Different Foe, Same Script

Russell, Campbell lead APU to 44-14 win over Claremont-Mudd

AZUSA, Calif. – In a near carbon-copy of last week's season-opening victory, Azusa Pacific scored on its first play from scrimmage, and then broke open a tight game midway through the second quarter to roll to a 44-14 nonconference victory over Claremont-Mudd on a blistering hot Saturday afternoon on the Hillside Field.

As they did a week ago, the Cougars scored on their first offensive snap, this time through the air, as southpaw QB David Russell connected with fellow senior Ted Campbell on a 66-yard bomb to put Azusa Pacific up, 7-0, just 150 seconds into the game.The Stags, who were determined to stop APU's powerful run game, stacked the box from the opening play, giving Russell and Campbell a relatively easy pitch-and-catch on Claremont's man-to-man coverage.

After CMC answered with an 8-yard Chris Dabrow run to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive that tied the game at 7-7, the Cougars again caught the Stags focused on the ground game, as Russell and Campbell connected again, this time for a 40-yard TD strike on the first play of the second quarter to put the Cougars back up 14-7.

Claremont-Mudd answered again with another long-drive score, thanks in part to QB Steve Olson's pinpoint passing. Olson highlighted the drive with a 1-yard plunge to tie the game at 14-14 with 11:15 left in the first half.

From there, the Cougar defense took over, stifling the Stags attack and holding the CMC to just 2 yards rushing the rest of the game and thwarting the CMC aerial attack. Olson opened the game completing 10 of his first 15 passes for 164 yards but completed just 2 of his next 13 passes before exiting with an injury.

Senior DE Eric Lemaster led a Cougar defensive front that collected 7 tackles for loss including 5 QB sacks on the day, registering 6 tackles of his own which included 3 sacks for 30 yards.

The Cougars scored 3 second-half TDs on short runs by Christian Okoye (2 yards), Greg Johnson (1 yard) and Scott Greene (2 yards) as APU scored the game's final 30 points.

A week after rushing for a career-high 206 yards and 4 TDs in a 37-14 victory over Whittier, Okoye found himself the focal point of Claremont's defense, and the Staggs relatively succeeded, holding the 6' 3", 240-pound running back to just 55 yards on 17 carries today. However, Russell was the perfect counter for Okoye's running, as the senior QB displayed remarkable accuracy, completing 14-of-17 passes for 256 yards and 2 TDs, both to Campbell, who continues his comeback from cancer which sidelined him all of 1983 season and most of last year. Johnson picked up 64 yards rushing on just 9 carries.

Through 2 games thus far, Russell has completed 26-of-31 passes for 420 yards and 3 TDs without an interception. Campbell leads the Cougars with 7 receptions for 208 yards.

With the victory, the Cougars improve to 2-0 on the season.

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Players Mentioned

#1 Ted Campbell: WR; 6' 0"; Senior

#7 David Russell: QB; 5' 11"; Senior

#30 Scott Greene: RB; 6' 1"; Senior

#35 Christian Okoye: RB; 6' 2"; Senior

#41 Greg Johnson: RB; 5' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#1 Ted Campbell
: 6' 0"; Senior
: WR

#7 David Russell
: 5' 11"; Senior
: QB

#30 Scott Greene
: 6' 1"; Senior
: RB

#35 Christian Okoye
: 6' 2"; Senior
: RB

#41 Greg Johnson
: 5' 8"; Senior
: RB