Western New Mexico at
Azusa Pacific

Saturday (Oct. 15)

Cougar Stadium, 6 p.m.

Records:

Azusa Pacific – 3-3

Western New Mexico – 3-3

THIS WEEK: The pursuit for a third straight NAIA playoff berth and the sixth in the past 8 years begins in earnest for Azusa Pacific when the Cougars host NCAA Division II Western New Mexico, Saturday (Oct. 15) at 6 p.m. in Cougar Stadium. The Cougars have just 3 games left on the regular-season slate and most likely will need to win every one of them to advance into the postseason.

RADIO: The Azusa Pacific-Western New Mexico game can be heard live on the Internet via KAPU radio. All the action will be called by Andrew Wheeler, Alex Charles and Christen Buckner with the pre-game show beginning at 5:45 p.m.

TICKETS: Tickets for the game are $5 for adults and $3 for students with ID. Children under 12 are free.

DIRECTIONS (from Western New Mexico): Take the 10 Freeway west into Southern California. Merge onto 57 Freeway north. Take the 210 Freeway west toward Pasadena. Exit Citrus Ave and turn left on frontage road. Go 1 block and turn right onto Citrus Ave. Cross Alosta Ave., and turn right in main entrance onto campus. The stadium will be on the left.

THE RACE IS ON: Azusa Pacific likely has to win its final 3 games to keep hopes alive for a playoff berth. However, the Cougars have been here before. In 1999, the No. 9-ranked Cougars had to win their final 2 games to secure a bid, and they did, knocking off La Verne (47-45, a game-winning FG as time expired) and Chapman (42-21) on the road. In 2000, the No. 22 Cougars had to win their final game of the season, which again they did by beating Chapman (38-6). Then last year, No. 14 Azusa Pacific needed to win its final 2 games, both at home, and the Cougars left no doubt, pummeling Crown (58-6) and Valley City State (68-6)

SERIES NOTES: Azusa Pacific won the only other previous meeting with Western New Mexico, rallying for 35-21 victory in Silver City, N.M. last year. The Cougars lost starting QB Sean Davis on the opening series and then fell behind 21-7 with less than 5 minutes left in the first half. Facing their biggest deficit of the season, the Cougars rallied behind reserve QB Eric McClenehan, scoring the game’s final 28 points.

vs. NCAA DII: Since 1996 Azusa Pacific is 9-5 vs. NCAA Division II teams, and has won 3 straight over DII teams, including the Cougars’ 13-12 victory at Humboldt State earlier this year. Never before has Azusa Pacific taken 4 straight from DII teams (from 1997 to 1999 they did win 3 in a row).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Azusa Pacific, which has won its past 5 home games, is 17-1 at home since 2002 with the only setback coming at the hands of No. 1 Carroll (12-0) last year. Over the past 3 years at home, the Cougars are winning games by an average score of 31-11. Since its 1998 NAIA championship season, Azusa Pacific is 37-5 in Cougar Stadium.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Azusa Pacific head coach Peter Shinnick, son of former Baltimore Colt linebacker and UCLA All-American Don Shinnick, is now in his seventh season at the Cougar helm. He picked up his 50th win in just 70 tries in the victory over Southern Oregon 2 weeks ago, and now second on Azusa Pacific’s all-time win list (Jim Milhon, 1978-94, leads with 81 Cougar victories). Shinnick just brought Azusa Pacific through its best 6-year span in program history, guiding the Cougars to victory in 47 of the past 65 games, which includes an impressive 28-6 record over the past 3 seasons. In Shinnick’s tenure the Cougars have appeared in 67 of 78 NAIA Coaches Top 25 Polls, including the past 41 in a row, which has translated into 4 NAIA playoff berths, 2 of which had the Cougars advance to the semifinals. Shinnick has coached 22 All-Americans, 11 scholar-athletes and 73 school records have been broken since his 1999 arrival.

Charley Wade is in his fifth season at Western New Mexico, his fourth in a row (he served Mustang mentor for the 1994 season). He has carved an 11-24 record to date, and at 3-3 this year, he has the Mustangs headed to their best season in at least 5 years (the Mustangs haven’t won 4 games in a season since at least 2000). The 64-year old Wade has been coaching football for 42 seasons which includes stops at Minnesota, Missouri, Central Arkansas and Arkansas Tech among other schools.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Azusa Pacific is again ranked No. 20 in this week’s NAIA Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Cougars have appeared in 41 consecutive NAIA Polls dating back to Sept. 17, 2002.

LAST WEEK: Playing its first NCAA Division I-AA opponent in 9 years and only the second in program history, Azusa Pacific put a scare into Sacramento State before the Hornets posted 3 TDs in less than 4 minutes late in the first half to run down the Cougars and then run away for a 41-19 victory in Sacramento. The Cougars led 7-0 after 1 quarter and were still up 10-7 with 5 minutes left in the first half before Sac State used 12 plays, 4 of which covered over 170 yards, to rack up 3 TDs and take a 27-12 lead into the locker room at halftime. In all the, Hornets scored 27 points in the second quarter, the most they’ve scored in a single quarter since moving to Division I-AA in the early 1990s. In the second half, the Cougars drove the ball into Hornet territory 4 times but managed just 1 TD out of the opportunities and Sacramento State held off the Cougars for the win.

Western New Mexico snapped a 3-game losing streak with a 29-22 victory at home over Western State (Colo.). The Mustangs rallied from a 13-7 deficit by scoring 22 points on 4 consecutive possessions to assume a 29-15 lead with just over 9 minutes left in the game. Though he rushed for just 54 yards on 15 carries, junior RB Lateef Azziz scored 2 important second-half TDs, including the game-clincher on a 28-yard sprint.

