Team Red defeated Team White 24-17 in the annual EWU football Red-White game as the team concludes spring practice before preseason practice begins in August.

All-American quarterback Gage Gubrud and his white team were handed the loss by Team Red and redshirt-freshman quarterback Eric Barriere.

“This time last year [Barriere] was still sitting at a high school desk,” said head coach Aaron Best. “He’s learning from a great one in front of him with Gage, so he’s got a good one to help him out.”

Gubrud had a great game despite throwing a pair of interceptions, completing 23 of 31 passes for 344 yards and a touchdown. His counterpart Barriere went 11-15 with 137 yards and two touchdowns, but also rushed for 30 yards.

Junior cornerback Brandon Montgomery had himself an efficient outing with an interception that he returned for a touchdown as well as a fumble recovery. That, along with his nine tackles, earned him Red-White MVP honors and a bronze eagle statue dubbed “The Golden Eagle” by Coach Best.

“I don’t know if I get to take it home or what,” said Montgomery. “I’m going to try to take it home and then just bring it back to the locker room so I can celebrate it with my guys.”

Sophomore Jayson Williams and redshirt freshman Xavier James each had robust receiving days for Team White. Williams had nine receptions for 129 yards and James had 130 yards on seven receptions.

Redshirt freshman tight end Talolo Limu-Jones also had a solid game receiving with 88 yards on six receptions.

“He did a great job,” Gubrud said of Limu-Jones. “Really excited about him, I thought he stepped up pretty well today and I’m really excited to see him progress over the spring and summer.”

On the ground, sophomore Antoine Custer led the way for Team Red with 77 yards on 16 carries while sophomore Tamarick Pierce led Team White with 51 yards on 6 rushes.

“It was just a beautiful weekend overall,” said Best. “Great competitive Red-White game, Brandon Montgomery walks home with the Golden Eagle award, and Samson [Ebukam] and [Cooper Kupp] go to the Rams. Couldn’t write a better story.”

Now that spring practice is over, the team has its eyes set on summer practice and the 2017 season, which kicks off September 2 at Texas Tech University.