Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Eastern Washington
Wildcats drop conference opener to 32-26 to Eagles
9/23/2012 4:44:00 AM | Football
OGDEN - Weber State experienced a bit of déjà vu and the result was a 32-26 loss to the ninth-ranked Eastern Washington Eagles Saturday night at Stewart Stadium. A late turnover ended a Wildcat rally and sealed the victory for the Eastern Washington in the Big Sky opener for both teams.
Once again the Wildcats struggled in the first half as the Eagles jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead. Both teams added field goals to finish the half, giving the Eagles a 20-3 lead at the break. WSU has been outscored 79-6 in the first half in the four games this season.
However, Weber State turned things around in the second half and opened the half with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Mike Hoke to Lanny Papanikolas. Jarret Gooden rushed for the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 20-11. The Eagles scored 10-straight points but the 'Cats closed out the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run by C.J. Tuckett. Once again WSU went for two and Kela Marciel found Trevor Pletcher for the conversion to cut the lead to 29-19 after three quarters.
After an Eastern Washington field goal the 'Cats scored with 3:43 to play when Hoke found Erik Walker for an 18-yard touchdown to cut the Eagle lead to 32-26. The Wildcat defense stopped the Eagles and took the ball over at their own 14 with 1:49 to play.
On second down at the Eastern Washington 48-yard line Hoke was sacked by Jerry Ceja and fumbled the ball and Will Katoa recovered to seal the victory for the Eagles. The situation was nearly identical to last season's game at Eastern Washington when the 'Cats fumbled the ball in the closing minutes, also trialing by six points.
"Eastern Washington made a great play at the end and you have to tip your hat to them and move forward," said WSU head coach Jody Sears. "I really liked the way our team responded after halftime and came back with a great attitude and energy. We can take a lot of positives from this game and need to take the positives and build on it. No excuses for us. We need to be more consistent from the start and turn our weaknesses into strengths."
Hoke had his best game of the season, finishing 17-34 for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Xavian Johnson also had a breakout game, finishing with six catches for a career-high 133 yards. He caught a 71-yard pass late in the third quarter that set up a WSU touchdown.
Tuckett led the WSU rushing game with 14 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown. Hoke added 50 yards on the ground.
On defense junior captain Anthony Morales set a career-high with 16 tackles in the game, including two tackles for loss. Chris Wheeler had a career-high 12 tackles with two for loss and Tony Epperson added 10 tackles. Kela Marciel recorded an interception in the third quarter.
With the loss the 'Cats drop to 0-4 on the season for the first time since 2007 and drop the Big Sky opener for the first time in four years. The game was the annual Homecoming game at Stewart Stadium and a crowd of 9,434 attended the game.
Weber State will now hit the road and continue Big Sky play when they take on new conference member UC Davis next Saturday night in Davis, California. The Aggies are 1-3 on the season and dropped their conference opener 28-20 at Cal Poly Saturday night.
