Dixie State at Azusa Pacific

Saturday (Oct. 28)

Cougar Stadium, 6 p.m. (PDT)

Records:

Azusa Pacific – 1-6

Dixie State – 1-6

THIS WEEK: After a perfectly-timed week off from play, a restful Azusa Pacific returns to the gridiron this week to host Dixie State College of St. George, Utah, at 6 p.m. in Cougar Stadium. A homecoming crowd of well over 3,500 is expected to be in attendance for the game.

RADIO/STATS: The Azusa Pacific-Dixie State game will be broadcast live on Internet radio through Azusa Pacific’s student-run station KAPU. Listen to Rob Schwandt, Matt Sperrazza and Brian Soash call all the action live, beginning at 5:45 p.m. Live up-to-the-minute stats of the game as it unfolds can be viewed on a datacast.

AND THEN THERE WERE 3: The Cougars return to the field of play with an eye on finishing strong and setting the table for the 2007 campaign. For only the third time in the past 9 years, Azusa Pacific will not be heading into postseason play, but the Cougars can begin to lay the foundation for next year with a strong finish to this season. Ahead on the docket are 3 first-time Cougar foes, beginning this week with Dixie State, a first-year NCAA Division II program. The Cougars close out the home portion of their 2006 schedule with a visit from NAIA member Webber International of Babson Park, Fla. They conclude the season Nov. 11 when Azusa Pacific heads to Bethany, Okla., to take on NAIA member Southern Nazarene.

SERIES NOTES: This is the first-ever meeting between Dixie State and Azusa Pacific. Next year, the Cougars are scheduled to complete the 2-year contract with a trip to St. George, Utah, to take on the Rebels Oct. 27.

vs. NCAA DII: Since 1996 Azusa Pacific is 10-6 vs. NCAA Division II teams. The Cougars had a 4-game winning streak over DII teams snapped in their last game when Humboldt State scored with 32 seconds to post 31-24 victory.

TOUGH FOES: The task at hand has not been easy for the Cougars. Azusa Pacific’s first 7 opponents are a combined 34-9 this season (32-4 when tossing out Southern Oregon). Three teams – San Diego, Wisconsin-Whitewater and Whitworth (all 7-0) – are still undefeated, and 4 foes are currently ranked in the top 11 of their respective association polls.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Azusa Pacific is 39-9 in Cougar Stadium since 1999, with 3 of the 4 losses coming at the hands of nationally-ranked teams. Since the opening of Cougar Stadium, Oct. 18, 1986, Azusa Pacific is 64-36 at home against the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

GOOD BYE: In 41 seasons of Azusa Pacific football, the Cougars have enjoyed the respite of 31 bye weeks, and the week off seems to have been a good thing. Azusa Pacific is 20-11 all-time in games following “bye” weeks. More impressively, the Cougars have won 6 of the past 7 games following bye weeks and are 9-3 in such games since 1997.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: This year Azusa Pacific will travel over 15,000 miles to play its 6 road games. In fact, the Cougars have been on the long, long road at the outset of the season with 5 of their first 6 games all away. Since the season started back on Sept. 1, the Cougars have been to San Diego (their closest road game of the season), Canton, Ohio; Whitewater, Wis.; Spokane, Wash.; and most recently Ashland, Ore. The conclude the campaign with a first-ever trip to the Oklahoma City suburb of Bethany, Okla.

ABOUT THE COACHES: A sixth-year Cougar staff member and former defensive coordinator, Victor Santa Cruz was named Azusa Pacific’s ninth head coach Dec. 14, 2005. Santa Cruz, 34, is a former 4-year linebacker at the University of Hawaii who came to Azusa Pacific in 2001 after spending 5 seasons as an assistant for at El Camino High in Oceanside, Calif. Santa Cruz has been the overseer of the Cougar defense the previous 2 seasons, including the 2004 squad that ranked among the best in the NAIA that season.

Longtime Ricks College head coach and former Dixie State player Ron Haun returned to coaching and his alma mater when Dixie State named him the first head coach of it 4-year program back in March. Haun spent 20 years guiding the junior college program at Ricks, where he fashioned a very fine 178-40-2 while leading the Vikings to 17 bowl games and 4 NJCAA national runner-up finishes. However, Ricks pulled the rug from underneath Haun when it surprisingly announced that the intercollegiate program would be phased out by 2002. The 62-year old Haun thought he had concluded his coaching career with the passing of the Ricks program. However, when Ricks’ former conference rival Dixie State opted to move to 4-year status and NCAA DII, Haun, who played for Dixie State from 1962-63, offered his services and Dixie obliged.

LAST WEEK: Azusa Pacific had the week off after narrowly falling to Humboldt State at home back on Oct. 14.

