Cougars Whistle Past Dixie

Jonathan Thropay and Andre Myles lower the boom on Dixie State's Hayden Gavett

Jonathan Thropay and Andre Myles lower the boom on Dixie State’s Hayden Gavett

By Tim Peterson

(Glendora) – You wouldn’t believe it by the final score, but at one time Azusa Pacific was actually behind. The Cougars found themselves down 20-14 midway through the second quarter but then proceeded to rip off 35 consecutive points and lay the hammer on Dixie State 49-27 Saturday night before a homecoming crowd at Citrus College.

It was the usual suspects doing the damage for APU. Or maybe it should be suspect as Terrell Watson again was the man of the hour. Watson rushed for 198 yards and five touchdowns as he continues his remarkable, historical 2014 season. With the five touchdowns, he now has 17 on the year and his yardage total jumps to 1279 in seven games.

It was great. Our offense played well, running game, passing, everything,” Watson said.

Watson has definitely played well…well enough that several NFL scouts have been out to get a look at him.

It would be nice to play in the NFL but we have four games left and right now I’m focused on that,” Watson said.

Watson scored on runs of 11 yards in the first quarter and 3 in the second but the Cougars were still down six with 7:30 left in the second quarter. Andrew Elffers then capped a drive with a six yard touchdown run with 3:50 left and APU carried a 21-20 lead into the half and never looked back.

I love being a running back and running the ball. I’ll do whatever I need to do to help the team win,” Elffers said.

When the second half started the Cougars poured it on. On the first drive Watson finished it with a four-yard run. Later in the quarter it was Watson finding pay dirt again with a one-yard plunge. Another Cougar drive resulted in another Watson touchdown from a yard out to make it 42-20.

The Cougar defense set up the last score. Andre Myles picked off Dixie State quarterback Ben Longshore and returned down into Red Storm territory. This time Chad Jeffries got into the act with an 11-yard quarterback keeper and what was once a six point deficit was now a 29 point rout.

Dixie State scored with 35 seconds left to account for the final score. Longshore had a good night for the Red Storm throwing for 236 yards and three touchdowns but he did have two picks. His 47-yard strike to Antonio Morton gave Dixie a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.

But Dixie State had just 138 yards on the ground- 60 yards less than what Watson had on the night. The Cougars rushed for 279 yards total. Jeffries completed 12 of 17 for 159 yards and no interceptions. Tanner Henry was the leading receiver with five catches for 56 yards.

We knew Dixie State would come out tough. Scott (head coach Brumfield) does a great job over there,” said APU head coach Victor Santa Cruz. “We did a good job on adjustments and coverages. This team has no attitude about anything. We tell them to do something and they do it. It’s been a privilege to coach this team.”

The Cougars improved to 6-1 (3-0 in the GNAC) with the win while Dixie State dropped to 0-7 and 0-3.

Next up for Azusa Pacific is a trip to South Dakota next Saturday to play the School of the Mines.

DST 7 13 0 7 27

APU 7 14 14 14 49

 

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