BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The NAIA’s No. 11-ranked Azusa Pacific had just enough offense and all the defense it needed and then some to knock off Olivet Nazarene University, 22-6, in a nonconference game Saturday night.

Tonight’s victory, which featured another Cougar goal-line stand similar the one Azusa Pacific managed over ONU in the 2 teams' first-ever meeting exactly 5 years ago tonight, lacked the same luster of the initial meeting, primarily because Azusa Pacific defense dominated ONU, while the Cougar offense continually sputtered but in the end put together enought to score 2 touchdowdowns and 3 field goals.

Senior RB Ben Buys collected 111 rushing yards on 20 carries for the 11th 100-yard game of his career, and scored a touchdown that gave Azusa Pacific a 9-6 lead that it would not relinquish. True freshman Alex Peltier rushed for 34 yards, but it was his nifty 23-yard scamper on a screen pass for his first-ever collegiate touchdown that gave the Cougars an unsurmountable 19-6 halftime cushion.

The rest was up to the Cougar defense, which sacked Tiger QB Joe Boseo 7 times and held the ONU rushing game, which tallied 260 yards and 5 TDs in last week’s season-opening victory over Anderson College, to just 14 yards tonight and a mere 193 yards of total offense for the game.

“Their offensive line wanted us to let up,“ said Cougar DE Chuck Asiodu, who led the Cougars with 7 tackles, including 4 for loss. “Our inside stunts were confusing them, and they didn’t know where we were coming from. We came close to this kind of performance last week against San Diego, but we landed it tonight.”

The Cougars continually pressured Boseo throughout the night, and had him on the run from the opening snap. Boseo completed just 5 of his first 17 passes for only 77 yards by midway through the third quarter. In the second quarter alone, he was sacked 3 times and intercepted once.

"Our defense was lights out," said Cougar coach Peter Shinnick, who now 2-0 vs. ONU with both victories coming on the Tigers' Ward Field. "We came up with a scheme to keep everything in front of us tonight, and it was fantastic. I think that's the most times I've ever seen a quarterback hit in one game."

ONU took advantage of a Buys’ fumble on the Cougars' second possession of the game and scored on the next play when Billy Lawrence sprinted in from 16 yards to put the Tigers up 6-0 less than 5 minutes into the game.

"The only flow they had to their offense tonight came when our offense turned the ball over," said Shinnick.

The Cougars answered on their next possession on a Mike Betancourth 42-yard field goal. Buys then capped an 80-yard, 14-play drive with his third TD of the season, the 31st of his career, to put the Cougars up for good at the 10:41 mark of the second quarter. Betancourth added a 44-yard field goal to give the Cougars a 12-6 lead.

The Cougar defense did not allow an ONU drive to go more than 41 yards tonight, and in the middle of the second quarter it forced 3 consecutive 3-and-out possessions on Olivet. As a result the Cougars continually improved their field position following each Tiger punt until they eventually started one drive at the Tiger 38-yard line. Three players later Peltier was dancing down the sidelines and diving into the end zone for what would prove to be the game-clincher.

"I saw my blockers and knew the play would go for more than 10 yards," said Peltier, who a year ago this time was playing for Santa Fe Christian High School in the San Diego area. "I saw their outside linebacker coming in, so I just followed our blockers and found my way to the end zone."

ONU appeared to be on the doorstep of getting back into the game when the Tigers had the ball first-and-goal at the Cougar 7-yard line following their second pick of a Sean Davis pass. However, the Cougars allowed just 6 yards on the ground and Boseo misfired on a pass attempt. After a Tiger penalty moved the ball back 5 yards, Jeremy Lugbill blocked the Tigers' 23-yard FG attempt to end ONU's last time it would be inside the Cougar 45-yard line the rest of the night.

The only scoring in the second half came late in the game when Betancourth connected on his third field goal, a 33 yarder with 58 seconds left in the game.

The Cougars had a Jon Miller 51-yard TD run wiped out early in the fourth quarter on 1 of 11 penalties that hammered Azusa Pacific throughout the game. Both teams were hit with questionable penalties at odd times, and sometimes it took the officials nearly 5 minutes to sort out their own calls.

Nonetheless, Azusa Pacific beats Olivet Nazarene for the fourth time in as many meetings since 1998, which also includes a 17-14 Cougar victory in the 1998 NAIA title game. Additionally, the Cougars have now won 19 of their past 22 games dating back to the 2002 season.

"We have to get used to this routine," said Shinnick when addressing the satisfaction of collecting a victory half way across the country. "There is no routine as an NAIA independent. We're playing anywhere at anytime."

With the victory, Azusa Pacific is 2-0 while ONU falls to 1-1.