Griz, Eagles brace for rematch

The Montana Grizzlies haven’t beaten the Eastern Washington Eagles in a Big Sky Conference game since 2011. And the Grizzlies haven’t won in Cheney, Washington, since 2008.

But, the Griz don’t have to wait until next year to change that situation. Instead, for the first time in the storied rivalry, the two Big Sky powers will meet in an FCS playoff game. No. 11 Montana (9-4) visits No. 4 Eastern Washington (10-2) Saturday at Roos Field with a berth in the FCS quarterfinals on the line.

The Eagles, who are seeded fourth in the FCS bracket, beat the Griz 36-26 exactly a month ago in Cheney. The Griz however, haven’t lost since that game, and bring plenty of momentum into Saturday’s huge tilt.

“I definitely knew it was a possibility,” Griz linebacker Kendrick Van Ackeren said of the rematch. “It was just when was it going to be. I’m excited to get another chance to beat them on the red turf.”

The red turf, aptly named “The Inferno” is a place Montana has never won. The last Grizzly win in Cheney came before the field was installed. But the Griz have been agonizingly close in every trip to EWU since, including this season when they nearly came back from a 33-10 second-half deficit.

“I don’t know if it was confidence,” said UM head coach Mick Delaney of the meeting Nov. 9. “It was one of those games where we played and coached about as poorly as we could. Every area on our football team had a deficiency that game. We’re not going to do that this time. We’re going to go in and play with confidence, execute the game plan and just let it rock and roll.”

And the Griz are on a roll. After blasting Montana State 34-7 in the 114th Brawl of the Wild, they dismantled San Diego 52-14 in the first round of the playoffs last Saturday in Missoula. And all three phases of the game seem to be clicking for UM right now.

Montana’s defense, led by Buck Buchanen Award finalist Zack Wagenmann, has allowed just five touchdowns in its last three games, and is giving up just 16 points per outing. Offensively, the Griz have really turned things around since going back to a no-huddle, zone-read attack. Jordan Johnson, Jordan Canada and Jamaal Jones have been piling up the numbers the last three games for Montana. And even special teams is going well. Daniel Sullivan is 6-for-6 on field goal tries since the loss at EWU, while John Nyguen returned a punt 60 yards for a score in last week’s playoff win.

But to beat the Eagles, UM will have to be even better. Vernon Adams is back to his healthy self, something he wasn’t in the win over the Griz last month. Adams is a finalist for the Walter Payton Award despite missing five games with a broken foot. And his weapons seem endless. Sophomore Cooper Kupp is arguably the best receiver in the FCS, while Shaq Hill and Kendrick Bourne have a combined 20 TD receptions. Running backs Quincy Forte and Mario Brown make EWU a very balanced offense, and the Eagles’ offensive line is as good as it gets at the FCS level.

“We’ve just got to do our job,” Van Ackeren said of trying to stop the EWU offense, which averages 41 points and nearly 500 yards per game. “Each and every one of us. If you’re in charge of contain, you have to contain. If you’re in charge of covering a receiver, you have to cover the receiver.”

On the other side, Montana is hoping to exploit an EWU defense that has been tested this season. Despite having stars like linebacker Ronnie Hamlin and safety Tevin McDonald, the EWU defense is near the bottom of the Big Sky in most categories, and Montana piled up over 500 yards against them last month.

Still, the playoffs are a different animal, and to move on, a team has to play its very best. That’s what the Griz will have to do to get out of Cheney with a win, and that’s exactly what they think they can do.

“The advantage (for us) is you get another shot,” Delaney said. “We don’t have anything to lose. We come in as an unseeded team, and they’re fourth-seeded, and we’ll let it all hang out and see what happens. They have to beat us twice. We don’t have to beat them twice.”

Saturday’s showdown between the Griz and Eagles kicks off at 2:30 p.m. M.S.T. The game can be streamed on ESPN3.com or purchased on ESPN Game Plan. The winner will advance to play either Illinois State or Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals.