ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Azusa Pacific found itself trailing 17-0 early, and the Cougars were unable to get out of early trouble, eventually falling by a 44-6 final to Central Washington on Saturday night.  

From the outset of the game, the Wildcats seized the momentum. Azusa Pacific received the opening kick-off and had the ball to start the game, however, the drive ended with an interception by Wildcat defensive back Tyren Sams. Central Washington would capitalize off of the turnover, as the Wildcats found the endzone just four plays later when Christian Moore threw a touchdown pass to Tyson Rainwater for a 22-yard score. Following the PAT, Central took a 7-0 lead with 11:26 left in the first quarter.

The Wildcats added to their lead with 3:18 left in the first quarter, as Central Washington went up 10-0 on a 38 yard field goal.

The Wildcats added their 16^th and 17^th points of the game when Moore threw his second touchdown pass of the game with 9:20 left in the second quarter, and the PAT try was good.

The Cougars were able to get on the board with a little over six minutes left in the first half, when quarterback Anthony Catalano found Noah Bogardus for a 32 yard touchdown pass. The PAT was missed, making the score 17-6. The scoring drive was set up by an interception from Cougar defensive back Quentin Frazier.

Central Washington added seven more points before halftime, when Moore threw his third touchdown pass of the first half with 4:15 remaining in the second quarter.

The Wildcats scored 13 points in the third quarter, and seven in the fourth to reach their final tally of 44 points.

While the score was lopsided, Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz liked the character that his young football team showed, "I do not feel that the final score was a great representation of how our team played. Yes, we made a lot of costly mistakes that they capitalized on, they are a great team, but I saw us stick together as a team and that's a huge step for us. Offensively, we moved the ball but were unable to finish drives off and committed too many costly penalties. I saw us make some good progess in the passing game… I love this team and I am excited to get back to work this week as we have to learn from this and understand there is a lot of football left."

For the Cougars, Catalano finished the game with 154 passing yards and a touchdown. Three Azusa Pacific receivers had 40 or more receiving yards in the game, led by Jordan Bogardus who had 43 yards. Darell Adams Jr. tallied three receptions for 41 yards, and Noah Bogardus had two receptions for 40 yards including his touchdown catch.

Defensively, Siaki Alualu led the Cougars in tackles with 11 total (nine assisted, two solo), and had a half tackle for loss. Ben Sukut also had double-digit tackles for the Cougars, as he posted 10 tackles (five solo, five assisted), including a half tackle for a loss. Frazier had six tackles to go along with his interception, and fellow cornerback Josh Olave forced a fumble in the game.

Azusa Pacific is now 1-4 overall, and 1-2 in GNAC play. The Cougars begin a stretch of three consecutive home games, beginning with a visit from Simon Fraser this upcoming Saturday, Oct. 19, with kick-off set for 6:30 p.m.