Sacramento State quarterback Blake Mori threw five interceptions in the Hornets’ 38-21 Homecoming Game loss to Eastern Washington University Saturday night.

Sac State running back Tyronne Gross was injured in the first quarter after colliding with Eagle defenders on a third down run.

Gross picked up the first down but left with a game-ending right knee injury. He received an MRI on Monday, but results were unavailable by press time.

“We’re down on our luck,” Sac State head football coach Steve Mooshagian said. “We’ve lost our starting running back and our starting quarterback.”

Eagle running backs Reggie Witherspoon and Eric Kimble combined for 185 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

“We thought we could run the ball tonight and we know that you need to run the ball successfully to win football games,” Eastern Washington head coach Paul Wulff said.

Down 14-0 in the second quarter, the Hornet defense seemed to make a momentum-shifting play by stopping the Eagles on fourth-and-two at the 8-yard line.

However, Sac State defensive lineman Ben Fox was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty which extended the Eagle drive.

Soon after, Kimble put the Eagles up 21-0 with his third rushing touchdown of the game.

The Hornets’ first score of the night came with no time left on the clock in the first half, when Mori connected with wide receiver Fred Amey on a 20-yard touchdown pass.

Amey leapt into the air over two Eagle defenders to come down with the catch, making the score 21-7.

The score was set up by a Chris Meyer interception return and an Eagle pass interference penalty which spotted the ball on the 20-yard line.

Amey finished the night with nine receptions for 133 yards and one touchdown. He leads the Big Sky Conference with 863 receiving yards and is third in receptions with 48.

Sac State’s defense gave up only ten points in the second half, but the Eagles’ defense added seven more when defensive back Isaiah Trufant picked off Mori’s final pass of the game and went 69 yards for a touchdown.

“Blake had a rough night. He went places we never told him to go,” Mooshagian said. “But some of the interceptions could have been avoided with better route running.”

Kicker Brett LeVier missed his first field goal of the season but made all three of his extra points and will start next week at Montana State.

Only 6,022 fans witnessed Sac State’s fall to 2-6 with only three games left in the season.

“We’re going to turn this one around,” Mooshagian said. “No one said it was going to be easy.”