ST. GEORGE, Utah -- Azusa Pacific pounded out five scoring drives of at least 70 yards, and the defense held Dixie State to just three second-half points in a 42-23 road win Saturday night at Hansen Stadium.

"Dixie State was able to adapt their scheme to what they thought they could get from us, and at halftime we were able to make our adjustments to that," Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz said. "I'm proud of our guys for making that adjustment and continuing to work through it, and I'm excited with the way our offense was able to control every possession."

Senior TB Terrell Watson rushed for 187 yards and three TDs on 30 carries, leading a Cougar offense that piled up 308 rushing yards of rushing and 444 yards of total offense. Azusa Pacific's punishing ground game led to three consecutive first-half touchdown drives, marching 75 yards on 10 plays on the game's opening drive.

Watson finished off the first drive with a two-yard TD, his first of three scores, and redshirt freshman QB Chad Jeffries added back-to-back seven-yard TD runs on the next two offensive possessions. However, Dixie State countered each first-half score with a touchdown of its own, but the Cougars blocked an extra point attempt in the final minute of the first half to take a one-point edge into halftime, 21-20.

"Chad gives us a different dynamic, because he can keep it and run it himself or just throw it on the run," Watson said. "The offensive line was great again, and I think that's a testament to the scout team they face in practice all week."

The Red Storm took its only lead of the game with a 42-yard field to open the second half, but the 23-21 edge was erased by a demoralizing 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive which bled 7:29 off the clock before Watson finished it with an 11-yard scoring run to put the Cougars back in front, 28-23, with 4:28 left in the third quarter. Watson carried eight times for 43 yards on the drive, converting four of the Cougars' five first downs on the drive.

A penalty on the kickoff pinned Dixie State at its own two-yard line, and a nine-play drive stalled when senior defensive tackle Luke Siwek and junior defensive end David Kafovalu sacked Red Storm QB Ben Longshore on third-and-seven to force a punt.

Likewise, Dixie State appeared to stop the Cougar offense at the DSU 47, swallowing up Watson for no gain on third-and-seven, but the Red Storm had 12 players on the field for the punt on fourth down. The five penalty yards were enough for Azusa Pacific to send the offense back onto the field for fourth-and-two, and freshman QB Andrew Elffers tucked a four-yard keeper around the left side to move the chains for another first down. Two plays later, junior RB Ryan Adams dashed 27 yards for his first score of the year, giving the Cougars a 35-23 edge.

Watson added a 17-yard scoring run with 3:43 left in the game, his third TD of the game, to extend the final margin to 42-23. Jeffries added 78 rushing yards with two TDs on 13 carries, and he completed nine-of-15 passes for 136 yards. Adams added five rushes for 42 yards and a score.

"Having a young quarterback like Chad as he's developing this way is exactly what our offense needs," Santa Cruz said. "A quarterback who can run the ball is a big part of this system, because defenses can't just key on Terrell. It's taken Chad a couple of weeks to develop into what he's doing now, and he's only at the beginning of his overall development."

After yielding at least 30 yards on each of the first six Dixie State possessions of the game, the Cougars surrendered just seven yards on 13 plays in the fourth quarter to the Red Storm offense. Senior LB Steven Fanua tallied eight of his game-high 13 tackles in the second half, and Azusa Pacific came up with all three sacks of Longshore after halftime. Hayden Gavett spelled Longshore at quarterback but didn't throw a pass, rushing eight times for 54 yards and scoring on a six-yard scamper that pulled Dixie within 21-20 with less than a minute to play in the first half.

"The quarterbacks had different styles and made some plays early on, but we made our adjustments and capitalized on their mistakes with good team defense," Fanua said. "I'm proud of the way our defense stayed together and held each other to the standard we wanted to play."

Longshore, who completed 19-of-28 passes to start the game, was only four-of-14 for 21 passing yards the rest of the way, finishing 23-for-42 for 180 yards and two TDs. Dixie State had four receivers with at least four catches, but Dalton Groskreutz was the only one who surpassed 50 receiving yards with four receptions for 56 yards and both Red Storm scores through the air.

QUICK STATS

-In the 10-game series history, the losing team has never scored more than 23 points, and the winning team has never scored fewer than 23. Dixie State's 23-point effort was the fifth time in the series that one team scored exactly 23.
-Cody Clay's blocked PAT late in the second quarter was his second this year, and both blocks have come on the road. Clay now has three PAT blocks in the past two years, all on the road.
-Chad Jeffries' 62-yard first-quarter toss to Ethan Zeidler, which led to the Cougars' second touchdown of the game, was Azusa Pacific's longest play from scrimmage this season.
-In all four games this season, Azusa Pacific has held its opponent to three points for one half; three of those four performances have been second-half efforts.
-Azusa Pacific is now 17-3 over its past 20 games overall, and the Cougars kick off conference play next week having won 15 of its past 17 against GNAC opponents.

AROUND THE GNAC

All seven GNAC teams were in action Saturday, and Central Washington beat Simon Fraser in the first counting conference game of the year:

at Seattle, Wash.: Central Washington 63, Simon Fraser 7
Humboldt State 34, Western Oregon 16
South Dakota Mines 62, William Jewell 44

COUGARS' UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Saturday, Oct. 4, 1:00 pm at Central Washington (GNAC opener)
Thursday, Oct. 9, 6:00 pm vs. Humboldt State
Saturday, Oct. 18, 6:00 pm vs. Dixie State (Homecoming)