LA VERNE, Calif. – Mike Spellman' 19-yard field goal as time expired lifted the NAIA's No. 9-ranked Azusa Pacific to a thrilling come-from-behind 47-45 victory over the University of La Verne Saturday afternoon and in the process kept alive Azusa Pacific's NAIA playoff hopes while at the same time putting to rest any chance La Verne had of qualifying for the NCAA Division III postseason party.

The game-winning field goal capped an amazing performance by Azusa Pacific's Jack Williams, Neo Aoga and rest of the Cougar offense, which for the third straight week piled up over 440 yards in total offense and eclipsed the 40-point plateau for the second time in 3 games.

Azusa Pacific needed nearly every yard and point to overcome an explosive Leopard offense, which appeared to have paced La Verne to the victory when Ricky Allen bulled over from 2 yards out to give the Leos a 45-44 lead with 3:38 left in the game.
The Cougars were pinned to their own 17-yard line on the ensuing kickoff and faced 83-yards of property as they began their game-winning drive. They tallied 81 yards on 12 plays, aided by a 15-yard La Verne facemask penalty and a 28-yard pass play from Aoga to Deon Jordan that put the ball at the Leo 6-yard line with just over a minute to play. From there a trio of Williams' rushes neatly put the ball in the middle of the field at the 2-yard line. The Cougars let the clock run down to 2 seconds before calling time out to set up Spellman's game-winning kick.

"To be honest, all I was thinking about was a similar 19-yard field goal I missed last year at (San Diego) State," said Spellman, who joined the Cougars this year as a walk-on transfer from San Diego State. "I didn't want to repeat that. As soon as I saw it was a good snap and a good hold, I knew everything was going to be OK."

Prior to La Verne's final TD and Spellman's heroics, the game had belonged to Williams, the 1998 NAIA Player of the Year, who proved to all 999 in attendance why he was and still may be the best 2-way player in the NAIA. Williams rushed for a season-high 164 yards on 26 carries and scored a school-record 6 TDs, 4 on the ground and 2 through the air. On defense, he had 3 tackles and forced 1 of La Verne's 5 fumbles in the game.

"We made a commitment this week to play Jack fulltime on offense," said Azusa Pacific head coach Peter Shinnick, "and to say it paid dividends is an understatement. He scored 6 touchdowns and 3 of those only he could have scored."

After La Verne took a 7-0 lead on a 66-yard catch-and-run pass play, Azusa Pacific came right back with its own big play when Williams cut against the grain and sprinted 92 yards for an equalizing TD. It was second longest run in Cougar football history, trailing only the record 94-yarder set by legendary Christian Okoye vs. Redlands in 1986. After La Verne took a 14-10 lead, Aoga hooked up with Williams for a 48-yard TD pass that gave the Cougars their last lead for the next 2 quarters. Just before halftime, Williams plowed over from 2 yards out to trim La Verne's intermission cushion to 28-23.

La Verne took what seemed to be an insurmountable 38-23 lead with 5:06 left in the third quarter when J.J. Johnson picked off an Aoga pass and returned it 30 yards to pay dirt (it was Johnson's second TD on the day after going 52 yards on a fake punt attempt to put La Verne up 14-10 early in the second quarter).

It was at that point, though, that Williams took over the comeback and the game, scoring 3 successive TDs in a matter of 10 minutes to give the Cougars a 44-38 lead with 8:08 left in the game.

The first in the run of 3 was an impressive 19-yard rush that left a trail of no less than 5 Leopards in Williams' wake as he continually broke tackle after tackle, even falling to one hand to keep his balance as he dove into the end zone.

On the next TD, Aoga was nearly sacked when he spotted Williams out of the corner of his eye and flipped a pass over to a wide open Williams, who jogged in for a 16-yard score, pulling the Cougars to within 38-36 with 1:39 left in the third quarter.
Williams then set up his own go-ahead TD when on defense he stripped Leopard WR Rashard Magee of the ball at the La Verne 42-yard line where Cougar linebacker Josh Spann found the loose pigskin. Seven plays later, Williams squirted through from 2 yards out for his sixth TD, breaking Marcus Slaten's 1995 Azusa Pacific record of 5 TDs in a game (vs. Whittier) and thus giving Azusa Pacific a 44-38 lead.

However, La Verne came right back and went 58 yards on 10 plays highlighted by one critical fourth-down conversion at the Cougar 25-yard line and Allen's subsequent TD.

And all of this to set up the game-winning drive and Spellman's FG.

"There was no thought in my mind that we would lose," said Williams. "We've been here so many times before. There was no panic in the huddle. This is Cougar football. We love the close games."

Dating back to last year's NAIA championship season, Azusa Pacific is now 13-1 in games decided by a TD or less, including a 5-1 clip in just 8 games this season.

"I can't take this anymore," said Aoga, who finished the game 28-for-43 passing for 362 yards (his third straight 300-yard game) and 2 TDs. "These games are hard on the heart. La Verne didn't want to get beat deep on the last drive, so all we had available were the short passes. And the one I threw to Deon that put the ball inside the 10-yard line was the same one they picked off earlier in the game. I just made sure this time not to make the same mistake."

Jordan finished with a game-high 9 receptions for 104 yards, while for the second straight week, sophomore WR Houn Hib had a career-high 7 catches for 102 yards

Though the Azusa Pacific defense surrendered 501 yards in total offense, the Cougars, nonetheless, induced a whopping 6 Leopard turnovers, 3 of which translated into 17 Azusa Pacific points.

"The defense did a great job of hawking the ball and getting after it," said Shinnick.

With Olivet Nazarene handing No. 4-ranked McKendree its first loss of season, Azusa Pacific should go up in next week's NAIA Coaches' Poll (released on Tuesday, Nov. 9). A Cougar win at Chapman next Saturday clinches Azusa Pacific's second-ever NAIA playoff berth. However, a loss puts the Cougars' playoff chances in serious jeopardy. The 16-team NAIA playoff field and first-round pairings are announced on Sunday, Nov. 14.