Azusa Pacific 58

Crown 6

AZUSA, Calif.. – Four school records fell, including most points in a quarter, as the NAIA’s No. 14-ranked Azusa Pacific scored on its first 6 possessions and 2 others of the opponent’s to cruise to a 58-6 victory over Crown College, Saturday night before an estimated homecoming crowd of 3,900.

The Cougars scored a record 37 first-quarter points, then added 2 more TDs in the second quarter, and by halftime time tallied a record 51 points for one half. Azusa Pacific sprinted out and never looked back as it recorded its largest margin of victory in program history.

“This is really what we needed to do,” said Cougar coach Peter Shinnick in light of last week’s upset loss at Eastern Oregon. “We needed to come out and play great. Obviously Crown was undermanned, but as we always say to the players, it doesn’t matter who we play but rather how we play. We didn’t worry about them but worried about us, and we did exactly what we wanted to do tonight.”

The Cougars needed just 29 seconds and 2 plays to take a 7-0 lead on freshman Alex Peltier’s 18-yard TD run less than 2 minutes into the game. On the ensuing drive DT Peder Moore then sacked Crown QB Matt Bremer for a safety to make it 9-0.

Senior RB Ben Buys, making his first appearance since undergoing hand surgery following the Carroll game on Oct. 2, capped an 8-play, 50-yard drive with an 8-yard TD run to push the Cougar lead to 16-0. Just 70 seconds later, Azusa Pacific pushed the cushion to 23-0 when Moore recovered a Jeff Sands blocked punt in the end zone.

Far from done for the opening quarter, junior DB Troy McPeak collected his second interception of the season and returned it 26 yards to the Crown 14-yard line. On the next play, Buys barreled around right end and headed toward the end zone but fumbled the ball just shy of the goal line. Senior Jon Miller recovered the ball in the end zone for a 30-0 score with still 4 minutes left in the quarter.

Following Crown’s fourth 3-and-out possession of the quarter, Azusa Pacific struck again when junior QB Sean Davis, back from a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the past 2 games, hooked up with Miller on a 35-yard TD strike for a 37-0 Azusa Pacific lead with 1:22 left in the first quarter.

“Sean looked great tonight,” said Shinnick. “He could have very easily gone 12-for-13 had it not been for a couple of dropped balls. He had a great week of practice and threw the ball extremely. I could not have scripted this game better for him.”

The only drama left came in the second quarter when Buys scored his second TD of the game on a 5-yard run that gave Azusa Pacific a 51-0 halftime lead. The TD was Buys’ 35th of his 3-year career, breaking former NFL great Christian Okoye’s school-record of 34 set from 1984 to 1986.

“I really wasn’t trying to get the record as much as I was trying to get him the ball in situations where we’re going to use him in this final push,” said Shinnick. “He is a great short-yardage back and hard to stop in the red zone. We wanted to get him 6 to 8 touches because he hadn’t been hit in 5 weeks.”

Azusa Pacific had just 3 possessions in the second half, scoring on one when defensive back Troy Doolittle, who played quarterback in high school, took over the Cougars’ last 2 drives and engineered a 14-play, 87-yard march highlighted by his 1-yard plunge.

Sophomore A.J. Schmitke led Azusa Pacific with 75 yards rushing on 10 carries, all in the second half. Buys finished with 55 yards on 7 carries, and Peltier, who only played the first quarter, tallied 48 yards on 5 rushes.

Davis was 10-for-13 passing for 126 yards, while Miller finished with 3 receptions for 51 yards and 2 scores.

Crown, an NCAA Division III school out of St. Bonifacius, Minn., managed 96 yards of total offense. The Purple Storm concludes the season with a 2-7 record.

With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 8-2, and now turns its focus on NAIA member Valley City State University, which makes its first-ever California appearance for a rare Friday night game, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. in Azusa. A Cougar victory secures Azusa Pacific’s second straight NAIA playoff berth and its fifth in the past 7 years. It’s a short week to prepare for a game with significant postseason implications.

“We have to treat it like we’re playing on ESPN’s Friday night game of the week,” said Shinnick. “It’s a short week to get ready, but Valley has to go through the same thing. The fact that we are playing at home is a huge advantage.”