Lights blown away at EOU

The Montana State University-Northern Lights were hoping to build on a thrilling win over Montana Tech last Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium. Instead, the Lights went the other way entirely.

Northern ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers, who snapped a two-game losing streak by thrashing the Lights 70-21 Saturday at Community Stadium in LaGrande, Ore.

EOU scored the game’s first 42 points, blanking Northern in the first half. MSU-N also lost quarterback Travis Dean in the first half, and the Lights’ offense could never get anything going. EOU out-gained the Lights on offense, 583-309, and the Mounties held MSU-N star running back Zach McKinley to just 45 yards on 18 carries.

"They (Mounties) came out and beat us every which way," said Northern interim head coach Jake Eldridge. "They outplayed us and out coached us. For whatever reason, we just never got off the bus."

Eastern quarterback Zach Bartlow threw for 255 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 28 yards and a score, leading the Mountaineers. On the ground, Jace Billingsley rushed for 89 yards and three touchdowns. He also recorded 10 receptions for 82 yards. Tucker Stanley led the Mountaineers with 13 tackles.

EOU's offense was clicking from the first drive of the game. Eastern Oregon took four minutes and 40 seconds off the clock as they went 92 yards on 13 plays. Billingsley capped off the drive with a four yard touchdown run.

Later in the first quarter, the Mountaineers extended their lead over the Lights. EOU went 80 yards on four plays. Bartlow capped off the drive with a 36 yard touchdown run, putting EOU on top, 14-0.

On Northern's first drive of the second quarter, the Mountaineers forced a fumble and recovered the ball to give EOU great field position. EOU scored on their first offensive play of the drive as Hernandez rushed 18 yards for a touchdown.

Later in the second quarter, Eastern Oregon took a 28-0 lead after Billingsley recorded his second rushing touchdown of the game. On this drive he scored from 16 yards out. On the Mountaineers very next possession, Calvin Connors rushed for a 33 yard touchdown, taking a 35-0 lead.

The Mounties grew their lead to 42-0 before halftime. TJ Esekielu found Hernandez for a 45 yard touchdown pass.

The Mountaineer defense gave the offense great field position as Ronnie Flowers intercepted Jess Krahn. On the third offensive play for the Mountaineers, Bartlow connected with Hernandez for a 13 yard touchdown putting EOU ahead, 49-0.

Late in the third quarter, the Lights scored their first touchdown of the game. MSU-Northern went 61 yards on nine plays. Mario Gobbato capped off the drive off with a one yard touchdown run.

However, EOU continued to add to their lead in the fourth quarter. Billingsley recorded his third rushing touchdown of the game, as he went for a 62 yard run. His touchdown put EOU ahead by 56-7.

Northern scored the next time they got the ball. Gobbato rushed for his second touchdown of the game. After the Lights scored, EOU answered right back with a three yard touchdown by Esekielu, extending their lead to 63-14. The Lights added a Jake Messerly TD reception from Krahn in the fourth quarter, while EOU added a late TD as well.

While the Mounties piled up yards all over the field, Krahn, in his first action as a Light, went 9-of-21 for 132 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Gobatto rushed for 52 yards on nine carries, while Trevor Baum caught seven passes for 109 yards and Messerly caught three passes for 43 yards and a score.

"I thought we played better in the second half," Eldridge said. "But it was too little, too late. From the start of the game, Eastern came out fighting, they were hungry and they played that way. They played really well, and we didn't respond to that at all.

"It's disappointing too because we challenged the guys all week to go out there and fight and play well and try to win a big road game," he continued. "And they accepted that challenge because we had a great week of practice. But for whatever reason, on Saturday, we did the exact opposite. And that's disheartening."

The loss dropped Northern to 2-6 overall and 1-6 in the Frontier Conference. MSU-N will now return home to host Frontier powerhouse Carroll College this Saturday.

Eastern Oregon 70, Lights 21

MSU Northern 0 0 7 14 - 21

Eastern Oregon 14 28 7 21 - 70

First quarter

EOU: J. Billingsley 4 run (Marc David kick), 10:20

EOU: Zach Bartlow 36 run (David kick), 2;31

Second quarter

EOU: J. Hernandez 18 run (David kick), 13:27

EOU: J. Billingsley 16 run (David kick), 8:10

EOU: Calvin Connors 33 run (David kick), 5:35

EOU: J. Hernandez 45 pass from T.J. Esekielu (David kick), 2:25

Third quarter

EOU: J. Hernandez 13 pass from Bartlow (David kick), 10:31

MSU-N: Mario Gobbato 1 run (Jordan Rueschhoff kick), 0:10

Fourth quarter

EOU: J. Billingsley 62 run (David kick), 14:49

MSU-N: Gobbato 10 run (Rueschhoff kick), 11:46

EOU: Esekielu 3 run (David kick), 8:12

MSU-N: Jake Messerly 25 pass from Jess Krahn (Rueschhoff kick), 6:42

EOU: AJ Prom 53 run (David kick), 2:43.

MSU-N EOU

First downs 17 23

Rushes-yards 40-122 28-283

Passing yards 187 300

Comp-Att-Int 16-39-2 26-40-0

Total yards 309 583

Punts-avg. 9-41.4 6-41.7

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 7-50 9-97

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Northern: Trevor Baum 3-3, Travis Dean 4-(-4), Jake Messerly 2-22, Mario Gobbato 9-52, Zach McKinley 18-45, Wyatt McKinlay 3-6. Eastern: Zach Bartlow 6-28, Jace Billingsley 7-89, TJ Esekielu 7-50, Calvin Connors 1-33, Justin Hernandez 1-18, AJ prom 6-65.

PASSING - Northern: Travis Dean 7-18-0, 55 yards; Jess Krahn 9-21-2, 132 yards. Eastern: Zach Bartlow 25-38-0, 255 yards; Reece Hack 0-1-0, 0 yards; TJ Esekielu 1-1-0, 45 yards.

RECEIVING - Northern: Trevor Baum 7-109, Nick Luoma 1-8, Jake Messerly 3-43, Sam Mix 1-11, Zach McKinley 2-4, John Jansen 1-0, Kagen Khamaneh 1-2. Eastern: Alexander Miles 3-26, Jace Billingsley 10-82, TJ Esekielu 3-24, Calvin Connors 2-36, Geoff Petties 2-16, Justin Hernandez 5-111, Andrew Woody 1-5.