Eastern Washington receivers Drew Carlson, Jaxon Branch excel in opener | Notebook

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Aug. 29—FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — One of the question marks heading into Eastern Washington's season opener Saturday at Northern Arizona — a 34-27 victory for the Lumberjacks — was which receivers might step up in the absence of injured redshirt senior Cole Pruett.

Drew Carlson answered in a big way.

Making his first start with the Eagles, the redshirt sophomore was targeted 11 times and caught nine passes for 75 yards. In nine appearances last season, Carlson made six catches for 88 yards.

"Huge," starting quarterback Nate Bell said of Carlson's performance. "We expected a lot from him, and obviously he delivered."

Carlson, who found out two weeks ago that he is now a scholarship player for the Eagles, started alongside redshirt sophomore Jaxon Branch and redshirt senior Wesley Garrett.

Branch was Bell's favorite option against the Lumberjacks (1-0, 1-0 Big Sky). He was targeted 16 times and made seven catches for 88 yards, including a first-half touchdown. Garrett caught 7 of 9 targets for 56 yards and a touchdown, which came on a ball tipped first by Bell's intended target, tight end Ryan Johnson. That play capped an impressive 11-play, 75-yard drive to open the game.

Aside from those three, redshirt senior Jamai East, a transfer from Oregon State, caught two passes for 42 yards, including a contested pass that looked destined to be intercepted. Tight end Will McKissick, a redshirt sophomore, caught two passes for 16 yards, and redshirt sophomore Kevin Allen III caught three passes out of the backfield for 30 yards.

It was part of a pocket-centric performance for Bell, who scrambled just five times, including once for a 12-yard touchdown as Eastern (0-1, 0-1) built its first-half lead. In each of the six games he started and finished last season, Bell rushed at least 13 times.

'Tremendous defense'

Eastern Washington head coach Aaron Best said after the game that the Eagles got worn down some in the second half, when the Lumberjacks gained 236 of their 365 yards of offense.

But he also offered high praise for the group that entered the season with seven returning starters.

"We played tremendous defense in a lot of areas," Best said.

One point of emphasis for the group was minimizing big plays. NAU's longest gain was a 34-yard pass, one of just four passing plays that gained at least 15 yards. The Lumberjacks' longest run gained 25 yards, one of their five to gain 10 yards or more.

Those plays still were crucial, but they were far fewer than the Eagles regularly allowed last season. Eastern's offense had 11 such big plays Saturday.

"Explosives lead to momentum, and momentum leads to the crowd getting into it," sophomore safety Bryce Smith said. "(That's when) touchdowns happen."

Smith, who also broke up two passes, finished with 14 tackles and was one of three Eagles players to set a new single-game career-high: Redshirt senior linebacker made 18 tackles, including one for loss, and grad senior McKel Broussard — whose 2025 season ended with an injury just one drive into it — made 12 tackles.

Northern Arizona's 5.4 yards per play on Saturday were fewer than all but three of Eastern's opponents last season.

Ups and downs on special teams

While redshirt senior Soren McKee's two field goals and the collegiate debut of sophomore punter Luke Faccone provided the Eagles with two bright spots on special teams, the units also made two significant mistakes against the Lumberjacks.

The first came after Eastern's defense forced a three-and-out on NAU's first offensive drive, when Garrett failed to catch a punt and the Lumberjacks recovered at the EWU 20-yard line. Seven plays later, Francisco Orduno Jr. made a 24-yard field goal.

Then, after Eastern took a 24-3 lead in the second quarter, Lindsey Graves fielded Morgan Dodson's kickoff at the goal line and ran it all the way back for a touchdown. The first against the Eagles since 2022 when Weber State's Abraham Williams accomplished the feat.

McKee made a field goal from 53 yards in the first half, setting a new career-high. He also made from 37 to tie the game at 27 in the fourth quarter.

Faccone punted three times for 130 yards, including two punts inside the 20-yard line.

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