Barriere, McPherson carry E Washington past North Dakota

FARGO, N.D. -- Eric Barriere threw for a touchdown and ran for another in his first start, Sam McPherson rushed for 118 yards while throwing for one score and catching a TD pass and Eastern Washington topped North Dakota 21-14 on Saturday.

Barriere, filling in for suspended starter Gage Gubrud, connected with McPherson for a 14-yard touchdown in the second quarter and scored on a 1-yard sneak on the final play of the first half to give the Eagles a 21-7 lead.

McPherson tied the game at 7 for the Eagles (6-4, 5-2 Big Sky Conference) when he pulled up and tossed a 2-yard pass to Talolo Limu-Jones.

The Fighting Hawks (3-8, 2-6), who opened the scoring on Kelly Studsrud's 7-yard run, pulled within a score on Koah Wanzek's 2-yard pass to Studsrud with 4:37 to go. The defense forced a quick three-and-out but Jordan Dascalo boomed a 67-yard punt to the North Dakota 3. After a quick first down, the Eagle defense forced two incompletions and had a sack to seal the win between the two teams that tied for the title last year with 8-0 records.

Barriere completed 13 of 23 passes for 130 yards and ran for 55 more. Studsrud threw for 261 yards but was picked off once.

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