La GRANDE , Ore. -- There was too much Tyrone Gross for Whitworth College to contain in the second half for Eastern Oregon on Saturday, leading the NAIA #25 Mountaineers to a 24-14 non-conference football win over the NCAA Division III Pirates at Community Stadium. It was the first loss of the season for Whitworth (2-1), while EOU improved to 3-1. Gross carried 23 times for 161 yards and three touchdowns. But he did all of his damage in the second half, leading the Mountaineers back from a 7-3 deficit. He scored all of his touchdowns and gained 156 of his yards in the third and fourth quarters. His 40 yard burst in the third quarter set up his first score, a three yard run. Later in the third he broke outside and outran Whitworth's defense 71 yards to the endzone to make it 17-7. The Pirates pulled within 17-14 on a 36-yard touchdown strike from Joel Clark to Mathew Johnson with 14:03 to play in the game. But Clark was intercepted on Whitworth's 34 yard line by Eastern's David Pitts with 5:52 to play. Then Gross took over again, carrying five times to account for all 34 yards and scoring from four yards out to give the Mountaineers a 24-14 lead. Whitworth's last chance ended after Clark completed a pass to tight end Michael Allan at the Eastern 45 yard line, but Allan was stripped of the ball and the Mountaineers recovered with 2:15 to play. Ryan Marshall stopped Eastern's first drive when he intercepted Mountaineer QB Scott Jensen at the Whitworth ten yard line and returned the ball out to the 39. The Pirates then went 61 yards in 12 plays, scoring on a seven-yard pass from Clark to Allan. EOU countered with a 25 yard field goal by Cody Bloom later in the first period. The second quarter was one of missed opportunities for the Pirates. Jordan Marshall missed a 25 yard field goal after the Bucs had first and goal at the eight. Another drive ended in Eastern territory, forcing a punt. The Bucs' final drive reached the Eastern Oregon 32 yard line, but a penalty moved Whitworth back and the clock ran out. Whitworth's first drive of the second half also went deep into EOU territory, but a false start penalty turned a fourth and one at the 27 into a fourth and six and the Pirates didn't convert. Whitworth outgained Eastern 451-324, had 25 first downs to EOU's 18 and held on to the ball for 35:56 to 24:04 for the Mountaineers. Clark was 23 of 37 for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He threw one interception. Allan caught nine of the passes for 89 yards and a score. Kuntz caught five passes for 49 yards. Kyle Havercroft carried 24 times for 73 yards, while Chris Ahsing ran 13 times for 59 yards. Nick Portrey led the defense with seven tackles. Peter Clark had two sacks. Jensen finished 10 of 21 for 156 yards with one interception for Eastern. Devin Smith, James Mayfield and Chris McSwain each had two catches for the Mountaineers. Rick Borden registered a game high 16 tackles for EOU, while Sean McMurray was in on 11 stops. Whitworth returns home to host defending NCAA Division III national champion Linfield College next Saturday in the Pine Bowl. Eastern has a week off before the Mountaineers travel to face Montana State-Northern on October 15th. |
