By Will ThompsonFARGO – North Dakota State opened the FCS playoffs with a 42-20 win at home against Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon.
NDSU halted EWU’s #1 offense, giving up only 307 total yards on the day, 251.5 yards less than the Eagles per game average of 558.5. The Bison meanwhile turned out 470 total yards of which 420 were on the ground. Much of the rushing attack came from freshman and redshirt freshman Dominic Gonnella and Jalen Bussey.
“A lot of young guys got opportunities,” said senior Cordell Volson, who moved from tackle to guard this week due to Grey Zable’s lingering injury and paved the way for the two young running backs.
Both Gonnella and Bussey set career highs in yards and Gonnellas scored his first career touchdown. With 163 yards on 20 attempts and 143 yards on 13 attempts respectively, the first-year ball carriers powered the Bison to their first double 100-yard rushing performance since December 1st, 2018 in a second-round playoff win over Montana State.
“The line did a great job today,” said Gonnella, “Dirty, stink, nasty! They played with a chip on their shoulders and it showed up on the scoreboard.”
Eagles dual-threat quarterback Eric Barriere went 17-28 for 246 yards and a touchdown with 21 yards and a touchdown on 8 rushing attempts. After leading EWU to three straight scoring drives to opening the game, the edge rushers started getting in the backfield late in the second quarter, sacking him 5 times.
After allowing 20 points in the first half, the Bison didn’t allow a score in the second half. This comes after a loss to end the regular season against SDSU last week that left the Bison unranked for the first time since 2010. The Bison will travel to Huntsville to play (2) Sam Houston State in the second round next Saturday. Head coach Matt Entz stressed going up against a familiar opponent that “Consistency.” Would be the greatest area of emphasis.
Quarterback Chase Miller started his first game for NDSU and went 6-11 for 50 yards and 2 touchdowns, including his first career passing touchdown, and added 30 yards and 1 touchdown on 5 rush attempts. Head coach Matt Entz would not commit to Miller being the starter next week at this time.
NOTES
- NDSU linebacker James Kaczor leads NDSU with total tackles but he missed the round one playoff game today with an upper leg injury. He is considered week to week. Freshman linebacker Cole Wisniewski started in his place leading the team with 9 total tackles, 4 of which were solo.
- EWU running back Tamarick Pierce scored the first touchdown of the game but left with a leg injury midway through the second quarter.
- (2) Sam Houston State defeated Monmouth Saturday and will host NDSU next week Saturday for a second-round matchup. The time for the game will be announced later this week.
BOX SCORE
EWU 14 6 0 0 20
NDSU 7 14 14 7 42
SCORING SUMMARY
EWU 7 NDSU 0 – Tamarick Pierce (#24) rushes for a 3-yard touchdown with 11:12 left in the first quarter. Seth Harrison (#83) with the PAT. 8 plays, 85 yards, and 3:43 on the drive.
EWU 14 NDSU 0 – Eric Barriere (#3) rushes for a 3-yard touchdown with 4:58 left in the first quarter. Seth Harrison with the PAT. 8 plays, 53 yards, and 3:38 on the drive.
EWU 14 NDSU 7 – Cam Miller (#7) rushes for a 13-yard touchdown with 0:23 left in the first quarter. Jake Reinholz (#37) with the PAT. 9 plays, 66 yards, and 4:30 on the drive.
EWU 20 NDSU 7 – Eric Barriere throws a 3-yard screen pass to Andrew Boston (#9) for a touchdown with 10:00 left in the second quarter. Seth Harrison missed the PAT. 12 plays, 79 yards, and 5:18 on the drive.
EWU 20 NDSU 14 – Hunter Luepke (#44) runs for a 1-yard touchdown with 4:54 left in the second quarter. Jake Reinholz with the PAT. 9 plays, 68 yards, and 5:00 on the drive.
EWU 20 NDSU 21 – Cam Miller throws a 4-yard passing touchdown to Noah Gindorff (#87) with 0:32 left in the second quarter. Jake Reinholz with the PAT. 4 plays, 64 yards, and 1:16 on the drive.
EWU 20 NDSU 21 – Cam Miller throws a 4-yard passing touchdown to Noah Gindorff with 0:32 left in the second quarter. Jake Reinholz with the PAT. 4 plays, 64 yards, and 1:16 on the drive.
EWU 20 NDSU 28 – Dominic Gonnella rushes 7-yards for a touchdown with 9:29 left in the third quarter. Jake Reinholz with the PAT. 3 plays, 41 yards, and 1:23 on the drive.
EWU 20 NDSU 35 – Dominic Gonnella rushes 1-yard for a touchdown with 1:43 left in the third quarter. Jake Reinholz with the PAT. 8 plays, 86 yards, and 4:38 on the drive.
EWU 20 NDSU 21 – Cam Miller throws a 1-yard passing touchdown to Noah Gindorff with 8:23 left in the fourth quarter. Jake Reinholz with the PAT. 13 plays, 72 yards, and 7:35 on the drive.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing
EWU – Eric Barriere went 17-28 for 246 yards and a touchdown.
NDSU – Cam Miller went 6-11 for 50 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Rushing
EWU – Dennis Merritt rushed for 32 yards on 9 attempts and averaged 3.6 yards per rush.
NDSU – Dominic Gonnella rushed for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns on 20 attempts and averaged 8.2 per rush.
Receiving
EWU – Andrew Boston caught 5 passes on 7 targets for 88 yards and a touchdown for 17.6 yards per catch.
NDSU – Christian Watson caught 2 passes on 5 targets for 28 yards for 14 yards per catch.
Defense
EWU – Jack Sendelbach had 13 total tackles, 7 of which were solo and 1 was for a loss.
NDSU – Cole Wisniewski had 9 total tackles, 4 of which were solo.
