AZUSA, Calif. -- Sophomore quarterback Sean Davis threw for a career-high 218 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the NAIA’s No. 10-ranked Azusa Pacific to a 32-7 victory over Chapman in both teams’ regular-season finale.

Next stop for Azusa Pacific, however, is the NAIA Playoffs, the Cougars’ fourth postseason berth in the past 6 years.

Davis, as he has in several games this season, put together an outstanding first half in which he completed 11-of-18 passes for all 218 yards that he would get for the game, leading Azusa Pacific to a 26-0 halftime lead.

“I’m really pleased with Sean’s play in recent weeks,” said Azusa Pacific coach Peter Shinnick. “He’s been getting sharper and more accurate with his passes. His reads have been very good, and he has been throwing an excellent deep ball.”

The Cougars rolled out to 17-0 lead in the first quarter. Following a David Ignash 32-yard field goal on the opening drive, Davis hooked up with Nate Farris on the first play of the next drive for a 56-yard touchdown strike, the duo’s third TD play this season that covered over 50 yards.

Farris, who leads the NAIA in returning punts(28-yard average) turned right around and returned Chapman’s punt on the ensuing drive 79 yards for a touchdown to put Azusa Pacific up 17-0 with 3:36 left in the first quarter.

Ignash banged home a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter, and with 21 seconds left in the half, freshman running back James Keeler took a Davis swing pass 15 yards to paydirt to close out the first half scoring.

In all, Azusa Pacific scored on 4 of its first 6 possessions. Meanwhile, the Cougar defense, which has been nearly impenetrable over the past 4 games, forced Chapman to punt on its first 6 possession, 3 of which ended after 3 plays, and didn’t allow the Panthers across the midfield stripe until the closing seconds of the first half. Sophomore LB Steve Holte led the way with 9 tackles while senior LB Chris Chun added a career-high 8 tackles to go along with 1 quarterback sack.

Azusa Pacific literally dropped several opportunities to blow the game open and give Davis a night on par with the best quarterback performances in Cougar football history. A trio of Cougar receivers dropped 4 long passes, 3 of which would have been sure touchdowns that would have gone for more than 50 yards, including an 84-yarder that Farris knocked around on his hands 4 times before the ball fell to the ground.

The Cougars, who hadn’t been scored on in the second half of the past 5 games, lost their shutout bid with 4:34 left in the game when Chapman’s Chase Twedell barreled his way in from 9 yards out to cap a 9-play, 60-yard drive.

Cougar freshman Nathan Wurm closed out the scoring with 1:42 remaining when he scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 43-yard scamper to help Azusa Pacific finish with a season-high 425 yards in total offense.