EPHRAIM — No. 7 ranked Snow College (5-0, 7-1) kept its hopes alive for a national junior college championship as it beat No. 12-ranked Eastern Arizona (2-2, 5-2) on Saturday night 30-24.

Snow was going up against the second-best team in the nation in rushing yards as the Gilamonsters came in averaging 321 yards per game. The Gilamonsters are also fourth in the nation in total defense, as they had been giving up only 135 yards in total offense per game.

"If you give these guys space, they're a nightmare," said defensive coordinator Justin Decol. "We run the same defensive set for 65 plays and they're tough to stop."

The Snow College defense held tough as they gave up only 271 yards rushing to the Gilamonsters and 346 yards in total offense.

Snow College jumped out on top quickly as they scored on their first drive of the game and eventually jumped out to a 13-0 lead. Eastern Arizona would not go away as it fought back to take the lead at halftime with a 47 yard field goal to make it 17-16.

"This is a good team," said head coach Steve Coburn. "We knew all along that it would take four quarters to beat these guys."

Snow College had a big third quarter as it didn't allow any points and held Eastern Arizona to only 40 yards in total offense. The Badgers also were able to score off a 1-yard touchdown throw from sophomore quarterback Quinn Mecham (Timpview High School) to sophomore running back Ryan Butler (Grantsville High School) to go up 23-17.

"There really weren't any adjustments made at halftime," said defensive team captain Gavin Jones (Orem High School). "We really just adjusted to their speed."

"Playing an option team it takes a while to learn to play together defensively," said freshman defensive back Austin Jones (Orem High School). "But that's what we did in the second half."

The Snow College offense bounced back from last week when it had four turnovers against Pima to not having a single turnover in Saturday's game. Mecham completed 14 of his 24 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns and had a rushing touchdown. Sophomore running back Tyson Church had 24 carries for 95 yards with one touchdown run.

"This win just puts us one step closer to where we want to be," said Mecham. "We want to keep pushing for a national championship."

Snow College had the lead 30-24 in the fourth quarter and had the ball with 2:23 left when they were forced to punt, which was blocked. Fortunately for Snow, Eastern Arizona had touched it while Snow recovered it and Snow was able to run out the clock to seal the win.

"Special teams is that third of the game," said Coburn. "Players are buying into it and have a desire to play well. We've been really proud of them."

Snow College completed the first of a three game home stand and will take on Phoenix for their Homecoming game next Saturday.

Game Notes: Freshman defensive lineman Sini Tauauve'a left the first half with an injured knee. Sophomore defensive lineman Isley Filiaga sat out today's game with a sore knee. Freshman wide receiver Dontrae Williams (Cyprus High) will begin physical therapy for his broken collar bone next week.