AZUSA, CALIF. -- Freshman Luke Winslow's 2-yard TD pass to sophomore FB Adam Shelly with 3:53 left in the game lifted defending NAIA national champion Azusa Pacific to a 38-35 victory over No. 3-ranked and previously undefeated Hastings (Neb.) College in the quarterfinals of the NAIA Football Playoffs Saturday night.

Azusa Pacific trailed 27-17 late in the third quarter but scored 3 successive TDs, the last coming from the arm of seldom-used Winslow to Shelly to give the Cougars a 38-27 lead. However, Hastings, which entered the game averaging over 42 points a contest, needed just 5 plays to go 65 yards in 49 seconds, scoring on a 4-yard Bo Bienkowaski run with with 3:04 left in the game. Azusa Pacific then fell on the ensuing onside kickoff and ran out the final 3 minutes to hang on to the victory.
 
Azusa Pacific collected a school-record 637 yards in total offense (the previous record was 565 vs. La Verne in 1985), and scored on 6 of 10 drives during the game (the Cougars ran out the clock on the 11th drive). Additionally, Azusa Pacific passed for another school-record 428 yards (previous standard was 416 vs. La Verne in 1998). Senior QB Neo Aoga was named offensive player of the game after completing 30-of-42 passes for a school-record 426 yards (former record was 415 by Geoff Buffum vs. La Verne last year) for 2 TDs. Aoga connected with junior WR Caleb Willis on a 32-yard TD pass on the Cougars' first play of the second quarter to put Azusa Pacific up 7-0. He then found Willis again for a 44-yard catch-and-run early in the second half that brought the Cougars to within 20-17 of Hastings just 3:02 into the second half.
 
"I didn't want to pass on that last drive," said Aoga of his record-clinching 16-yard pass to Houn Hib that converted a third-down play and, in effect, iced the victory with 2:07 left in the game and Hastings out of time outs. "I just wanted the game to be over. Yet, we needed to pass and Houn came up big. The offense is really jelling together right now. We knew we had to pick it up going into the playoffs."
 
Aoga, who is usually replaced on third-and-short situations by Winslow, left the field when the Cougars had the ball third-and-goal at the Bronco 2-yard line. Winslow, who has thrown just once out of a third-and-short situation, surprised everyone with a roll out and toss to Shelly.
 
"We beat a Hastings team that brought out the best in us," said first-year Cougar head coach Peter Shinnick, son of former Baltimore Colt linebacker and UCLA All-American Don Shinnick. "The onside kick was a quarter of an inch from going their way. I'm just happy to be one of the final four."
  Behind the running and passing of Josh Miller, Hastings assumed a 13-10 halftime lead which it pushed to 27-17 midway through the third quarter when Travis Soucie busted up the middle for a 45-yard TD run. Soucie had 154 yards on 22 carries but left the game with a knee injury with 10:35 left to play. Miller also eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark, going for 105 yards on 17 carries. He completed 14-of-24 passes for 235 yards and 3 TDs, all to Marc Boerigter (25, 19 and 37 yards)

All-American Jack Williams paced Azusa Pacific with a season-high 198 rushing yards on 28 carries, which included 159 second-half yards. Williams scored a pair of second-half TDs on 1-yard runs, the second coming with 14:04 left in the game to give the Cougars a 31-27 lead at the time.

On the ensuing drive, Hastings marched 69 yards downfield but fourth-and-7, Miller's pass to Boerigter only covered 6 yards, giving Azusa Pacific the ball at its own 11-yard line. The Cougars moved the ball back in the opposite direction, going 89 yards on 8 plays, capped by Winslow's second-ever career TD pass. On the drive, Williams had a 46-yard run in which he broke 3 tackles and took the ball deep out of Cougar territory and then had another 17-yard run which put the ball at the Bronco 4-yard line.
 
"We were getting 5 or 6 yards a pop," said Williams. "The offensive line did a great job in the second half, protecting Neo and opening holes for me. Plus, I think we did a good job of keeping them off-balance."
 
With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 9-2 on the season and hosts No. 1-ranked and undefeated Georgetown (Ky.) College in one NAIA semifinal next Saturday (Dec. 4) at 6 p.m. in Azusa. Georgetown defeated Taylor University (Ind), 55-3, in its quarterfinal game today. The other semifinal matches the University of Mary (N.D.) at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, also on Saturday. Hastings has its season come to an end at 11-1.
 
"Coach asked me, 'weren't you NAIA Player of the Year last year,'" said Williams. "All I said was, give me the rock. And he shot back, 'prove it.'"
 
Indeed, Williams did prove it with 53 rushing yards in the final 9 minutes of game.
 
"Neo did an incredible job of reading their defenses and taking what they gave him," said Shinnick. "We had a couple of big runs just off short passes. And then when they took away the short, he hit the long (pass). He's done a fabulous job of directing our offense all year long. He came to me before the last drive and said, 'Coach, I think we can pound away at them, let's give the ball to Jack.' So we did a little bit of both."
 
Hastings and Azusa Pacific combined for 1,146 yards worth of total offense, including a rather impressive 500 on the ground.
Azusa Pacific has now won 6 straight NAIA playoff games, including 4 last year on the way to the NAIA title.