Andrew Elffers in his first start as a Cougar, threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns
By Tim Peterson
(Glendora) – Kurt Scoby rushed for 146 yards and four touchdowns and Andrew Elffers threw for two scores as Azusa Pacific cruised to a 61-14 rout of Dixie State Saturday night at Citrus College.
Scoby scored on a 33 yard run to open the scoring and after the Cougars held Dixie State Tarik Myles returned a punt 57 yards for a touchdown and just like that it was 14-0 and the Cougars were off and running.
Early in the second quarter Andrew Elffers hit Ethan Zeidler on a 46-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-0. It was the first touchdown pass of his college career.
Another day at the office for Kurt Scoby- Four touchdowns
A blocked punt set up the Cougars again at the Dixie State 45. They immediately took advantage when Scoby busted loose again for a 24-yard touchdown run and the Cougars were cruising 28-0.
Red Storm quarterback Tyson Blackner scored on a seven-yard run with 40 seconds left in the first half to get Dixie State on the board but then made a critical mistake. Instead of booting it deep they attempted an onside kick and the Cougars recover at the 45. Elffers cashed in with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Blake Robertson with seven seconds left in the half to make it 35-7.
Scoby already had 114 yards rushing at the half and Elffers was 5 of 7 for 96 yards and two scores. He threw an interception early in the contest but then seemed to settle in.
Ethan Zeidler hauled in a 46-yard touchdown pass from Elffers in the second quarter (Photo by Duane Barker)
Elffers completed 9 of 13 for 184 yards overall and also ran for 86.
“I knew I was eventually going to get my shot. My job as just to take advantage of it,” Elffers said. “It all starts with the line. They did a great job up front.”
On the first possession of the second half the Cougars marched down the field and Scoby capped it with a seven-yard TD run – his third score of the night.
After a bad snap resulted in a safety for the Cougars Scoby picked up number four of the night on the next possession with a 14-yard jaunt to make it 51-7 with 8:33 left in the third.
D.J. Morgan, spelling Scoby got his first touchdown of the season on a three-yard run late in the third quarter to give Azusa Pacific a 58-7 lead.
Jacob Hall kicked the Cougars past the 60 mark with a 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Orlando Wallace scored on a one-yard run for the Red Storm with 56 seconds left to finish the scoring.
“I feel that was our most complete game of the year. Each week we just keep getting better and better. It may have taken longer than we would but we are getting better,” said Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz also liked what he saw of Scoby. “He’s a very special young man,” Santa Cruz said.
Zeidler caught three passes for 104 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars as the offense piled up nearly 500 yards. Defensively the Cougs gave up just the 14 points and 287 total yards.
“They were flying around and tackling. They were very impressive,” Santa Cruz said.
The Cougars improved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the GNAC while Dixie State 2-5 and 1-3.
Next week APU hosts South Dakota Mines.
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