Andrew Elfers does it again with his arm and his legs! (Photo by Duane Barker)
By Tim Peterson
(Glendora) – Azusa Pacific finished the season in style as Andrew Elffers threw for 185 yards and ran for 118 more in a 38-17 win over Simon Fraser Saturday night at Citrus College.
Elffers completed 10 of 21 passes and a touchdown and he also had a 32-yard run for a score to put the Cougars up 24-7 early in the third quarter.
Elffers played late into the fourth quarter before being replaced by Chad Jeffries with APU up by three touchdowns.
The Cougar defense was solid against Simon Fraser. (Photo by Duane Barker)
The Cougars led 17-7 at the half before blowing it open in the third quarter. Tarik Myles returned the third quarter kick off all the way back to the Simon Fraser 35 yard line. Two plays later Elffers ran 32 yards for a touchdown to make it 24-7.
After Tiernan Docherty booted a 28-yard field goal for Simon Fraser, APU and Elffers struck again. This time he used his arm for six firing a 34-yard strike to Blake Robertson for a 31-10 lead. They weren’t done yet.
The Cougars resorted to a little trickery on the next possession as Robertson caught a swing pass from Elffers and then pulled up and launched a 40 yard spiral to Ethan Zeidler who danced into the end zone for a 38-10 lead with 5:53 left in the third. There was almost a quarter and a half to play but the double pass doomed Fraser.
Simon Fraser did manage a late score after the Cougars botched a punt. Justin Buren scored on a nine yard run for the final tally.
APU made a goal line stand early in the first quarter stuffing Simon Fraser at the one-yard line but after a short punt Simon Fraser cashed in with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Stanford to Christian Berger to take the early advantage.
After an APU punt buried Simon Fraser at its own one -yard line, Matthew Hackett stripped the ball and Jabrion Burnside fell on it in the end zone to tie it at seven early in the second quarter.
Samuela Fanua scored on a four-yard run on the next series to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead. Elffers, who has had a knack for running all year, set up the touchdown with a 30-yard run down deep into Simon Fraser territory.
Jacob Hall kicked a 29 yard field goal just before halftime to give APU a 17-7 lead.
Zeidler was the leading receiver for Azusa Pacific with four catches for 74 yards and a score. Elffers had 126 of the Cougars 196 total rushing yards.
Stanford threw for 133 yards and a touchdown for Simon Fraser while Ante Milanovic-Litre rushed for 157 yards on 26 carries to lead the rushing attack.
With the victory Azusa Pacific finished the season 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the GNAC.
The Cougars recognized their 21 senior players prior to the game on “Senior Night.”
Azusa Pacific will open the 2016 season at home against West Texas A&M on Thursday September 1.
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