LA GRANDE, Oreg.- No.10 Montana Tech used a balanced attack and a strong defensive effort to defeat No.15 Eastern Oregon 37-24.

The Mountaineers started fast when signal caller Zach Bartlow hit Brenden Kelly for a 53 yard touchdown to complete a quick three play 57 yard drive that put EOU up 7-0 just minutes into the game.

The Diggers settled in after the opening Mountaineer score and Quinn McQueary guided the Diggers down the field before a little trickery got the Diggers on the scoreboard.

The Diggers capped the 12 play drive with a double reverse pass from wide receiver Sean Sullivan to Kolby Kansala from 14 yards out.

Trailing 7-6 after missing their first PAT attempt the Diggers stopped EOU and embarked on another long drive. McQueary completed five passes for 47 yards on the drive to put the Diggers on the three yard line. The quarterback found the endzone on the ninth play of the drive diving for the touchdown from three yards out to put the Diggers up 13-7 with 36 seconds left in the opening frame.

McQueary finished the game an efficient 21-for-30 for 194 yards passing and one touchdown through the air and 54 yards rushing and a pair of scores.

The Digger defense forced another three-and-out to start the second quarter setting up Montana Tech's offense at the 50. Picking up right where they left off the Orediggers put together another impressive drive that McQueary finished off with another three yard touchdown rush.

Leading 20-7 midway through the second quarter, the Diggers would trade possessions with EOU before the Montana Tech defense forced a turnover-on-downs.

Taking over at the EOU 36, Montana Tech capitalized on their fourth redzone possession of the first half when McQueary hit Kolby Kansala with a dart from 11 yards out to put the Diggers up 27-7 with 2:05 left in the half.

Kansala was one of eight Orediggers to catch a pass against the Mountaineers, with both of his receptions resulting in touchdowns.

Eastern Oregon jumped into their two minute drill and kicked a field goal as time expired to cut into the Montana Tech lead 27-10 at the half.

Montana Tech's defense stopped EOU on the first possession of the second half when Luke Benz sacked Bartlow on 3^rd down forcing a punt.

The Diggers marched down the field again but were kept out of the endzone. The Diggers settled for a 24 yard field goal by Derrick Holt to put them up by 20 points, 30-10, with 8:23 left in the third quarter.

Starting the fourth quarter, Eastern Oregon put together an 18 play drive that running back AJ Prom finished with a one-yard touchdown run.

Leading 30-17, the Diggers needed a spark to put the game out of reach. Zach Bunney provided that spark when he hauled in the ensuing kickoff and raced down the Eastern Oregon sideline for a 99 yard kickoff return touchdown. The Bunney return is the longest kickoff return in school history surpassing Len Altenburg's 95 yard return in in 1974.

With a 37-17 lead the Digger defense didn't hold back. Montana Tech forced another turnover on downs with eight minutes on the clock.

After an unsuccessful offensive possession by Montana Tech, EOU's Bartlow found Calvin Connors for a 36 yard touchdown to set the final score, 37-24.

Montana Tech amassed 410 yards of offense gaining 202 yards on the ground and 208 yards through the air. The Diggers controlled the clock for 36:27 of the game and scored on 5-of-6 redzone possessions.

Nolan Saraceni toted the rock 22 times for 89 yards and Zach Bunney gained 44 yards on seven carries. Mitchell Keaton led the Oredigger receiving corps with four receptions for 40 yards while Carlos Martinez and Sean Sullivan had 36 and 33 yards receiving respectively.

Nick Amestoy led the Montana Tech defense with 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack. Gunnar Kayser and Anthony Nelson each registered nine tackles apiece. Luke Benz terrorized Bartlow registering 3.5 quarterback sacks while Chance Hansen added 1.5 QB takedowns.

Montana Tech's defense limited the Mountaineers to 32 yards rushing in the contest. The Mountaineers were averaging a league best 178.0 yards per game on the ground coming into the matchup with Tech.

Montana Tech improves to 3-1 in the Frontier Conference while Eastern Oregon falls to 2-2 in the conference standings.  

The Diggers have a bye week next week but return to action at Bob Green Field on October 8^th when they take on rival Montana Western for Homecoming.