Football | 9/7/2013 8:32:00 PM

Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. - The Western Oregon football team was unable to recover from a sluggish start as the Wolves fell to Eastern Washington, 43-14, in the season opener on Saturday. The Eagles, ranked second in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, improved to 2-0 on the season while the Wolves fell to 0-1.

The WOU defense managed to force four turnovers during the contest; however, the Eagles high-octane offense got off to a strong start in the first quarter as EWU would eventually out-gain WOU, 597-217.

Quarterback Vernon Adams led the Eagles attack, completing 18-of-24 passes for 298 yards and five touchdowns.

Eastern Washington jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, scoring on the first drive of the game when Adams connected with Cooper Kupp on a 63-yard touchdown pass with 11:54 remaining in the quarter.

The Eagles would continue to convert in the first quarter, jumping out to a 29-0 lead during the first 15 minutes. After Zack Gehring scored on a four-yard pass to make it 15-0, Adams found Cory Mitchell in the endzone on back-to-back possessions as the Eagles took command of the game.

Western Oregon managed to settle in from there as the teams traded touchdowns over the final half after WOU held EWU scoreless in the second quarter.

EWU found the endzone first in the second half as Hill caught his second touchdown pass of the game, hauling in an 8-yard pass from Adams to make the score 36-0 with 10:26 remaining in the third.

Tyrell Williams broke the scoring drought for the Wolves when he hauled in a 36-yard pass from Ryan Bergman for WOU's first score of the season. The play capped a two-play, 40-yard drive following a EWU turnover when Kraig Akins forced and recovered a fumble by Mario Brown.

Following a touchdown by EWU's Kendrick Bourne, the Wolves would cap the scoring in the contest when Bergman found Nathan Penaranda for a six-yard touchdown pass with 2:25 left in the game.

Bergman led the WOU attack, going 20-of-42 for 189 yards and two touchdowns while Penaranda led the Wolves rushing attack with 42 yards on six carries.

On the defensive side of the ball, Devin Wells made twelve stops for WOU while Devin Chappell and AJ Hull each recorded interceptions.

WOU will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 14, when the Wolves travel to Ellensburg, Wash., to face Central Washington at 1:00 p.m.