Football 10/20/2001 7:36:00 PM Gary Pine

A Pair of Late Scores Lift Cougars

AZUSA, Calif. -- No one understands better than Azusa Pacific the makings of a cardiac caper. The Cougars are the master chefs of such deals, having played in 24 games decided by a TD or less since 1998. And nowhere required in the cardiac caper recipe is the ingredient "beauty." For today's 21-16 Cougar victory at La Verne, while it did test the faint of heart, was anything but a work of art.

"Boy that was ugly," Cougar Peter Shinnick assessed shortly after the game. "It's really unbelievable. We had a lot to be upset about and a lot to be disappointed about."

Two Dan Gray touchdown blasts in the final 5 minutes rallied Azusa Pacific from a 9-point hole, dug by the Cougars themselves, to lift Azusa Pacific to its sixth straight victory over the Leopards. Azusa Pacific committed 5 turnovers on the day, 3 in the first half and 2 more in the second half on third-quarter interceptions that La Verne turned into a 41-yard field goal field and a touchdown to break a 7-7 halftime tie and assume what seemed to be a sufficiently safe 16-7 cushion that stood through the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter.

La Verne's defense stifled the Cougar ground game into submission, holding Azusa Pacific to just 58 yards on 23 carries. As a result, the Cougar offense fell onto the right arm of junior quarterback Luke Winslow, who got off to a great start, completing his first 7 passes of the game for 100 yards, before struggling to just an 11-for-25 effort and 3 interceptions over the final 3 quarters.

"I just felt like Luke needed to work through it," said Shinnick, "but I was very close to switching quarterbacks. I told him he had to play smarter and every ball had to be huge. What kept him in the ballgame is that he has been there before and led us on fourth-quarter drives."

Thus, with the Leo defense shinning and Winslow struggling, La Verne's lead appeared to be safe in hand when Azusa Pacific took possession of the ball at its own 30-yard line with 8:03 left in the game. But the Cougars went to error-free work, methodically moving the ball down field. A key Winslow 12-yard toss over the middle to Jeremy Tortora on a third-and-10 play kept the drive alive at one point. Then at third and goal at the Leo 5-yard line, La Verne was whistled for a debatable interference penalty on a Winslow lob to Houn Hib in the back of the end zone, giving the Cougars a much-needed first down and the ball at the Leo 2-yard line.

"That play could have gone either way," said Shinnick, "and if it doesn't go our way, we're looking at kicking a field goal at that point. We were very fortunate."

On the next play, Gray pushed his way in for a TD to pull the Cougars to within 2 at 16-14 with 4:18 to play.

La Verne attempted to kill the clock on what it hoped to be the last drive of the game, eating nearly 2 minutes on the first 4 plays. However, on the fifth play, Cougar linebacker DeWayne Jones shot a gap and hit ULV tailback Travis Lerma in the backfield, forcing a fumble and La Verne's lone turnover of the game. Fellow linebacker Ishmill Let scooped the loose ball and returned it 38 yards to the La Verne 2-yard line with 2:20 left to play.

"I knew the offense needed the ball back, so I was thinking turnover instead of making the tackle," said Jones. "It was getting the head across and get the arms punching."

Two plays later Gray dove over from a yard out for his fourth career TD and his first game-winning score.

"Traditionally, we tend to come back in the second half," said Gray, "but in the past couple games we failed to come all the way back. We were getting a little scared, and when my number was called I just thought, 'don't blow it, don't blow it.' I kept 2 hands on the ball."

Azusa Pacific then held La Verne on a fourth-and-one play at the Cougar 41-yard line with 68 seconds left to seal the victory.

"I felt extremely blessed that they got only 9 points off our turnovers," added Shinnick. "That's a tribute to our defense because they were on the field quite a bit, and yet they did not wear down and give up points."

Winslow finished the day 18-for-32 passing for 246 yards and became only the second Cougar ever to eclipse the 4,000-passing yards plateau.

"It's not the 4,000 yards," said Winslow when asked what he would remember about this game. "The 2 picks in the second half went to my head, and I don't know if I worked through it very well. Shinnick says to me a lot, 'one play at a time,' and when I do something like throw the pick right to someone, I try to flush it. Put it in a toilet and it's gone/"

Hib was Winslow's favorite target, catching 6 balls for 65 yards, including a clutch 33-yarder that gave Azusa Pacific first-and-goal at the La Verne 5-yard line, setting up Gray's first TD. Sophomore Ryan Allen had 4 receptions for 49 yards, and junior Frankie Tapia had 4 catches for 47 yards.

Senior Lathian Tyler, the Cougars' top rusher coming into the game (92 yards avg.), managed just 16 yards on 8 carries and was benched after his second momentum-killing fumble of the game on just the Cougars' fourth possession.

The Cougars got off to a great start, driving 59 yards on the first 7 plays of the game before Tyler coughed up the ball at the Leo 18-yard line. Azusa Pacific came right back on its next possession to go 86 yards on 8 plays, highlighted by Winslow's 57-yard toss down the right sideline to Tortora, eventually setting up a Tyler 5-yard TD scamper for the game's first score at the 3:54 mark of the first quarter. However, Tyler fumbled again at the Cougar 42-yard line early the second quarter and subsequently was replaced by Gray, who managed 17 yards on 7 carries but came up with the 2 game-winning TDs.

Behind Lerma and quarterback Gabe Lujan, La Verne chewed up 262 rushing yards against the NAIA's No. 8-rated rushing defense, the most allowed by the Cougars this season. Both Lerma (118) and Lujan (109) went over the 100-yard rushing mark. Lujan got 56 of his on one play, an option sprint down the right sideline that knotted the score at 7-7 with 9:01 remaining in the first half.

With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 4-3 on the season and sets up a showdown next week in Azusa with the NAIA's No. 4-ranked Southern Oregon, which suffered its first defeat of the season today, falling on the road at Pacific Lutheran, 48-38. La Verne falls to 1-5.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Jeremy Tortora: WR; 6' 1"; Senior

#9 Ryan Allen: RB; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#12 Luke Winslow: QB; 6' 4"; Junior

#15 Houn Hib: WR; 6' 0"; Senior

#16 Frankie Tapia: WR; 6' 2"; Junior

#23 Lathian Tyler: RB; 5' 7"; Senior

#24 Dan Gray: TB; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#40 DeWayne Jones: LB; 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#3 Jeremy Tortora
: 6' 1"; Senior
: WR

#9 Ryan Allen
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: RB

#12 Luke Winslow
: 6' 4"; Junior
: QB

#15 Houn Hib
: 6' 0"; Senior
: WR

#16 Frankie Tapia
: 6' 2"; Junior
: WR

#23 Lathian Tyler
: 5' 7"; Senior
: RB

#24 Dan Gray
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: TB

#40 DeWayne Jones
: 6' 0"; Junior
: LB