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Montana Western, University of

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17
Montana Western (MT) UMW 3-6 , 1-4
31
Winner Eastern Oregon EOU 6-2 , 3-1
Montana Western (MT) UMW
3-6 , 1-4
17
Final
31
Eastern Oregon EOU
6-2 , 3-1
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UMW Montana Western (MT) 7 10 0 0 17
EOU Eastern Oregon 7 3 7 14 31
Larson vs EOU 2026

Game Recap: Football | | Claire Gay, UMW Sports Information

Bulldog Football Falls to Eastern Oregon, 31-17 Saturday

LA GRANDE, Ore. – Montana Western football (3-6, 1-4 FC) was clipped by Eastern Oregon (6-2,3-1 FC) 31-17 Saturday afternoon in La Grande, Ore.

"EOU is a tough place to get a win," head coach Ryan Nourse said. "The loss is obviously disappointing, but the way the team prepared and how hard they played was really positive and we are seeing growth that will lend well to future success. Unfortunately, in the second half we got stagnant and missed several opportunities to hit on scoring plays and turned the ball over in the red zone twice. They really took advantage of some matchups on defense and it made it tough to get consistent stops."
 
STAT BREAKDOWN
Western put up 427 yards of total offense,342 passing yards, 85 rushing yards, two touchdowns, one field goal, and 28 first downs in the contest.  
 
Kaden LaPlaunt threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns on 27 completions.
 
Eli Nourse tallied 144 yards and one touchdown on 10 receptions while Brody Munson had two catches for 27 yards and one touchdown.
 
Santana Luna led the Bulldogs on the ground with 48 yards on nine rushes.
 
Bryson LeCoure led the team with 10 total tackles while he, Connor Dunlea, and Carter Petre each had six solo efforts.
 
LeCoure, Aedan Baker, and Mason Kralj each had 1.0 tackles-for-loss.
 
Romeo Simpson snagged an interception and Drew Humphrey led with two pass breakups.
 
Maclain Burckley drilled a 37-yard field goal and was 2-for-2 on PATs in the game.
 
Nourse and Colton Cornwell both had two kickoff returns for 20 and 44 yards, respectively.
 
GAME SUMMARY
The Bulldogs got on the board first with a six-yard passing touchdown from LaPlaunt to Nourse to go up 7-0 after the Burckley made PAT.
 
The hosts responded later in the first with a Dylan Shipley 27-yard reception from Chase Nelson to make it 7-7.
 
Western went up again on a Brody Munson touchdown from LaPlaunt, making it 14-7.
 
The Bulldog defense held the Mountaineers to a field goal to retain a 14-10 lead, and Burckley added a field goal as well to make it 17-10 at the half.
 
UMW struggled to score in the second half, and Eastern Oregon put up three unanswered touchdowns to take the 31-17 win.
 
EASTERN OREGON
The Mountaineers registered 543 yards of total offense, 427 pass yards, 116 rush yards, four touchdowns, one field goal, and 29 first downs.
 
Nelson threw for 427 yards and two touchdowns on 29 completions.
 
Shipley and Coby Tanioka each caught one touchdown while earning 141 and 108 receiving yards, respectively.
 
Malakai Nutter rushed for 103 yards and one touchdown while Waylon Riedel had 13 rush yards and one touchdown.
 
Nehemiah Medrano had 11 total tackles and nine solo efforts to lead all players. He also registered game highs in both TFLS (3.0) and sacks (2.0) and forced one fumble.
 
Toby Frei and Wesley Wittmer both snagged interceptions for EOU.
 
Tyler Bussel was 1-for-1 on field goals and 4-for-4 on PATs in the contest.  
 
 LOOKING AHEAD 
The Bulldogs are on the road for the final game of the 2026 regular season, heading to Arizona Christian next Saturday (11/7).
 
For complete coverage of UMW Football, be sure to follow us on social media at @umwbulldogfootball (Instagram), @UMWFootball (X), and @UMW Bulldog Football (Facebook) or visit our official website at UMWBulldogs.com.

#GOBULLDOGS!
 
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Scoring Summary

Scoring Summary
Scoring Play Visiting Team Score Home Team Score
1st Quarter UMW EOU
UMW
10:13 - UMW - Eli Nourse 6 yd pass from Kaden LaPlaunt (Maclain Burckley kick) 10 plays, 91 yards, TOP 4:47
7 0
EOU
06:04 - EOU - Dylan Shipley 27 yd pass from Chase Nelson (Tyler Bissel kick) 9 plays, 92 yards, TOP 4:09
7 7
2nd Quarter UMW EOU
UMW
13:50 - UMW - Brody Munson 11 yd pass from Kaden LaPlaunt (Maclain Burckley kick) 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:02
14 7
EOU
10:44 - EOU - Tyler Bissel 26 yd field goal 8 plays, 58 yards, TOP 3:06
14 10
UMW
00:00 - UMW - Maclain Burckley 37 yd field goal 6 plays, 61 yards, TOP 6:45
17 10
3rd Quarter UMW EOU
EOU
10:27 - EOU - Waylon Riedel 1 yd run (Tyler Bissel kick), 12 plays, 84 yards, TOP 4:33
17 17
4th Quarter UMW EOU
EOU
07:55 - EOU - Malakai Nutter 4 yd run (Tyler Bissel kick), 9 plays, 87 yards, TOP 3:54
17 24
EOU
02:56 - EOU - Coby Tanioka 19 yd pass from Chase Nelson (Tyler Bissel kick) 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:00
17 31

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