 10 to cut it to 21-14 with 2:30 left. 

Owen Forsman, formerly of Lakeland High, bounced an onside kick that Idaho recovered, but the Vandals were called for blocking less than the required 10 yards from the spot of the kick. 

Idaho did get the ball back, but with just 21 seconds left on its 4. 

Wood went through warmups Saturday, but had been ruled out prior to the game. Wagner started for a second straight week, with Rocco Koch spelling him, often for quarterback runs. 

Wagner threw for 87 yards, including a 26-yard scoring strike to McCraney which gave Idaho a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter. But Wagner also threw an interception and was sacked twice. He did not play in the second half, as Ford said he suffered a lower leg injury in the first half. 

Koch was Idaho’s leading rusher with 81 yards on 14 carries. But he did not complete a pass in six attempts. 

Down by two scores in the fourth quarter, Idaho turned to Josifek, who was 7 of 14 for 103 yards and a touchdown. 

McCraney finished with seven catches for 105 yards. 

“We never really got in a great rhythm offensively,” Ford said, “and when you’re mixing quarterbacks, that makes it tough to get into a rhythm.” 

“We get a feel for running quarterbacks in practice,” Eastern defensive end Trevor Thurman said. “We knew all three (Idaho) quarterbacks were good runners. We prepared for it all this week.” 

Bell took over at quarterback when starter Jared Taylor, whose first collegiate start was against Idaho two years ago, was injured. Taylor was back on Saturday, playing in spot duty at running back. Both are run-first quarterbacks. 

Bell ran for 134 yards on 23 carries, and passed for 177 yards. 

“We were also banged up, but we found a way,” Best said. 

Vandal-izers: Defensive end Matyus McLain (Priest River High) had six tackles for Idaho; linebacker Cruz Hepburn (Lewiston) led with nine ... On the game’s first drive, Idaho went for it on fourth and 1 from its own 25, and gained nothing. Eastern was stopped on fourth and 1 from the Vandal 18. Idaho was stopped short on fourth and 3 from its own 49, and Eastern turned that into a field goal for the game’s first points ... Jhamell Blenman of Idaho returned an interception to the Vandal 42, but Wagner was intercepted three plays later by Jaylon Jenkins ... Idaho plays host to Portland State next Saturday at 1 p.m.

Idaho     7    0    0    7    —    14 

EWU        3    10    0    8    —    21 

First quarter 

EWU — FG S. McKee 31, 4:18 

Idaho — McCraney 26 pass from Wagner (Adams kick), 1:11 

Second quarter 

EWU — FG McKee 39, 1:31 

EWU — Williams 9 pass from Bell (McKee kick), :44 

Fourth quarter  

EWU — Williams 6 pass from Bell (Branch pass from Bell), 14:12 

Idaho — Graves 40 pass from Josifek (Adams kick), 2:30 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

RUSHING — Idaho, Koch 14-81, Josifek 3-21, Thomas 5-16, Wagner 9-12, Cummings 8-10, Kinchelow 1-5, Higgins 1-2. EWU, Bell 23-134, Garrett 1-12, Allen III 3-5, Taylor 1-1, Yetts 7-(minus 2). 

PASSING — Idaho, Josifek 7-14-0-103, Wagner 8-12-1-87, Koch 0-6-0. EWU, Bell 18-31-1-177. 

RECEIVING — Idaho, McCraney 7-105, McWilliams 2-17, Cox 2-13, Graves 1-40, Jezioro 1-6, Superales 1-5, Cummings 1-4. EWU — Cronquist 5-37, Williams 4-40, Garrett 2-38, Pruett 2-20, UKlm 2-11, Branch 1-14, Yetts 1-14, Taylor 1-3. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Noah Cronquist (6) of Eastern Washington runs after the catch as Idaho's Zach Wusstig (15) of Idaho closes in the first half Saturday at Roos Field in Cheney.
  

 MARK NELKE/Press Jhamell Blenman of Idaho returns an interception in the first half against Eastern Washington on Saturday at Roos Field in Cheney.
  

    MARK NELKE/Press Eastern Washington quarterback Nate Bell falls on an errant snap as Caleb Ricks (22) of Idaho closes in the first half Saturday at Roos Field in Cheney.

    EWU ATHLETICS Miles Williams (8) of Eastern Washington catches a touchdown pass against the coverage of Jhamell Blenman (0) of Idaho in the fourth quarter Saturday at Roos Field in Cheney.