ARCATA, Calif. -- After 14 combined touchdowns and an offensive showcase for the record books, Azusa Pacific's 52-49 defeat to No. 25-ranked Humboldt State was decided by a field goal.

The two teams combined to roll up over 1,300 yards of total offense, but all the offensive firepower was reduced to a difference of inches, as the Cougars rolled the dice and went for the win by going for the touchdown from 21 yards away. Andrew Elffers' pass to the end zone was just beyond the fingertips of Darrell Adams Jr. as time expired, providing a heartbreaking conclusion to a record-setting performance by Elffers and the Cougar offense.

Elffers broke Azusa Pacific records for passing yards (475 yards) and total offense (559 yards), which led the Cougars to the single-game team records for passing yards (475), total offense (684 yards), and first downs (37).

However, Humboldt State running back Ja'Quan Gardner was every bit as explosive, scoring a Great Northwest Athletic Conference-record six touchdowns with another GNAC-record 446 all-purpose yards. Gardner rushed 31 times for 293 yards and five touchdowns, and he added a 92-yard kickoff return in the closing seconds of the first half to keep the Lumberjacks within two scores at 35-21.

How It Happened: Azusa Pacific jumped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead and extended the lead to 21 points twice in the second quarter before Gardner's 92-yard kickoff return cut the Cougars' halftime lead to 35-21. Gardner scored on six consecutive possessions for the Lumberjacks, tying the game at 42-42 on a 22-yard scoring run less than a minute into the fourth quarter before scoring from 8 yards out to give HSU its first lead, 49-42, with 8:07 to play.

Elffers responded by engineering a 7-play, 88-yard scoring drive, which finished with Lucas Widmer falling on a fumble in the end zone to tie the game at 49-49 with 4:30 remaining. The defense stopped Humboldt State just inside the Cougars' 30-yard line, and Jose Morales drilled a 47-yard field goal to give the Lumberjacks a 52-49 edge with 1:19 to play.

After Azusa Pacific was forced to burn its final timeout with 49 seconds left, Elffers completed four consecutive passes to get the Cougars to the HSU 24-yard line, and he got out of bounds with an 8-yard run for a first down at the 16-yard line with 7 seconds to play. The field goal unit went onto the field but took a delay of game penalty, backing the Cougars up to the 21-yard line when Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz decided to take a shot at the end zone for the victory. Elffers' pass down the left sideline was just beyond its intended target of Adams as time expired.

Turning Point: Gardner's electrifying 92-yard kickoff return energized the Humboldt State homecoming crowd of 5,628 and pulled the Lumberjacks within striking distance after Azusa Pacific seemingly had complete control of the game with a 35-14 edge. The turn in momentum continued into the third quarter as Gardner put the HSU offense on his back for touchdowns on each of the Lumberjacks' first four second-half possessions.

The Records: The following individual and team records were set:
Passing yards (individual, game): Andrew Elffers, 475 yards | Azusa Pacific record
previous record: Neo Aoga, 426 yards vs. Hastings (Nov. 27, 1999)
Passing yards (team, game): 475 yards | Azusa Pacific record
    previous record: 428 yards vs. Hastings (Nov. 27, 1999)
Total offense (individual, game): Andrew Elffers, 559 yards | Azusa Pacific record
    previous record: Nick Owens, 462 yards vs. Simon Fraser (Oct. 6, 2012)
Total offense (team, game): 684 yards | Azusa Pacific record
    previous record: 637 yards vs. Hastings (Nov. 27, 1999)
First downs (team, game): 37 | Azusa Pacific record
    previous record: 33 vs. San Francisco State (Nov. 9, 1985) & vs. Hastings (Nov. 27, 1999)

More Records: Starting with a school and conference single-game scoring record in an 83-7 road win over Simon Fraser four weeks ago, Azusa Pacific has been scoring at an unprecedented pace. With 48 points against Western Oregon, 35 points last week against Colorado School of Mines, and this week's 49-point output, the Cougars have scored 215 points (53.8 per game) over the last four games. In addition to having the highest single-game, two-game, and three-game scoring totals in program history, the Cougars continued its record pace, producing the best four-game stretch in program history by exceeding the previous best four-game total of 211 points, set in 2011.

Azusa Pacific Standouts: Elffers added 84 yards rushing on 12 carries to his school-record 475-yard passing effort, which came on 30-of-43 passing. Adams Jr. was his top target, catching 12 passes for 176 yards (both career-highs), while Weston Carr hauled in 9 catches for 171 yards as both he and Adams caught touchdown passes. Scoby rushed 22 times for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns, his fourth consecutive multiple-TD game.

Adrian Shocks led the defense with a game-high 10 tackles, and he recovered an early fumble that led to a Cougar score. David Jimenez and Taliuaki Suliafu each notched a sack.

Humboldt State Standouts: Gardner finished with 31 carries for 293 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns, and he added a 3-yard reception and 150 kickoff return yards to finish with 446 all-purpose yards. Robert Webber completed 19-of-25 passes for 325 yards and another score. Patrick Marzett and Davaeon Johnson came up with interceptions in the red zone to lead the Lumberjack defense.

What's Next: Azusa Pacific returns home for the 2017 Homecoming game against Simon Fraser on Saturday, Oct. 21, before back-to-back road games at Central Washington (Oct. 28; national ESPN3 broadcast) and Western Oregon (Nov. 4). The Cougars close out the regular season at home against Colorado Mesa on Nov. 11.

Quotable:"I thought we had a chance for two plays and I wanted to go for the touchdown. The bottom line is we came here to win the game, and I love the fact that the ball was in our hands and we had a chance to throw it for the win. We have to continue to get better at little details, but we had a heck of a ballgame and ended up three points on the wrong side of the coin. I'm very proud of my football team, because they all battled. I'm proud of everything the offense did, and I thought the defense played well early. Humboldt State made some adjustments to us, and we adjusted back, but they're a great offense and Ja'Quan had a heck of a night. We're going to get better and attack the season, because there's a lot of great football ahead of us."

"At the end of the day, we made the stops we needed to make to have our opportunity to win it. The turnovers in the red zone were big, and we didn't get enough turnovers on defense. In a tough game like this, with two proud programs battling each other, it always seems to come down to the end. Losing isn't acceptable for our standards here, but the reality is our guys played extremely hard against a great football team in a game that could have gone either way. It was great to see Darrell step forward the way he did tonight. That's the thing I love about where our program is right now, with young players who are really starting to mature and become the players we need them to be."
--Head Coach Victor Santa Cruz

"Every game, all you can do is focus on doing your job and executing. Weston needed the load taken off of him, so I took a step forward. It's on me to do my part to do whatever I could do to help the team win. It doesn't matter what position you play, we each have to step up and make plays. You never know when it's going to be your moment to make the big play, and you have to treat every rep like it's your last one to really make it count."
--Sophomore WR Darrell Adams Jr.

"I had to just keep reminding myself to soak in this moment, because we have to win the moment and not let it get the best of us. It just came down to making tackles and focusing on our assignments. We did that in the last drive and held them to the field goal."
--Junior CB Lavell Thomas