CHENEY — The Eastern Washington Eagles (2-5) earned a much-needed win over the University of Northern Colorado Bears on Saturday, holding off a second-half surge to seal the victory 31-22.  

“If you looked at the score, you wouldn't think 22 points garnered 32 minutes on defense. Our defense was out there a lot, but we did enough to win this game,” Head Coach Aaron Best said in a statement by EWU Athletics.  

According to EWU Athletics, the Eagles built a 22-point lead at halftime, but the Bears rallied with 17 unanswered in the second half to pull within six points. Despite being outgained in total yards by UNC - 468 to 396 – the Eags used two interceptions from JoJo Maxey-Johnson to end the Bears' second-half rally. Soren McKee connected on a 46-yard field goal to secure the victory for Eastern with under three minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Bell threw for a career-best four touchdowns and 334 yards. He completed 25-of-37 passes, including eight to Wesley Garrett for 138 yards and one touchdown. 

“JoJo (Maxey-Johnson) had two (interceptions), with one we punted on and put them deep, then the last one to end (the game). The whole game was a gritty performance,” Best said. “We were playing a third-string quarterback with no tape on. They found ways to call plays and put him in successful situations. They made fits for us with a 10–minute drive to start the third quarter. It was a tale of two halves in terms of points and possessions on offense.” 

Best continued to emphasize the importance of special teams to secure the win on Saturday.  

“The play of the game, without a doubt, was Soren McKee. Above all, the stuff that happened offensively and defensively to push the lead to nine was very needed at that time,” said the coach. “We were reeling on defense a little bit and couldn't create momentum. Then here's 16, one of our captains this season, coming to the rescue with a confident kick that was felt throughout the stadium.” 

Bell continues to shine 

Currently second in passing yards among Big Sky Conference quarterbacks, just behind University of Montana’s Keali’i Ah Yat (1,942), Bell (1,931) put together his second 300-yard performance against the Bears. He got to work on this effort early, finding Jamai East for a 30-yard gain which was followed by a 53-yard touchdown pass to Garrett to put the Eagles on the score board first.  

On the following drive, the Eagles continued to run their up-tempo offense, which set Bell up nicely to find Drew Carlson in the back of the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown pass.  

UNC finally got on the board early in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 14-3. However, they still struggled to stunt the Eags momentum. Despite a stop on third down in the red zone, Eastern still went for it and converted with a screen pass by Bell to running back Kevin Allen III, who took the ball seven yards for the touchdown. 

After a lengthy Bears drive that resulted in another field goal, the Eags took advantage of the time they had left in the first half. Two chunk plays by Garrett and a scramble by Bell helped EWU move the ball into scoring territory. At the 10-yard line, Bell found a leaping Rylin Lang in the right corner of the endzone for the touchdown, giving themselves a 28-6 lead at the break. 

No fly zone in Cheney 

Though UNC outgained the Eags on Saturday, most of those numbers came from the run game. The Eastern secondary was efficient in stopping three of the Bears quarterbacks, including Maxey-Johnson forcing two interceptions on Keegan Patterson.  

The Eastern defense had several pass breakups throughout as well thanks to Myles Mayovsky, Messiah Washington, Isaiah Perez, Ambrose Marsh and Dre Greeley. This forced the Bears to lean on their run game, which was efficient, gaining 281 yards and a rushing score at the feet of Patterson.  

This and a creative ‘Philly-Philly’ style play helped UNC cut their deficit to 28-22 early in the fourth quarter.  

“We're just looking to give him an opportunity. The other two guys got banged up, and he ran with it,” Bears Head Coach Ed Lamb said in a statement by UNC Athletics. “He was competitive, willed a few first downs. I think the whole team just believed in his effort and his fight, and that's what we needed in that moment.” 

Special teams, special players 

Throughout the second half, the Eags struggled to find the success they created in the first half. With just over four minutes left in the game, Bell and the Eastern offense strung together a series of short pass completions and capitalized on a roughing the passer call to set up McKee for a game sealing 46-yard field goal.  

With the lead now 31-22, it essentially put the game out of reach for UNC, as the EWU defense held them scoreless the rest of the way.  

“We didn't finish drives. We kicked field goals. They scored touchdowns,” Lamb said. “That was the tale of the first half. It just got too far away from us, and in the end it came down to one or two plays, and it's hard to let it come down to that.” 

The Eagles turn their focus to next week when they host defending FCS National Champions Montana State at 4 p.m. on Oct. 17. The Bobcats are coming off a bye-week which followed a 35-34 upset loss to – the at the time – winless Idaho Vandals the week prior. 

BOX SCORE: 

UNC: 0-6-6-10: 22 

EWU: 14-14-0-3: 31

    The Eags Kevin Allen III (3) breaks across the goal line against Cal Poly earlier this season. Allen also scored a touchdown Eastern Washingtons win over Northern Colorado on Saturday.