GLENDORA, Calif. -- A year ago at home against Simon Fraser, Azusa Pacific needed an improbable comeback to rally from a big halftime deficit, but Saturday night the Cougars fended off a late SFU rally to post a 32-24 win.

The last time the teams met, Azusa Pacific running back Terrell Watson shattered the program's single-game rushing record with a huge second-half effort, and he picked up 130 of his 183 rushing yards to help the Cougars take a 23-3 halftime lead. The 23-point first half matched the team's total scoring output in regulation of the first two games combined.

With Watson powering through the defense for big chunks of yardage, first-year starting QB Chad Jeffries threw a pair of eight-yard TD passes to junior WR Tanner Henry and completed nine-of-15 first-half pass attempts to balance out the offense. As a result, the Cougars were six-of-eight on third-down conversions in the opening half, and the offense produced scores in all five trips to the red zone in the game.

Simon Fraser managed just 10 yards of total offense in the first quarter, taking a five-yard penalty and a six-yard sack while going three-and-out on its only opening-quarter possession. Azusa Pacific put together scoring drives around the SFU series. On the game's opening drive, Jeffries connected with sophomore WR Tarik Myles on third-and-nine for a 33-yard hookup to the one-yard line. Three plays later, the Cougars were in the end zone on an eight-yard Jeffries TD pass to Henry that capped the 13-play, 75-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock.

When the Cougars took over at their own 30, Jeffries completed three-of-four passes on a 13-play, 50-yard drive that took the 6:52 of the quarter off the clock before ending with Jamie Cacciatore's 37-yard field goal on the opening play of the second quarter.

With 4:56 left in the half, SFU answered with a 39-yard Tiernan Docherty field goal, cutting the lead to 10-3. Watson added a four-yard TD with 3:23 left and Jeffries orchestrated a six-play, 60-yard drive that ended with another eight-yard scoring strike to Henry with 23 seconds left to send Azusa Pacific into halftime with a 23-3 edge.

Simon Fraser QB Ryan Stanford threw third-quarter TD passes to Cole Tudor and Andrew Pauls to pull within 23-17 with 3:03 left in the third quarter, but Stanford and the offense were pinned against their own end zone with a Cacciatore punt that was downed at the one-yard line. The defense forced three consecutive incompletions, with Matthew Hackett hurrying Stanford on first down before Taliuaki Suliafu broke up a second-down pass. The quick three-and-out left the Clan little choice but to concede the safety for two points and kick off from the 20-yard line instead of a risky punt attempt.

Watson and Jeffries combined for five rushes of eight or more yards on the ensuing drive, setting up a 16-yard completion to Grant Widmer to the six-yard line. Jeffries faked a handoff to Watson on first-and-goal, keeping it instead for a six-yard TD run that pushed the lead back to 32-17.

Simon Fraser took advantage of a botched punt attempt with less than two minutes left, scoring on Stanford's five-yard toss to Jamal Kett to cut the lead to 32-24 with 1:08 remaining. The Clan recovered the onside kick and picked up a first down inside the APU 20-yard line, but Hackett and Errik Manning came up with a sack while the Cougar pass defense forced three incompletions to thwart SFU's last-gasp rally.

Jeffries finished 14-of-23 passing for 163 yards and two TDs without an interception, and he ran 12 times for 96 rushing yards. Henry was one of six Cougar receivers with a reception, making four catches for 32 yards.  Azusa Pacific registered the only takeaway of the game, a Tyler Thornton interception with 10 seconds left in the first half.

QUICK STATS

- Terrell Watson's 29-yard rush on the second play of the Cougars' five-play, 75-yard scoring drive late in the second quarter was his longest single rush of the season
-Azusa Pacific had possession for all but 1:10 of the first quarter, chewing up 160 yards on two scoring drives; the second drive concluded with Jamie Cacciatore's 37-yard FG to open up the second quarter
-Chad Jeffries rushed for 96 yards, the most for a Cougar QB since Nick Owens went for 126 yards in APU's 41-28 win over Simon Fraser on Nov. 10, 2012
-Azusa Pacific now has a five-game home winning streak, which dates back to last year's 44-36 Homecoming win over Simon Fraser, and the Cougars are averaging 32.6 points during the streak

AROUND THE GNAC

All seven GNAC teams were in action Saturday, all in non-conference matchups:

Western Oregon (H) 36, Central Washington 34
Wisconsin-River Falls 43, South Dakota Mines 28
Humboldt State 50, Dixie State 3

COUGARS' UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Saturday, Sept. 27, 6:00 pm at Dixie State
Saturday, Oct. 4, 1:00 pm at Central Washington (GNAC opener)
Thursday, Oct. 9, 6:00 pm vs. Humboldt State