La Verne at Azusa Pacific

Saturday (Oct. 25), Cougar Stadium, 6 p.m.

Records:

Azusa Pacific – 5-1

La Verne – 0-5

THIS WEEK: Longtime neighborhood rival University of La Verne visits Azusa Pacific on Saturday (Oct. 25) for a 6 p.m. game. A capacity homecoming crowd of over 4,000 is expected for the game

BACK ON TAP: This week’s game in Azusa was originally scheduled this same weekend last year, and also as Azusa Pacific homecoming contest. However, after La Verne QB Rollie Dykstra suffered a severe and tragic head injury the week before that ended the Leos’ game against Redlands, officials from Azusa Pacific and La Verne decided to cancel the game. La Verne agreed to return to Azusa Pacific for the Cougars’ 2003 homecoming contest.

SERIES NOTES: The longest running series in Cougar history, Azusa Pacific and La Verne had met every year since the series initiated in 1965 until last season. Though the Leopards won the first 6 meetings and 8 of the first 10, Azusa Pacific now leads the series, 23-15. The Cougars have won 7 straight, and since 1985 they are 14-3 vs. the Leos. In Azusa, the Cougars are 13-4 vs. La Verne.

Even with Azusa Pacific’s recent success in the series, the past 3 on-the-field meetings have been decided by a combined 9 points.

COMMON FOES: By way of comparison, Azusa Pacific and La Verne have a pair of common opponents this season. Azusa Pacific defeated San Diego (24-14) and Cal Lutheran (31-10) while La Verne fell to both San Diego (45-7) and Cal Lutheran (28-7).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: In 39 seasons of Cougar football, Azusa Pacific has played its home games in 4 different locations (Duarte High School 1965; Hillside Field 1966-68, 1970-1986; Charter Oak High School 1969; and Cougar Stadium 1986- ). The 21-12 victory 5 weeks ago over Pacific Lutheran was Azusa Pacific’s 100th home victory. The Cougars are currently 102-65-4 in Azusa, which includes an impressive 28-5 mark over the past 5 seasons. They have won 8 straight at home since 2001.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Fifth-year Azusa Pacific head coach Peter Shinnick, son of former Baltimore Colt linebacker and UCLA All-American Don Shinnick, has fashioned a 33-14 record to date. Shinnick reached 30 wins quicker than any previous Cougar mentor, and only Cougar Hall-of-Famer Jim Milhon (1978-94) has won more games at Azusa Pacific (81). Shinnick led Azusa Pacific to the 1999 NAIA semifinals and put the Cougars back in the NAIA playoffs in 2000. Shinnick is 4-0 vs. La Verne.

Don Morel is in his ninth season at La Verne where he has put together a 35-41 record. A former Leo assistant, Morel took over the La Verne reigns in 1995 and fashioned perhaps the finest gridiron season in La Verne history with the Leos posting a 9-0 record, which included a 51-17 victory over Azusa Pacific. Despite the perfection, La Verne was snubbed for its first-ever NCAA Division III playoff berth.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Azusa Pacific was ranked No. 12 in the NAIA Coaches Top 25 Poll last week. The Cougars have been ranked as high as No. 8 this year but fell 4 spots after the loss at Humboldt State. With a trio of Top 10 teams suffering defeats this past Saturday, Azusa Pacific could possibly crack the top 10 again when a new poll is be released on Tuesday (Oct. 21) by 1 p.m. (PDT).

LAST WEEK: For the first time in 5 tries, Azusa Pacific was victorious over NAIA power Southern Oregon, defeating the Raiders, 23-14, in Azusa. After falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, the Cougars reeled off 23 unanswered points over the final 3 quarters. Sophomore RB Ben Buys rushed for a career-high 243 yards and 2 TDs, and junior PK David Ignash nailed 3 field goals of 39, 40 and 30 yards. Meanwhile the Cougar defense thwarted one of the NAIA’s premier offenses, holding Southern Oregon to just 227 yards, some 244 yards below its average. Additionally, All-American RB Dusty McGrorty, who entered the game as the nation’s leading rusher (212 avg/g), managed just 51 rushing yards, including minus-1 on 8 carries in the second half.

