GLENDORA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz frequently tells his players that every week is a season, but the final second of the No. 22-ranked Cougars' 17-16 defeat to No. 23 Central Washington felt like a lifetime.

A 42-yard field goal with one second left ultimately lifted CWU to the one-point win, but Azusa Pacific believed it won the game with a six-lateral kickoff return which went forward, backward, and forward again from sideline to sideline before Aaron Berry dashed the final 45 yards untouched for what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown.

Instead, Azusa Pacific's miraculous moment was called back for an illegal forward pass at the Cougars' 34-yard line, nullifying the rest of the return after the forward lateral.

In all, the play burned only one second, the final tick of the game, going forward 10 yards before retreating 21 yards along the Cougars' sideline. By the time Taliuaki Suliafu picked up the loose football at APU's 36-yard line, he found daylight amidst the scramble and flipped the final lateral at the Central Washington 45-yard line to Berry, who followed an Adrian Shocks block within the final 10 yards for what appeared to be the game-winning score.

However, the wild scramble and the final lateral which led to Suliafu's midfield breakout was ruled to have been thrown forward, resulting in the illegal forward pass penalty which ended the game.

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How It Happened: After Andrew Elffers scored on an 11-yard touchdown to give Azusa Pacific a 16-14 lead with 4:45 to play, Central Washington answered with a 42-yard Gavin Todd field goal to take a 17-16 lead with just one second left in the game. With the penalty taking away the Cougars' kickoff return score as time expired, Todd's field goal was the game-winner, keeping Central Washington unbeaten in 2017 while the Cougars fell to 1-2 overall with two straight home defeats.

Turning Point: After giving up a touchdown and field goal on Azusa Pacific's first two possessions, Central Washington snuffed the Cougars' third drive with an interception in the CWU end zone. The Wildcats didn't give up another score until Elffers' scoring run in the fourth quarter, allowing transfer QB Reilly Hennessey to engineer a pair of extended scoring drives which gave Central Washington a 14-10 lead late in the third quarter.

How It Ended: Azusa Pacific needed a miracle after Todd's 42-yard field goal gave Central Washington a 17-16 lead with just one second remaining. Willie Fair fielded the squib kickoff at the Cougars' 42-yard line, the first of seven Cougars to touch the ball on the final play. Statistically, Fair was credited with eight yards on the return to midfield, where subsequent return yardage was credited to Chris Hollis (2 yards), Drew Kaufusi (minus-16 yards), Ben Casebier (minus-5 yards), Gavin McDaniel (3 yards), Suliafu (19 yards), and Berry (45 yards). Shocks cleared the final 10 yards of the path to the end zone for Berry, blocking Nate Rauda inside the 10-yard line to pave the way for the apparent score.

Azusa Pacific Standouts: McDaniel was Azusa Pacific's first 100-yard rusher since the opening week of the 2016 season, carrying 17 times for 125 yards. The Cougars produced three plays of 70-plus yards: McDaniel had a 74-yard rush in the third quarter, Suliafu had an 84-yard first-quarter interception return which led to a field goal, and Jacob Hall boomed a 73-yard punt which pinned Central Washington inside its own 20-yard line late in the second quarter.

Berry spearheaded the defense with a game-high 14 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss, while Suliafu registered 5 stops along with his interception and subsequent 84-yard return. Lavell Thomas forced and recovered a fumble.

Central Washington Standouts: Reilly Hennessey was accurate through the air, completing 23-of-31 passes for 200 yards, and the Central Washington rushing attack piled up 263 yards rushing behind a 110-yard rushing performance from Christian Cummings. Nate Rauda and Christian Gasca were Hennessey's favorite targets, combining for 13 receptions and 151 receiving yards. Kevin Haynes led the Central Washington defense with 10 tackles, including one sack, while Elisha Pa'aga collected two more sacks.

What's Next: Azusa Pacific visits Simon Fraser in a GNAC road contest on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 1:00 p.m., at Terry Fox Field on SFU's campus in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Quotable: "We played hard to the end, and we have a team that's motivated and fired up to look forward to getting after it in the next week. My dudes are warriors. There are some things we have to correct, but we were flat-out warriors, and we're going to continue to build that type of player. I expect our guys to believe until the very end that they're going to win, and we're going to clean up all the little details to make sure that happens. Whether you win or lose, you can always take away something to improve on. Right now, we have an emotional challenge to get through in the next 24 hours, but the reality is this is going to fuel us and move us forward."
--Head Coach Victor Santa Cruz

"As an offensive group, we need to find a way to keep chipping away on all our drives throughout the game and play four good quarters of football. We had opportunities in the red zone that we needed to finish in the end zone, and I take responsibility for throwing two interceptions down there. We just have to go back to work and focus on the little details of the game that can make us the phenomenal offense that we have the potential to become."
--Senior QB Andrew Elffers

"Our mentality this week was to put knuckles on leather, and we were able to force two fumbles tonight. Defensively, I'm proud of how we played, but we still have more work to do this week. In football, anything can happen so you have to play until the clock hits zero. I love games like this which force you to play to the last second."
--Senior SS Taliuaki Suliafu