Tuesday, October 21, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – With the first of three NCAA Super Regional III polls of the season due to be released next Monday, Azusa Pacific earned Top 25 rankings in a pair of national polls this week.

The Cougars, who have won five straight games, remained at No. 25 in this week’s AFCA poll and also earned a No. 24 ranking in the D2football.com Top 25. 

It’s their first Top 25 ranking in the D2football.com poll since being ranked 17th following a season-opening win over Grand Valley State, Mich.

The Super Regional poll will determine which six teams advance to the NCAA playoffs beginning in November. 

With one loss each, Azusa Pacific and Humboldt State are both hoping to receive consideration in the regional poll for one of the six berths.  The GNAC does not receive an “earned access” berth (See Weekly Release, GNAC Miscellany, page 6).

The Cougars (6-1 overall), who currently lead the GNAC with a 3-0 conference record, travel to Rapid City, S.D. Saturday for a contest with South Dakota Mines (1-6, 0-3).

Humboldt State, which split its two games with Azusa Pacific winning the non-conference game before losing the conference counter, hosts Central Washington (4-3, 3-1).

Western Oregon (3-4, 1-1) hosts Simon Fraser (2-5, 2-1) and Dixie State (0-7, 0-3) entertains Menlo in a non-conference game to complete Saturday’s schedule.

Watson First In Rushing, Revis Second in All-Purpose

Azusa Pacific’s Terrell Watson continues to lead all divisions nationally in rushing with 1,279 yards and 17 touchdowns.  He needs just 118 yards to reach 5,000 career rushing yards.

Watson also ranks third in scoring (102 points), averaging 14.6 points per contest, and fifth in all-purpose running averaging 197.1.

Watson’s all-purpose average is 30 yards better than the current GNAC single-season record of 167.2 set by Humboldt State’s Lyndon Rowells in 2011.

Western Oregon’s Paul Revis, however, has an even better average and ranks second nationally with a 211.7 yards per game mark.

Revis  is the GNAC leader in receiving (46-773) and also ranks fifth in kick return average (23-544-23.7) and fourth in punt returns (16-144-9.0).

Another player this week with a No. 2 national rank is Central Washington defensive end Tovar Sanchez.  Sanchez ranks second in tackles for losses, averaging 2.3 per contest.  He had 4 ½ for losses totaling 20 in CWU’s 24-20 win Saturday against Western Oregon.

Sanchez also ranks fifth nationally in sacks (1.36) just ahead of Alex Markarian of Humboldt State who ranks sixth with 1.2.5 per contest.

Other players ranked in the Top 10 in this week’s NCAA Division II national statistical report include HSU’s Ja’Quan Gardner, fourth in kickoff returns (32.2), Jordan Herdman of Simon Fraser, fifth in tackles (13.1), HSU’s Gianni Olivas, eighth in punt returns (16.8) and Dixie State’s Jake Miller, eighth in tackles for losses (2.0).

From The Record Book

If Saturday’s Central Washington – Humboldt State game comes down to an extra point, don’t bet against the kicker.

The game will feature two of the most accurate PAT kickers in GNAC history.

CWU’s Sean McDonald ranks first in GNAC history with a 98.4 percent conversion average (63 of 64).  He’s 32 of 32 this season and has made 61 in a row, equaling the third longest streak in GNAC.

Matt Bruder of Humboldt State ranks second in GNAC history in PAT percentage converting on 97 percent.  He’s made 128 of 132, 25 of 26 this season.  He had a streak of 78 earlier in his career, the second longest in GNAC history.

Two for 2,000 – Two Simon Fraser players surpassed the 2,000 yard career receiving mark in last Saturday’s win over South Dakota Mines.  Bobby Pospischil had eight catches for 110 yards and now ranks 11th on the all-time list with 2,062 yards.  Lemar Durant ranks 12th with 2,021 after catching six for 58.  They are the 13th and 14th GNAC players with 2,000 yards. Neither was their team’s top receiver in the game as sophomore Justin Buren had nine catches for 123 yards.

Going Long – Tyrell Williams of Western Oregon, who ranks seventh in GNAC history with 2,398 career receiving yards, had an 89-yard TD catch against Central Washington Saturday.  That is the fourth longest in GNAC history.  Three have been by Western Oregon receivers (95 by Trevor Gates vs. CWU in 2011, 94 by Tyler Davis vs. Dixie State in 2012).

