ORANGE, Calif. -- Neo Aoga threw 5 touchdown passes, including 4 in the first half, and the Cougar defense came up with 3 big takeaways late in the game to lead the NAIA's No. 8-ranked Azusa Pacific to a 42-21 nonconference victory over Chapman University, Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the NAIA national champion Cougars clinch their second straight NAIA playoff berth and enter the 16-team postseason field with a chance to defend their national title beginning with next Saturday's (Nov. 20) first round game. The NAIA will release the playoff participants, first-round pairings and sites on Sunday (Nov. 14) afternoon from its national office in Tulsa, Okla.

Azusa Pacific entered the Chapman game knowing it had to win to assure itself a playoff spot, and Aoga put the pedal to the metal from the get-go. He completed 15 of his first 21 passes for 219 yards and 4 touchdowns, propelling the Cougars to a quick 28-7 lead with 9:32 left in the second quarter.

"That first half was about as well as I have ever played," said Aoga, who finished the game 25-for-38 passing for 336 yards (his fourth straight game over 320 passing yards). "I don't know if I'm on top of my game, but I'm comfortable right now."

The Cougars scored on their first 4 possessions with Aoga finding Deon Jordan for a 15-yard strike on the opening drive, then hooking up with Caleb Willis for 13 yards, followed by a 5-yard aerial strike to tight end Willie Perryman, and capped by a 40-yard bomb back to Jordan.

"Neo was on fire," said first-year Azusa Pacific head coach Peter Shinnick. "He did a good job of checking plays at the line and putting us in the right place at the right time. He was fun to watch."

However, Chapman, which averaged 50 points in its past 3 games, didn't fade into the western sunset. The Panther defense settled down while the offense rallied Chapman to within 28-21 after quarterback Stanley Villanueva hit a wide-open Marvin Qualls on a fourth-and-1 for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 6:09 left in the third quarter.

The Cougar offense, which sputtered throughout the entire third quarter, answered early in the fourth when Aoga connected with All-American Jack Williams on a swing pass that Williams took 31 yards to paydirt, breaking 4 tackles along the way.
Chapman came right back and put itself at the Cougar 11-yard line on 2 plays, the big one being a 34-yard pass from Villanueva to Eric Del Conte. However, the Cougar defense took over from that point forward, inducing 3 critical turnovers that kept Chapman at bay. The first came when Michael Steenbergin intercepted a Villanueva pass in the end zone to end that Panther threat with 11:47 left in the game.

Azusa Pacific couldn't move the ball, though, and had to punt. Yet while spinning out of a tackle, Chapman returner Mark O'Neil was rocked by Azusa Pacific's Mike Randall, losing the ball which Cougar Mike Cory pounced on at the Chapman 35 yard line.

Though the Cougars didn't score, they nonetheless ran time off the clock. Chapman eventually took over at its own 15-yard line, still down by a 35-21 count but with 8:19 left in the game. The Panthers methodically moved the ball up field on 6 plays to the Cougar 37-yard line, mounting another scoring threat in the process. It was here that the Cougars tallied their third fourth-quarter takeaway. Junior linebacker Joel Sanchez came up with his first collegiate interception, springing from the turf to nab a Villanueva pass that he returned 65 yards for a game-clinching touchdown with 5:16 left to play.

"They ran that play in the previous series where they drag the wide receiver right in front of our linebackers," said Sanchez. "I was on the ground and heard our linebacker coach screaming from the sidelines that the receiver was coming. I just jumped up and there was the ball. All I had to beat was the quarterback but at about the 15 yard line I thought some offensive lineman was about to get me. I guess he got a little more tired than me running down the field."

Azusa Pacific accumulated 538 yards in total offense, eclipsing the 500-yard mark for the third time this season. Williams collected his second straight 100-yard rushing game, tallying 100 yards on 21 carries. Aoga used a season-high 8 different receivers to register his 336 passing yards, but Jordan was his favorite target, finding the speedy wide-out 6 times for 90 yards.

With the win, the Cougars improve to 7-2 on the season, while Chapman ends its campaign at 5-4. Since September of 1998, Azusa Pacific is 19-4, its best 2-year run ever, and becomes the first California school ever to make back-to-back appearances in the NAIA playoffs.

"We're privileged and honored to be one of the 16 teams in the playoffs," said Shinnick. "It got a little nerve-wracking when Chapman got to within 28-21. But we're in the playoffs and that's all that matters now."