"Revenge may not be very spiritual, but in football, it is a great motivator," said a rain-soaked Cougar head coach Vic Shealy. "The area where we won this game was in the trenches. Our offensive and defensive lines beat their lines."

Earlier this season, Azusa Pacific visited Central Washington in Ellensburg, Wash., and was soundly beaten by CWU, 51-17. And early in this game, it looked like it would be a repeat spanking. Wildcats QB Casey Jacox hit WR Mike Leazer on a 59-yd TD pass 8 minutes into the game, giving CWU a 7-0 lead.

However, Azusa Pacific responded with 28 unanswered points on 4 consecutive TDs, the first coming just 3 minutes after CWU's score when Cougar freshman FB Adam Shelly scored on a 1-yd run to tie it at 7-7.

With 13:03 left in the second quarter, senior QB Geoff Buffum, who was doubtful for tonight's game because of a sprained shoulder and needed an anaesthetic shot before the game just to play, hit WR Scott Thomas for a 37-yd TD pass to give the Cougars a 14-7 advantage.

The Wildcats turned the ball back over when Jacox was intercepted by FS Matt Zaengle. The Cougars then marched down the field, thanks to consecutive 20-yd runs from TB DeAngelo Gossett and Jack Williams which put the ball on the 3-yd line. Shelly then took it in from 3 yards out to give the Cougars a 21-7 lead with 7:39 to play in the half.

Again the Wildcats turned the ball over when RB Dan Murphy fumbled and Cougar LB Jeremiah Beery recovered at the Wildcats' 26. Azusa Pacific took advantage of the miscue, scoring on a Williams 3-yard run with 4:43 left in the half.

The Wildcats cut into the deficit, scoring on a 37-yard pass from Jacox to Ryan Seal with 2:11 left in the half, to make it 28-14 at the intermission.

On the Wildcats' first second-half possession, LB Elbert Baker tipped a Jacox pass to Zaengle who returned the pick 19 yards to the Wildcat 44-yard line. The Azusa Pacific offense went to work. Williams moved the ball downfield on 5 running plays, and put the ball on the 1-yard line, where Shelly scored his third TD of the game with 7:10 left in the 3rd quarter and a 35-14 Cougar lead.

"I am on a high cloud," said Shelly. "I am excited Coach (Shealy) gave me the opportunities."

However, less than 2 minutes later, the Wildcats scored when Jacox hit Seal for a 36-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 35-21. After exchanging punts, the Wildcats scored on a Dan Murphy 1-yard run with 9:49 left to cut the lead to 35-28.

The Wildcats had their last chance at tying the game, but with 3:18 left in the game, Zaengle collected his third interception of the game (also his 10th of the season, a Cougar record) and Azusa Pacific ran down the clock.

Buffum finished 15-for-26 passing for 159 yards and 1 TD, and Williams finished with 172 rushing yards and a TD. Shelly finished with only 31 yards but had 3 TDs and had a fourth-and-1 run with under a minute left that enabled the Cougars to run out the clock.

"I was in pain, but if I went out, I would have felt like I let the team down," said Buffum. "But it feels a lot better since we won."

Zaengle was named Defensive Player of the Game for his 3 interceptions and 4 tackles.

"We knew we had to tighten things up in the second half," said Zaengle. "I was getting a pretty good read on Jacox all night and knew where he would throw the ball."

Jacox, the Offensive Player of the Game finished 22-for-37 for 349 yards, 3 TD passes and 3 interceptions. Murphy, who torched the Cougars with a school-record 269 yards in the September game, was held to 5 yards on 11 carries.

"I take my hat off to them (Azusa Pacific)," said Central Washington head coach John Zamberlin. "They out-competed us in the first half, and made some big plays. I thought we came out better in the second half, but they played intense football the whole game, and it was too little, too late."

The No. 8-ranked Cougars (10-2), who are the highest ranked team heading into next week's semis, host No. 13-ranked Huron University (10-2) of Huron, S.D., next Saturday (Dec. 5) at 6 p.m. in Cougar Stadium in the semifinals of the NAIA Football Championship Series.

Scoring by Quarters
Central Washington        7   7    7    7 -- 28
Azusa Pacific             7  21    7    0 -- 35
        INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
SCORING
CWU - Mark Leazer (CW) 59 pass from Casey Jacox, 7:09 1st qtr (Steve Hickey Kick)
APU - Adam Shelly (AP) 1 run, 4:08 1st qtr (Jim Daichendt Kick)
APU - Scott Thomas (AP) 37 pass from Geoff Buffum, 13:03 2nd qtr (Daichendt Kick)
APU - Jack Williams (AP) 3 run, 4:43 2nd qtr (Daichendt kick)
CWU - Ryan Seal 37 pass from Jacox, 2:11 2nd qtr (Hickey Kick)
APU - Adam Shelly (AP) 1 run, 7:10 3rd qtr (Daichendt kick)
CWU - Seal 3 pass from Jacox, 5:25 3rd qtr (Hickey Kick)
CWU - Dan Murphy 1 run, 9:49 4th qtr(Hickey Kick)

	
PASSING
Geoff Buffum (AP) 15-26, 159 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT
Casey Jacox (CWU) 22-37, 349 yds, 3 TD, 3 INT

RUSHING
Jack Williams (AP), 36 att., 172 yds
Adam Shelly (AP), 10 att., 31 yds
DeAngelo Gossett (AP), 3 att., 20 yds
Nat Conley (CWU), 3 att., 18 yds
Dan Murphy (CWU), 11 att., 5 yds

RECEIVING
Ty Nunez (CWU) 10 rec., 62 yds
Ryan Seal (CWU) 5 rec., 120 yds
Justin Duarte (AP) 5 rec., 40 yds
Houn Hib (AP) 3 rec., 18 yds
           TEAM STATISTICS
               APU          CWU
FIRST DOWNS     22          10
TOTAL YARDS   360 yds     343 yds
RUSHING       201 yds      -6 yds
PASSING       159 yds     349 yds
FUMBLES/LOST    0-0         3-1
PENALTIES/YDS   7-67        4-50
3rd DOWNS       5-15        4-12
4th DOWNS       1-1         0-1
TIME OF POSS.  40:04       19:56