La Verne fell to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival Redlands, 24-12, on the road. The Leopards were still in striking distance heading into the finl quarter, down just 17-12 at the time. However, an early fourth-quarter TD by Redlands and then a stingy Bulldog defense kept La Verne from collecting its first win of the season.

NATIONAL STATS: In last week’s NAIA national statistical listing, Cougar RB Ben Buys was 12th in the nation in rushing. PK David Ignash was 20th in kick scoring, and WR Nate Farris continued to lead the nation in punt returns. As a team, the Cougars are sixth in rushing defense and ninth in scoring defense.

A new NAIA statistical report reflecting games played through Oct. 18 will be released by the NAIA on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

BUY A TD: Sophomore RB Ben Buys (Englewood, Colo./Denver Christian HS) rebounded from his poorest outing of the season (63 yards vs. Humboldt State) with his finest effort ever. Buys rushed for a career-high 243 yards on 38 carries (6.4 avg.) against Southern Oregon last Saturday. The effort matched the second-best single game in Azusa Pacific history and was just 5 yards shy of Christian Okoye’s school-record 248 vs. Cal Lutheran in 1986. Through 6 games this season, Buys has rushed for 843 yards and needs just 157 yards in the next 3 games to become only the seventh Cougar ever to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He is currently eighth on Azusa Pacific’s all-time rushing chart with 1,698 yards

Additionally, his 9 100-yard rushing games (in just 15 career games) is third on Azusa Pacific’s all-time list. Only 1998 NAIA Player of the Year Jack Williams (15), Okoye (13) and Jim Farmer (9) have registered as many or more 100-yard games in Cougar football history.

Buys, who has 8 touchdowns this season, including a trio of multi-touchdown games this season, now has 24 rushing TDs for his career, third best in Cougar football history, and has tallied 148 points in his career, eighth-best on Azusa Pacific’s all-time scoring chart.

GREEDY GUYS: A year ago, the Azusa Pacific defense, regarded as one of the 10 best in program history, forced 17 turnovers (10 fumbles and 7 interceptions) in 9 games played, just shy of 2 take-aways a game. Through 6 games this year, the Cougar defense has already produced 16 turnovers (8 fumbles and 8 interceptions) and are averaging well over 2 take-aways a game.

RETURN OF THE SACKMASTERS: All-American DE Nick Tavaglione and Anthony Diggs have teamed for 10 of the Cougars’ 17 sacks this season. The Cougars are averaging just under 3 sacks a game this season, and are collecting nearly 9 tackles behind the line of scrimmage each contest. Against Southern Oregon, the Cougars tallied 3 sacks of Raider QB Dan Woodward, the most surrendered by the SOU o-line this season. Tavaglione, who currently leads the team with 7 sacks, has 17 in his 15-game career at Azusa Pacific.

LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING: Senior CB Brian Rocheleau (Yucca Valley, Calif./Yucca Valley HS) is playing All-American-like football. The 5-foot-8, 160-pound Rocheleau has stood head-and-shoulders above on defense. He currently is fifth on the team with 29 tackles, thanks in part to a career-high 10 vs. Humboldt State 2 weeks ago, a game in which he also collected his first-ever interception. On the season, he leads the team with 8 pass deflections. Against Pacific Lutheran 5 weeks ago, he caused a fumble on the Lutes’ second possession to stop a drive that had moved to the Cougar 10-yard line. Then late in the game, he put the breaks on another PLU drive by recovering a fumble again at the Cougar 10-yard line with 3:25 left in the game. Along with his defensive skills, Rocheleau is also an accomplished punt returner, and is averaging a hefty 11.8 yards on his 10 returns this year.