GETTING HIS KICKS: Senior place-kicker Mike Betancourth, who a year ago led the NAIA with 19 field goals made, is having another All-American-like season. He has made 8-of-11 attempts this season. In addition, he has converted 18 of his past 21 attempts, which included a school-record 12 straight that stretched from last year into this year’s season-opener at San Diego. He has been good from 40 yards or longer on 9 kicks, the most in school history, including a personal-best 52-yarder which he booted last week at Sacramento State, just 2 yards shy of Brad Kramer’s 1974 school-record 54 yards (Betancourth kicked a 52-yarder last year against Valley City State). For his career, he has 27 made field goals in just 20 games and is only 9 field goals shy of All-American Devon Jones’ (1978-81) school career-record of 36 that he established over the course of 4 seasons. Betancourth is 27-for-37 (.730) for his career and his 127 points scored are ninth on Azusa Pacific’s all-time chart. Additionally, he has made 37 consecutive PATs.

ALL-AMERICAN PLAY Senior LB Stephen Holte, a 2004 NAIA All-American first teamer, is playing even better than he was a year ago. Last year, Holte averaged 7.1 tackles a game, but through 6 contests this year, he is averaging a hefty 13.7 tackles per outings. Against the NAIA’s No. 1-ranked Carroll (Sept. 10), he recorded 21 take-downs, just 1 shy of the school record. He came back against Willamette and registered another 18 tackles. Holte also tops the team with 5 tackles for loss and 3 interceptions. His next pick will be the most by a Cougar linebacker since Greg Smith’s 5 interceptions in 1995.

LIGHTING THE LAMP Junior RB Marcus Lampkin has emerged from a pack of 4 as the Cougars’ lead runner. Though just 5-foot-6, 170 pounds, he stands large in the Cougar offense, currently topping the team in rushing (81.2 yards/g). The former walk-on transfer from Lewis & Clark has strung together 4 straight 100-yard games (432 yards in the past 4 games) and has 5 century-rushing efforts in the past 8 games. He is the first Cougar to string together 4 straight 100-yard rushing games since All-American Ben Buys opened the 2003 campaign with such a quartet. No Cougar has recorded 5 straight 100 yard games since NAIA Player of the Year Jack Williams accomplished the feat to close the 1999 season. Additionally, Lampkin leads the team with 677 all-purpose yards (112.8 avg./g).

LOST IN THE CROWD: The Azusa Pacific offensive line is not particularly deep, but those who play are doing a credible job. Led by center Justin Magallanez and tackles Steve Mejia and Keith Ornelas, the Cougar O-line has yielded just 5 quarterback sacks this season, including just 3 in the past 4 games. Additionally, of the Cougars 154 rushing plays over the past 4 games, only 21 have ended in negative yardage.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS: Western New Mexico snapped a 3-game losing streak with a 29-22 over Western State (Colo.) this past Saturday. The Mustangs opened the season with victories at home over St. Paul College (48-6) and New Mexico Highlands (24-21) before falling at No. 20 Tarleton State (45-21), returning home to lose to Winona State (45-34) and then losing at Mesa State (26-7)

Other than the Mesa State game when the Mustangs committed a whopping 7 turnovers, the WNMU offense has had no trouble chewing up real estate and lighting up the scoreboard. The Mustangs are averaging 354 yards and 27 points a game. California Juco transfers Kasey Young (380 yards and 6 TDs) and Lateef Azziz (361 yards and 3 TDs) spearhead a ground game that is averaging 168 yards a game. The Mustangs have been in search for a QB throughout the entire season and right now sophomore Kyle Meschnark seems to get the nod. In 4 games this season, Meschnark has completed 36-of-71 passes for 551 yards and has been intercepted just once in the process while throwing 3 TDs. In last week’s victory over Western State, he was 10-for-22 for 186 yards.

Defensively, the Mustangs have struggled, yielding 400 yards and 27 points each outing. However, they have produced 15 turnovers in just 6 games, which include 9 interceptions.

CONNECTIONS Western New Mexico TE DeAndre Day and RB Kasey Young were teammates of Cougar DE Josh Zeno at Antelope Valley CC … Mustang OL Nathaniel Schoen blocked for Cougar QB Tyler Davis at La Cueva High in Albuquerque, N.M.

FOR PETE’S SAKE: “I was pleased with how we played at Sacramento State. Really, if you take away 4 minutes out of the second quarter, it’s a whole different game. Up to that point, it was a field position game, and we were taking advantage of the opportunities they gave us. We had a chance to go into the locker room up 15-13 if not 19-13 at halftime. We knew it would take great play from us, and we had our chances. We just let them slip away.

“As many fist team offensive guys as we had out of the game, I feel good about what we did. Lampkin continues to run extremely well. Of course the offensive line and (James) Keeler did a fantastic job of blocking in front of him.

“Overall, our feeling is that this an effort we can build upon. In the second half, we were able to run and throw as effectively as we have all season. So we’ll take the positives, learn from this, and build on it.

“We didn’t sustain any major injuries and didn’t leave Sacramento with anything that hurts us in the long run. We’re coming into the Western New Mexico game about as healthy as we could expect at this point in the season.

“In watching Western New Mexico, they look similar to last year. They are big and physical. They’ve played nothing but a Division II schedule to date, so we’re probably be the smallest group they’ve played. We know what we have to do, and it’s just a matter of executing. They like to throw the ball all over the place. They’ll go 4 vertical and spread your defense. They have a nice screen package too, so we have to be able to contain them and hold them on defense. Offensively, we’re not the largest group, so we’ll have to be smart in how we play against them.”