The Eagles’ football coaches had a few tricks up their sleeves to go along with another stout defensive performance holding off Northern Colorado University Bears, 26-18.

“We had to get creative on how we were going to score,” said head coach Beau Baldwin.

Leading by only 10 in the third quarter Eastern lined up for a field goal, but holder Conner Richardson pulled away at the last second, duping the Bear defense and connecting with Terry Jackson for a 15-yard score.

“We saw something where they were bringing edge pressure. I thought it was a good time in the game because we were up 10. The difference between 10 and 13 is not huge. The difference between 10 and 17 is a lot bigger. I also try to look at the situation to see if it was a good time. We thought it was there, and we thought it was the right time to do it,” said Baldwin.

The Eagles were not done, opening the fourth quarter on second down and goal from the 5-yard line, the coaching staff dialed up a Statue of Liberty play where quarterback Jordan West faked a pass and gave a behind-the-back hand off to the team’s leading rusher Jalen Moore, who reached the 1-yard line.

Moore would punch in the next run for an Eagles’ score putting the team up, 26-10.

The trickery on offense was complemented by the second consecutive week of strong defensive play from the eagles.

The unit recorded seven total sacks and for the third game in a row blocked a punt, putting the offense in a position to score.

“We came together, we got after the quarterback. They would make a play; we would come back and make a play. That is what I love so much, we made plays and got the stops that we needed,” said defensive lineman Dylan Zylstra.

All the deception and big plays on defense put the Eagles in a great position to win the game, but with two minutes remaining, down by only eight points, UNC was driving down the field.

The team needed one more stop and the defense came through as it had all game.

Redshirt Freshman Victor Gamboa picked off a pass sealing the game for the Eagles. It was the third pass he has intercepted in the last two weeks.

“We played, honestly, fantastic. Yesterday Ronnie [Hamlin] said ‘play as a brotherhood.’ We felt that was the one thing we were missing this year and I feel like we really came out and did that today. It gave us a lot of confidence in ourselves,” said Gamboa.