Football runs away with a BSC win

Sophomore running back Taiwan Jones dazzled Saturday night as he helped the No. 19 ranked Eagles dominate the Sacramento State Hornets in a 56-30 win. The 97 degree temperature didn't seem to slow Jones who rushed for 190 yards on 15 carries; the 29th-most in school history. He also had four touchdowns and ran 279 all-purpose yards.

"I think that anyone on this team would say that it takes every player on offense to get the kinds of numbers that Taiwan is putting up," said coach Beau Baldwin.

"He's getting better with every carry and that's a lot to say since he's only been a running back for four games."

Jones was named this week's Sports Network Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Quarterback Matt Nichols also played well offensively for the Eagles, passing 18-of-28 for 255 yards. He showed his versatility in the game by passing for one touchdown and then running it in for one more. Nichols has also increased his total passing yards to 666.

For the second straight year, he is on the watch list for the Walter Payton Award presented by the Sports Network to the top player in Fox College Sports. Last week's Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, linebacker J.C. Sherritt, also contributed to the win.

He led the EWU defense with 14 tackles and had two-and-a-half tackles for loss and added a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

"J.C. is the most consistent player on defense this season. He's leading the conference in tackles and he's an extremely hard worker," said Baldwin.

"The word I will always use for J.C. is consistent. It's not the case that he's having a bad game one day then a good game the next or a bad practice or a good practice. He is consistent every game and every practice."

The first three possessions for the Eagles led to touchdowns that gave them a 21-3 lead against the Hornets. During those plays, Jones scored two of the touchdowns on runs of 3 and 37 yards. The third was from quarterback, Matt Nichols who threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nathan Overbay. The Eagles marched down the field for 239 yards in just 24 plays.

Sacramento State scored one touchdown before halftime, which brought the score to 21-9. But EWU quickly answered back with a recovery off of a poor kick from the Hornets. Nichols scored on a 1-yard sneak play to bring the Eagles to a 28-9 advantage.

Jones scored again just before halftime with a 7-yard run to the end zone. At halftime, Eastern led 35-9 and each team scored 21 points after intermission.

In the second half, the Hornets scored twice to bring the score to a closer 35-23. EWU answered back with three more touchdowns to bring the game to its final score. Tyler Hart scored along with Matt Johnson, who returned an interception. Jones added his fourth touchdown with a 38-yard run to finalize the score.

The 56 points EWU scored were the most since Oct. 27, 2001, when EWU beat Cal State Northridge 63-35.

Football will kick off next at Idaho State Oct. 3. The week following, the Eagles will play at home against defending Big Sky co-champion Weber State Oct. 10 for Hall of Fame Day at EWU.