Dixie State fell at Humboldt State, 45-7, losing to the Lumberjacks for the second time this season. HSU scored on 3 of its first 4 possessions and returned an interception for a TD to race out to a 24-0 halftime lead. The Jacks led 38-0 before junior RB Amos Allen capped a 61-yard drive with a 3-yard TD late in the third quarter for the Rebels’ lone score of the game.

OUT OF NOWHERE: Eight weeks ago he barely had a friend on the team and he had to share a jersey. Now junior QB Chris Lamkin has plenty of friends and all eyes are on him. Lamkin came to Azusa Pacific as a late summer junior college transfer from Butte College, looking for a chance to compete as a back-up. Out of 2-a-days he emerged as a No. 3 signal-caller, relegated to a clipboard and a “maybe next year” possibility of playing. However, injuries to Rudy Carlton and Ryan Bridges forced Lamkin to the forefront, where 2 weeks ago, in his first start at Azusa Pacific, he spearheaded a Cougar attack that nearly pulled off a rather significant upset of Humboldt State. In that game, Lamkin accounted for 157 of the Cougars’ 240 yards of total offense. He rushed for a game-high 76 yards on 19 carries and he completed 6-of-10 passes for 81 yards. He got his first game experience the week before at Southern Oregon in relief of Bridges, who left the game with multiple injuries. On the season, Lamkin has completed 15-of-28 passes for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns, and he has rushed for 78 yards, already second best on the team.

BY THE NUMBER: Senior RB Marcus Lampkin is eighth on Azusa Pacific’s all-time rushing chart with 1,741 yards. The former 29 Palms High School standout needs 100 more yards to move past Cougar Hall-of-Famer Jim Farmer and into seventh place ... The Cougar offensive line has allowed just 2 sacks on 140 pass plays this season ... Sophomore WR Jon Davis, who had never played football in his life until last year, is Azusa Pacific’s leading receiver this season with 23 catches for 251 yards (10.9 avg.) and 3 TDs ... Led by linebackers Scott Ellis and Clint Shamblin, who each top the team with 54 tackles on the season, the Cougar defense has allowed just one opposing back to rush for 100 yards this season (Southern Oregon’s Shane Van Zant tallied 107)

ABOUT THE REBELS: Dixie State was a longtime respected junior college football program, playing in the Western States Football League that featured, among others, Arizona Western, Phoenix City College and Snow Community College. The college, however, has moved from a 2-year format to a 4-year program, and with it came a new athletics program. Now an NCAA Division II member, Dixie State is competing for the first time as a 4-year program, and is taking its respective lumps for it. Dixie’s 95-player roster features just 2 seniors. Indeed, this is a young team with a promising future. It just needs to weather the storms of a first-year program

The Rebels bring a 1-6 record to the Canyon City Saturday night. They opened the season with 5 straight losses before posting their first-ever win as a 4-year program, a 21-6 decision over Mesa State, a team that had beaten Dixie State, 42-14, in the season-opener. The Rebels have also played 2 games with Humboldt State, losing at home, 48-28, before falling in Arcata, Calif., last week, 45-7. The Rebels other setbacks have come at the hands of Adams State (37-7), San Diego (41-7) and Northern Arizona (66-14).

The Rebels are averaging 254 yards of offense each outing while surrendering 364. They are being out-scored 41-14 on the average. Turnovers have been an issue for Dixie, which has lost the ball 24 times in just 7 games.

Junior QB Lance Pantonai has been leading the Rebel offense in recent weeks. In 7 game appearances he has thrown for 865 yards and 7 TDs while completing 46-percent of his passes. Fellow junior QB Danny Southwick is likely to see action as well. In 4 games, he has thrown for 304 yards and a TD. Junior RB Amos Allen has been impressive out of the backfield, rushing for 254 yards while averaging 5 yards a pop. Junior LB Andrew Hicks leads the team with 38 tackles, including 3.5 for loss.

SANTA CRUZ SAYS: “The bye week gave us a chance to refocus and distant ourselves from some disappointment,” said Cougar coach Victor Santa Cruz. “The break also allowed us to take inventory of the program. The guys are still excited, and the seniors still believe the greatest privilege on earth is to be a Cougar. As a staff, the time off has given us an opportunity to coach the younger players in greater detail and bring them up to speed.

“The next 3 weeks are a time for the seniors to establish their legacy and pass the baton to the younger guys about what it is to be a senior and play your heart. Honestly, this is one of the top senior classes we’ve had in my time here in terms of how they battle and keep things going. Their work ethic is impeccable, and they’re still coaching players on the field.

“Against Humboldt State there was a great opportunity for us to fold our tent like we did against Southern Oregon. But you saw a team grow up in the Humboldt game. We spotted Humboldt 14 points and then came back. We needed to through that to have faith and to learn now to respond not according to our circumstances but to the job that had to be done. Against Southern Oregon we allowed circumstances to determine how we would play, but not so in the Humboldt game.

“We’re looking forward to playing another game. We have great respect for Dixie State like we do for any team that takes the field to play us.”