AZUSA, Calif. – Ben Buys rushed for 2 touchdowns and the nationally-rated Cougar defense took its effort to another level as the NAIA’s No. 9-ranked Azusa Pacific downed Humboldt State, 17-10, before 3,200 in Cougar Stadium Saturday night.

For the second straight week the Cougars swarmed the opposing offense and put the hurt on Humboldt State quarterback Jason Baughman, sacking him 6 times, while holding the Lumberjack to just 194 yards total offense, exactly 150 yards off their game pace this year.

“Our defense continues to step up,” said Azusa Pacific coach Peter Shinnick, who moved his record to 3-3 against Humboldt State where he served as the offensive line coach in 1998 before taking over the Azusa Pacific helm the following season. “We were down 2 starters in our secondary, but whatever 11 guys we put on the field, they fly to the ball and play incredible defense.”

The Cougars didn’t look so impenetrable on the game’s opening drive, surrendering 6 first downs and 74 yards to Humboldt State before Cougar DE David Leary forced a fumble by Lumberjack RB Lionel Arnold at the Azusa Pacific 6-yard line. Junior LB Jacob Fisher scooped the loose ball off the turf. From then on the Cougars defense had its way with Humboldt State, pushing the Lumberjacks back for a minus-22 yards on their next 4 possessions to close out the first half.

“This defense challenges the whole blocking scheme of someone’s offense,” said junior LB Steve Holte who had 10 tackles, including 2.5 sacks. “We changed a lot of our defensive rules this week because of Humboldt’s diverse offense, and we got it done.”

Azusa Pacific took Humboldt’s opening drive fumble and turned it into a 12-play, 73-yard drive capped by a Buys’ 1-yard blast that put the Cougars up 7-0 with 1:12 left in the first quarter. Mike Betancourth added a 31-yard field goal, his fifth straight successful kick, to give Azusa Pacific a 10-0 halftime lead.

Humboldt State came into the game averaging over 34 minutes of ball possession per game, but the Cougars kept it out of the Lumberjacks’ hands tonight with 4 drives that required 10 or more plays and lasted at least 5 minutes.

Midway through the third quarter, Humboldt State finally put together its first sustained drive since the opening possession by going 92 yards on 18 plays highlighted by Baughman’s 7-yard corner fade to Dustin Creager to cut the Cougar lead to 10-7 with 1:55 left in the third quarter. The Lumberjacks again tallied 6 first downs during the drive, including an all-important one on a fourth-and-2 play at the Azusa Pacific 10-yard line.

Azusa Pacific put the game on ice when Cougar WR Micah Staley pulled down a Sean Davis 43-yard heave at the Humboldt 4-yard line. The rest was up to Buys, who scored 2 plays later to put Azusa Pacific up 17-7 with 6 minutes left in the game. For Buys it was his fifth TD of the season and the 33rd of his career, just 1 shy of the school career-record 34 set by Christian Okoye (1984-86).

“I didn’t see the ball at first,” said Staley of his only catch of the night. “It was lost in the lights, and in an instance I saw it. Fortunately, the guy covering me was a littler shorter.”

“We were looking for that match-up all night, said Shinnick of the 6-foot-2 Staley vs. the 5-foot-8 Justin Graham of Humboldt State. “When we finally got it, we went after it on a long ball.”

Humboldt State added a Ben Patterson 25-yard field goal with 40 seconds left in the game. Cougar Ryan Allen snagged the ensuing onside-kick to assure Azusa Pacific’s victory.

Azusa Pacific registered 328 yards of total offense, 217 of which came on the ground. Buys finished with 119 yards on 26 carries while sophomore Marcus Lampkin chipped in with 50 yards on 10 carries.

Davis was 9-for-15 passing for 111 yards. Junior TE Ricky Burgan had a career-high 4 receptions for 29 yards.

Azusa Pacific, which entered the game sixth in the NAIA in rushing defense, held Humboldt State to just 21 yards on 35 carries. Junior DE Chuck Asiodu led the way with 10 tackles, including 2.5 sacks to go along with 3 forced fumbles (HSU put the ball on the ground 5 times), and 1 pass deflection. The Cougars have 14 sacks on the season, 13 of which came in the past 2 games. Take away Humboldt State’s 2 lengthy drives, the Cougars held HSU to just 36 yards of total offense and 5 first downs over the other 7 Lumberjack possessions.

With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 3-0 on the season while Humboldt State falls to 2-2. The Cougars travel to Southern Oregon next week for a 6 p.m. game vs. the NAIA’s No. 18-ranked Red Raiders from Ashland, Ore.