WHITEWATER, Wis. – Jordan Wells’ 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half jettisoned the NCAA Division III No. 2-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater to a 27-7 victory over the NAIA’s No. 8-ranked Azusa Pacific Saturday afternoon before 4,033 in Perkins Stadium.

Azusa Pacific, which was making its first-ever venture into the state of Wisconsin, seemingly turned the momentum of the game late in the first half with a Nathaniel Nasca 17-yard end-around touchdown to pull the Cougars to within a triple at 10-7 at halftime. With the Cougar defense tightening during the second quarter, the game appeared to be headed toward a thrilling second-half finish.

Well’s run though put an end to that speculation.

“We thought we had evened out the play by halftime,” said first-year Azusa Pacific coach Victor Santa Cruz, “but Wells’ touchdown made the game more of a mountain than we were able to climb.”

All-conference quarterback Justin Jacobs completed 17-of-33 passes for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead a Warhawk offense that tallied 280 yards of total offense. Jacobs connected with Neil Mrvicka on a 25-yard touchdown pass to put Wisconsin-Whitewater up 10-0 early in the second quarter. The touchdown nearly did not happen. All-American running back Justin Beaver fumbled on the previous play following a hard hit from Cougar linebacker Scott Ellis. However, UWW recovered the loose ball and seconds later scored on the pass play.

Any thoughts of a second-half Azusa Pacific comeback were continually thwarted by constant Cougar miscues, including a season-high 12 penalties. Among the dozen flag-draped plays were a trio that negated Cougar first downs, and 2 others that kept Warhawk drives alive. Azusa Pacific also committed 2 second-half turnovers.

“We’re going to be playing great teams every week this season,” said Santa Cruz, “and we can’t afford to make so many mistakes. We have to fix our play.”

No gaffe may have been bigger than an illegal touch called on the Cougars after quarterback Rudy Carlton hooked up with Nasca for 45-yard pass play midway through the third quarter. Instead of having the ball deep in Warhawk territory threatening to cut into a 17-7 deficit, Azusa Pacific found itself back at its own 15-yard line. The drive stalled and the Cougars never mounted another threat.

“It seemed like all 12 penalties were timely,” said a disappointed Santa Cruz. “Every one of them hurt us at key times.”

Meanwhile, Wisconsin-Whitewater played downfield much of the afternoon. Of the Warhawks’ 12 drives, half of them started at no worse than their own 40-yard line. In fact, they needed just 80 yards of total offense to register 13 points. Jeff Schebler capped a pair of short drives with field goals of 37 and 36 yards, the second giving UWW a 20-7 lead with 9:14 left in the third quarter.

“I’m really pleased with how our defense played,” said Santa Cruz. “Really, they only gave up 2 touchdowns to an offense that averages over 40 points a game.”

Jacobs added a late touchdown when he connected with Pete Schmitt on a 14-yard pass to finish of the scoring with 1:47 left in the game.

Azusa Pacific managed just 184 yards of total offense. Carlton completed 10-of-29 passed for 142 yards.

Whitewater, which was the NCAA Division II runner-up last year, is now 2-0 on the season and has won 16 of its past 17 games.

Not done with Wisconsin schools, Azusa Pacific, now 1-2 on the season, returns home for the first time this season to host Whitewater’s conference mate, Wisconsin-La Crosse, next Saturday (Sept. 23) at 5:30 p.m.