LA GRANDE, Ore. — Eastern Oregon celebrated its Homecoming in style on Saturday afternoon. The 19th-ranked Mountaineers blew out Montana Tech, 35-17, in a Frontier Conference football clash.
Tech got on the scoreboard first thanks to a 30-yard field goal from Tyler Padilla with less than one minute to play in the first quarter. From that point on, it was all Eastern Oregon.
On the Mountaineers’ ensuing possession following Padilla’s field goal, quarterback Kai Quinn gave Eastern Oregon the lead on an 11-yard touchdown pass to his top target, Brenden Kelly.
Eastern Oregon and Tech went back and forth the remainder of the first half until Quinn hit running back Victor Dias out of the backfield for a 74-yard touchdown with just more than a minute left in the second quarter. The Mountaineers received the second-half kickoff and scored just 1:15 into the third quarter when Dias ran into the end zone from 5 yards out.
Eastern Oregon extended its lead to 28-3 less than two minutes later when Quinn found Dias again through the air, this time from 7 yards out. Quinn put the finishing touches on the blowout with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kaler Moore at the start of the fourth quarter.
Tech got on the board late in the fourth quarter when Carter Myers intercepted Quinn and returned it 83 yards for a touchdown. Receiver Dion Williams then hauled in a 44-yard touchdown reception from Jet Campbell to make it 35-17 with just over three minutes to play.
Quinn finished with 295 yards passing and four touchdowns. Dias had 82 yards and one touchdown on the ground and 81 yards and two touchdowns receiving.
Montana Tech drops to 3-4 (3-4 Frontier Conference), while Eastern Oregon improves to 5-2 (5-2).
