AZUSA, Calif. -- Sophomore RB Ben Buys rushed for 153 yards on 23 carries and scored 4 first-half touchdowns to lead the NAIA?s No. 9-ranked Azusa Pacific to a 42-0 victory over La Verne before an estimated homecoming crowd of 3,100 Saturday night.

Azusa Pacific scored on 4 of its first 5 possessions (missed a field goal attempt on the other) and Buys capped each drive with TD blasts of 1, 3, 7 and 6 yards. He set up the Cougars? fifth touchdown early in the second half with a career-high 83-yard run to the Leopard 1-yard line. Freshman James Keeler finished off the drive on the next play with his first-ever collegiate touchdown.

In posting its first shutout since a 14-0 verdict over Pomona-Pitzer in 1998, the Cougar defense limited La Verne to just 121 yards in total offense, including a mere 23 through the air on 3-for-10 passing. Led by Joey Prestella?s career- and team-high 8 tackles and 1 forced fumble, the Cougar induced Leo 3 turnovers, including 1 that led to Buys? third score.

Perhaps as impressive as the shutout was the fact that La Verne crossed the midfield stripe just once in the game, and that was only after the Leos forced a Cougar fumble that they recovered at the Azusa Pacific 40-yard line. Four plays later though, Cougar sophomore Coba Canales picked off a La Verne pass to snuff the drive with his first collegiate interception.

Twenty-four hours before kickoff, it was questionable whether or not the game would be played. A nearby brush fire in Rancho Cucamonga had produced heavy smoke and falling ash throughout Friday, forcing officials to consider canceling the game with La Verne for the second straight year. However, a shift in winds late Friday and throughout Saturday cleared the sky over Azusa, allowing the game to go ahead as scheduled.

?It was nice to get this game in,? said Cougar coach Peter Shinnick, referring to the fact that last year?s game was cancelled after a La Verne quarterback suffered a serious head injury in the game the week before. ?Tonight was really an unusual Azusa Pacific-La Verne game because the past 3 have been decided by a total of 9 points.?

For the second consecutive week, Azusa Pacific put together an outstanding ground assault, chewing up 270 yards worth of grass on 49 carries (5.5 avg.). After Buys? 83-yard jaunt, Keeler and fellow freshmen Grady Thomas and Nathan Wurm went to work to post another 111 yards on 21 carries. Thomas capped the scoring with a 7-yard scamper with 7:53 left in the game for his third TD of the season.

As has been the case most of the year, Azusa Pacific took advantage of outstanding special teams play and several short-field situations to score the majority of their touchdowns. In fact, the Cougars needed just 18 plays to score 28 points in the middle of the game. A 45-yard punt return by Nate Farris, the NAIA?s leading punt returner, put the ball on the Leopard 4-yard line. Three plays later Buys had his second TD of the game to push the lead to 14-0 with 5:43 left in the first quarter.

With his 153 yards tonight, Buys needs just 4 more yards to become only the seventh player in Azusa Pacific history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. His 4 touchdowns tonight match a career-high that he set last year in Cougar victories over Pacific Lutheran and Humboldt State. He now has 172 points in his career, fourth all-time on the Cougar scoring chart. Additionally, he moves into fifth place on Azusa Pacific?s all-time rushing list with 1,851 yards in just 16 games of his career.

With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 6-1 on the season and is 15-2 over the past 2 seasons. Additionally, the Cougars run their home field winning streak to 10 straight.