BURNABY, British Columbia -- Consecutive home defeats made it a long wait for the first conference win of the 2017 season, but Azusa Pacific made it a memorable one, setting school and Great Northwest Athletic Conference scoring records in an 83-7 road win over Simon Fraser.
The Cougars broke the previous school record of 68 points, set in 2004 against Valley City State, and the previous GNAC scoring mark of 77 points, set in 2001 by Western Washington, which no longer sponsors football. More impressive than the record is how quickly it took place, as Azusa Pacific produced all of its scoring in the first three quarters.
The Cougars scored on each of their first 10 offensive possessions, plus two defensive scores and two safeties. The offense produced seven touchdown drives lasting less than two minutes, four of them taking no longer than 42 seconds, and seven of the scoring drives took four plays or less.
How It Happened: The defense produced a turnover on the second play from scrimmage, with Lavell Thomas forcing the ball loose at the Simon Fraser 32-yard line. The fumble was recovered by Willie Fair, setting up a nine-play, 32-yard touchdown drive capped by an Andrew Elffers two-yard touchdown run to open up the scoring.
The offense kept producing, piling up 610 yards of total offense (573 yards in three quarters), and the defense tallied four more turnovers which all resulted in touchdowns. Kurt Scoby led a 361-yard rushing attack with 173 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries, and Elffers added 96 rushing yards on six carries while completing five-of-six passes for 116 yards and touchdown passes to Lucas Widmer and Weston Carr.
Turning Point: After seizing a quick 7-0 lead, Azusa Pacific's kickoff coverage team stretched the ensuing return from left to right for a net return of minus-three yards, pinning the SFU offense at its own eight-yard line to start the drive. Back-to-back completions of 14 and 32 yards were wiped out to penalties, with a holding penalty in the end zone resulting in a safety which gave the Cougars an 8-0 edge. A 60-yard Chris Hollis return was followed by Elffers' 18-yard scoring strike to Widmer, giving Azusa Pacific 15 points in a span of just 64 seconds.
The Records: Azusa Pacific set or tied the following records:
Scoring (game): 83 points | Azusa Pacific & GNAC records
Touchdowns (game): 11 touchdowns | Azusa Pacific & GNAC records
PATs made (game, team): 10 PATs | Azusa Pacific & GNAC records
PATs attempted (game, team): 11 PAT attempts | Azusa Pacific & GNAC records
PATs made (game, individual): 10 PATs (Jacob Hall) | Azusa Pacific & GNAC records
PATs attempted (game, individual): 10 (Jacob Hall) | Azusa Pacific & GNAC records
Scoring (half): 53 points | Azusa Pacific record
How It Ended: Elffers guided Azusa Pacific to a 53-0 halftime lead, and he rested the entire second half as Tyrone Williams engineered three touchdown drives in the third quarter before Jesse Hanckel finished off the game at quarterback. Williams was a perfect 4-for-4 passing for 133 yards, connecting with Brensten Lindsey on a 78-yard scoring strike. The offense salted away the final 9:25 of the game with a 15-play drive.
Azusa Pacific Standouts: Adrian Shocks led all tacklers with 6 stops, registering 4.0 tackles for loss and a forced fumble, and Willie Fair collected two sacks and a fumble recovery to help lead the Cougars' opportunistic defense. Taliuaki Suliafu returned an interception 46 yards for a touchdown with 1:26 left in the second quarter to give Azusa Pacific a 53-0 halftime lead, and true freshman Josh Olave collected his first career interception.
Scoby's 11-carry, 173-yard effort led the rushing attack, which featured five ballcarriers with at least five rushing attempts. Elffers and Williams combined to complete 9-of-10 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns, and Lindsey was the leading receiver with two catches for 89 yards.
Simon Fraser Standouts: Miles Richardson completed 21-of-38 passes for 186 yards and the only Simon Fraser touchdown of the day. He connected seven times each with Gavin Cobb (67 yards) and Jalen Jana (44 yards), although his touchdown pass landed in the hands of 6-foot-7 wide receiver Rysen John for a 10-yard strike midway through the third quarter. The Clan's leading rusher turned out to be its punter, Spencer McCabe, who scampered 34 yards after breaking a pair of tackles behind the line of scrimmage on a fake punt early in the second quarter. Richardson added 32 yards rushing on 13 carries.
What's Next: Azusa Pacific wraps up the first half of the GNAC schedule with the first of back-to-back home games, hosting Western Oregon on Saturday, Sept. 30, before hosting Colorado School of Mines in a non-conference matchup on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Quotable:"If you look at the totality of the three games prior to this, I would say we have a good team that was still a learning team. I challenged the team all week to meet the high standards we have for this program, and I'm very proud of the leadership of this team for seeing the standard and then practicing and competing to that standard. A game like this helps motivate the group, but it helps us because we got more tape and more experience with what this team can become. This speaks a lot to the discipline, focus, and physicality that our guys played with, and it speaks a lot to the possibilities that are still out there for what this team can become. Now our focus is on going 1-0 next week against Western Oregon. We're going to continue pushing our standard forward and get back to work."
--Head Coach Victor Santa Cruz
"I could feel that our mindset going into this game was a little different, and I could feel that difference in this game. Our guys had a little edge to them, and they wanted to keep the standard high, no matter who was in the game. Coach Santa Cruz sets the standard for us, and we want to exceed those expectations and show we have even more in the tank. It's our job as players to take ownership of this and keep this culture moving forward by continuing to raise the standard. This was a big win for us, and I think it gives us a lot of momentum going into the next week. The whole team needed to see the potential we have and to see the areas we can grow. We're just scratching the surface of our potential, so we have to execute and make the most of our practices."
--Senior QB Andrew Elffers
"It was extremely important to us to come out and play together to correct the mistakes we've made and grow as a team. The last two weeks have been a wakeup call for us, and today was an indication of how we can move forward and become even greater as a defense. It was fun to play team defense today; the defensive line took care of everything for us in the box and in the secondary, and we had more consistency in being relentless to the football."
--Junior LB Adrian Shocks