SPECIAL GUYS: Azusa Pacific may have its best-ever set of special team players, and their impact has been significant throughout the season. The punt return tandem of Nate Farris and Brian Rocheleau, who together are averaging a whopping 19.1 yards on their 18 returns this season, had a huge hand in the Cougars’ 21-6 win over Pacific Lutheran, setting up the game’s first TD and then scoring another (76-yard return by Farris). Against Rocky Mountain, Rocheleau had a 29-yard return to set up a TD. The duo set up 2 more TDs against Cal Lutheran after collecting 120 yards on 6 punt returns.

Meanwhile, kicker David Ignash, who converted 3 field goal attempts against Southern Oregon, has now made 4 of his past 6 attempts and is 6-for-10 for the season As a punter, he is averaging 36.4 yards a boot, but more importantly, over one-fourth of his punts are stopping inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Additionally, Azusa Pacific has blocked 3 straight field goal attempts over the past 2 games, and the 2 blocks of Southern Oregon second half field goals attempts certainly provided some breathing room for the Cougars down the stretch of that game.

ABOUT THE LEOS: La Verne, an NCAA Division III member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, is in the midst of a rebuilding project that is rooted in high school players. California’s premier DIII program in the California during the mid-1990s, the Leopards are using a grass-roots approach to get back to the former level of play. Over half of Leopards’ 63-player roster features underclassmen. Their leading rusher, Justin Wolfchief, is just a freshman, and their starting QB, Jason Winn, is only a sophomore.

During the mid-1990s, La Verne fashioned a stretch of play in which the Leos went 16-2. However, as they have made the transition from junior college recruits to those from the high school ranks, La Verne has dropped 13 of its past 16 games.

SHINNICK SAYS: “La Verne is going to do everything it can to get a win,” said Cougar coach Peter Shinnick. “They’ll fight and scratch and give you everything they’ve got, and we can’t sit here and say this is easy. To be honest, I don’t know how well we can handle success. We’re going to discover the maturity of our senior class and find out if it can raise our play to the next level.

“Everything is completely different this week. Now we have something to build upon as opposed to bouncing back from defeat last week. We got a taste of how good we could be in every aspect. We’ve raised the standard on ourselves, now we’re going to find out a ton about ourselves after a win.

Against Southern Oregon, our offensive line did a great job of getting (Ben) Buys to the next level. It was one of the best cumulative efforts of offensive line play that I have ever seen. They didn’t play well against Humboldt, and I challenged them. They certainly answered the call.

“Ben ran with a purpose and a focus that was exciting to see. He gave everything he had. He had 3 or 4 runs where he was pulling people down field.

“When you’re getting 6 yards a run, it’s hard to go away from it. I decided to keep running the ball until Southern Oregon stopped it. They never did. It was just a case of our offensive line being a dominating force.

Our defense was phenomenal. It was a great effort by the 11 guys on the field, and they did an awesome job. Southern Oregon’s offensive line has 4 seniors, and our d- line proved to be pretty great. With every sack of their quarterback, someone else was coming after him, and the sign of a great defense is the different directions you can get in coming at a quarterback.”

ON THE AIR: Azusa Pacific’s student-run radio station KAPU will carry the Azusa Pacific-La Verne game. Click here to listen to Mike Dennis and David Nyhoff call all the action starting at 5:50 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 25)

TICKET PRICES: Tickets for the La Verne game and all Azusa Pacific 2003 home contests are sold at the gate on game day, starting at 4:30 p.m. Prices are $5 for adults, and $3 for seniors and students with ID. Children age 12 and under are free. All Azusa Pacific students, faculty and staff are free as well. There is no charge for parking.

DIRECTIONS: To attend the Azusa Pacific-La Verne game, take the 210 Freeway and exit Citrus Ave. in Azusa. Go north (toward the mountains). The main entrance into the campus and the stadium will be on the right, less than a mile.