AZUSA, Calif. – The NAIA’s No. 11-ranked Azusa Pacific scored 10 points in the final 4 minutes of the game to rally for a 24-17 nonconference victory over the University of San Diego in both team’s 2004 season-opener.

Cougar RB Ben Buys plowed into the end zone from 5 yards out with 57 seconds left in regulation to cap a 6-play, 51-yard drive that lifted Azusa Pacific to its third straight season-opening victory and sixth win in the past 7 meetings with San Diego.

San Diego, which won 8 of 10 games a year ago and came in ranked No. 4 in The Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major Preseason Poll, appeared to be headed toward the victory after RB Evan Harney ended the third quarter with a 9-yard TD run that put the Toreros up 17-14.

By that point of the game, the Toreros had figured out the Cougar ground game, and it appeared there was no way Azusa Pacific would score again. The USD defense was in the midst of forcing 3 straight “3-and-out” drives. Cougar QB Sean Davis had misfired on 5 straight pass attempts, including 1 that was intercepted to set up Harney’s TD, and the Cougars had managed just 9 yards of total offense on 9 plays.

So when Azusa Pacific got the ball with 10 minutes left in the contest and 71 yards of real estate in front of it, still down by 3 points, there was no good reason to think that the Cougars would move on USD. Yet they did, and along the way they converted 2 crucial third-down plays and one “do-or-die” fourth-down effort. The Cougars marched 66 yards over the course of 16 plays, chewing up 6 minutes and 44 seconds of the clock. Davis found his touch again and completed 4-of-5 passes for 48 yards. He hit Jon Miller for 21 yards on a third-and-12 play. With just over 7 minutes left in the contest, he turned a fourth-and-7 situation into a first-and-10 at the USD 26 when he found Micah Staley for a 10-yard pass play. Three plays later, on a third-and-4 situation, he went back to Staley for another 10 yards and another Cougar first-down with the ball first-and-goal at the Torero 10. Though the drive stalled, Azusa Pacific was close enough for junior college transfer Mike Betancourth to tap through his first-ever field goal attempt as a Cougar, a 23-yarder that knotted the game at 17-17 with 3:16 remaining

On the ensuing drive, San Diego took possession at its own 19-yard line. Cougars Clint Shamblin and T.J. Grigsby caught Harney behind the line of scrimmage on the first play and dropped him for a 4-yard loss. Harney got 8 yards back on the next play, but a fierce Cougar blitz forced Torero QB Todd Mortensen to throw behind intended target Wes Doyle on third down. As a result, Azusa Pacific got the ball back at its own 49 following a poor USD punt of just 32 yards.

Davis still had his hot hand and went back to work with 2:09 remaining. He hit Miller again, this time down the right sideline for a 35 yard pick-up to put the ball at the Torero 16. The rest was up to Buys who collected the remaining yardage on 4 straight carries, including the game-winning 5-yard TD blast.

“On the last drive, I told the guys, ‘you can make it suspenseful or you can win the game right here,’” said Azusa Pacific head coach Peter Shinnick, who 5 years ago tonight (Sept. 4, 1999) led Azusa Pacific to a 26-19 overtime victory over San Diego in Azusa to start the 1999 season, his first-ever as a college head coach.

Davis, who completed 5-of-8 passes in the fourth quarter for 83 yards, finished the game 15-for-28 passing for 193 yards and 1 TD, a 3-yard corner fade to Miller that gave Azusa Pacific its first lead of the game at 14-10 with 7:02 left in the third quarter. Miller tallied career-highs of 7 catches for 95 yards. Staley finished with 4 grabs for 69 yards but could have had much more had he not dropped 2 passes, including a sure 39-yard TD strike from Davis that would have put the Cougars’ up 21-10 at the time. He more than made up for it though with 2 critical catches during the game-tying drive.

“I just had the jitters,” said Staley, who as a freshman last year started for NCAA Division II national champion Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., where he had 51 receptions and a team-high 12 TD catches. “I was putting too much pressure on myself. But I tell you, this is one of the most exciting games I’ve ever played in.”

Miller, who now has 19 receptions over his past 3 games as a Cougar, didn’t miss the importance of the victory.

“History says that if we beat San Diego, we have a good season,” said Miller, “and if we don’t beat them, we don’t have a good season.”

Indeed, the Cougars’ only 2 losing seasons in the past 7 years both began with losses to USD, the Toreros’ only victories over Azusa Pacific since 1997.

Sophomore LB Scott Ellis, who was making his first-ever collegiate start, led the Cougar defense with a career-high 12 tackles while junior Steve Holte added a career-best 11 take-downs to go along with a fumble recovery of a botched USD snap for the Cougars’ lone take-away of the night.

The Cougar defense limited USD to 239 yards of total offense and held the All-American candidate Harney, a 1,400-yard rusher in 2003, to just 88 yards on 27 carries (3.3 avg.).

“This defense is going to be fun to watch,” Shinnick added. “They did a great job against USD. The only touchdown they gave up came off a mistake by Sean (Davis) that gave USD the ball at our 17-yard line.”

The Cougar defense was impressive, not allowing any of USD’s 12 possessions to travel more than 44 yards. In fact, 9 drives spanned just 21 yards or less.

Buys, who scored on a 3-yard run late in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7, finished with 99 yards on 28 carries and 2 TDs. Though he narrowly missed the 11th 100-yard game of his 17-game career at Azusa Pacific, he nonetheless moved to within 50 yards of becoming only the fifth Cougar ever to rush for 2,000 yards in a career. Sophomore Marcus Lampkin, a third-string back who transfered from NCAA Division III Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., came off the bench for 59 yards on 11 carries, all in the second half.

“At halftime (Assistant coach) Adam (Shinnick) said he thought Marcus could be effective against USD’s defense,” said Shinnick, “and he was right. Marcus was a nice change-up for us.”

With the victory, Azusa Pacific jumps out to 1-0 on the season while USD is now 0-1. Azusa Pacific travels to Bourbonnias, Ill., to take on Olivet Nazarene University next Saturday (Sept. 11) to renew one of the NAIA’s best intersectional rivalries in a rematch of the 1998 NAIA championship game.