Chasing Records – APU’s Terrell Watson has scored 52 touchdowns in three seasons in the GNAC.   The conference record is 54 by Johnny Spevak of Central Washington (2006-09).  Including his freshman season in the NAIA, Watson has 67 touchdowns ... Simon Fraser kick returner Earl Anderson has 31 returns for 630 yards this season increasing his career total to 1,803 yards, 54 shy of the GNAC record of 1,857 by Cache Morgan of Dixie State in 2011 and 2012 ... CWU’s Isaiah Davis is the current career kickoff return average leader with a 25.3 average (32-811).

By The Numbers

100 Yard Rushing Games (200): 6 – Terrell Watson, HSU (3). 3 – Ja’Quan Gardner, HSU.  2 – Trent McKinney, SDM (1); Nick Ricciardulli, HSU.  1 – Myles Burton, DSU; Nathaniel Penaranda, WOU; Colton Peterson, DSU; Ishmael Stinson, CWU; Kevin Thompson, SDM; Jordan Todd, CWU; Cole Tudor, SFU.

300 Yard Passing Performances (400): 3 – Ryan Bergman, WOU (2). 2 - Trent McKinney, SDM; Jake Nelson, CWU; Ryan Stanford, SFU.  1 – Hayden Gavett, DSU; Ben Longshore, DSU; Trey Shimabukuro, WOU.

100 Yard Receiving Performances:  4 – Paul Revis, WOU. 3 - Tyrell Williams, WOU.  2 – Greg Logan, CWU; Bobby Pospischil, SFU; Kent McKinney, CWU.  1 – Kamakana Apelu, WOU; Lemar Durant, SFU; Marcus Sanchez, SDM; Nate Stephens, DSU; Cass White, HSU; Jesse Zalk, CWU; Daniel Ziegler, SDM; Justin Buren, SFU.

Game Recaps For Oct. 18:

Azusa Pacific 49, Dixie State 27 (at Glendora, CA): Terrell Watson rushed for 198 yards (his 21st career 100-yard game) and tied a GNAC and school-record with five rushing touchdowns as the Cougars extended their win streak to five with a 22-point win before 5,302 fans at Citrus Stadium ….Watson scored in the first half on runs of 11 and 3 yards, then added TDs on  runs of 4, 1 and 1 in the second half as the Cougars broke open a close game, putting 28 points on the board after leading by just one point at the intermission … Watson came into the game with 3,987 yards in three seasons in the GNAC, increasing his GNAC career total to 4,185.  In four seasons, he now has 4,882 yards.  He is the first GNAC running back to rush for 4,000 – no other back has even had 3,000 - and needs 118 to increase his overall four-year total to 5,000 …The Cougars finished the game with 286 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.  Quarterback Chad Jeffries had 64 yards and a touchdown and also passed for 159 yards, completing 12 of 17 … Tyree Davis had 131 return yards, 97 on three kickoffs and 34 on three punt returns … Dixie State quarterback Ben Longshore completed 16 of 29 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns.  Nate Stephens had seven catches for 47 yards and 142 all-purpose yards, 32 on three rushes, 55 on three kickoff returns and eight on one punt return … Steven Fanua led APU with 19 tackles, two for losses of eight.  Defensive back Tyler Thornton had nine tackles.  C.J. Broussard and Andre Myles each had interceptions, the only takeaways of the game by either team …  Defensive back Robert Metz  led Dixie with 10 tackles and freshman DB Colton Olson had nine tackles.

Central Washington 24, Western Oregon 20 (at Ellensburg, WA): Defensive back Isaiah Davis set up three of Central Washington’s four scores, including the game-winning touchdown to lead the Wildcats to a four-point win before a Homecoming crowd of 4,729 at Tomlinson Stadium … With the score tied 17-17 in the fourth quarter, Davis returned a 41-yard punt  19 yards to the 29 after a sack by James Fakkema had pinned WOU at its own seven.  Five plays later Jake Nelson completed a 14-yard TD pass to Jesse Zalk … WOU closed CWU’s lead to four points with 4:16 left on a 39-yard field goal by Jesse Correa.  The Wolves then forced a 1-2-3 out, but CWU countered with one of its own before surrendering the ball with just 10 seconds left on the WOU 2 … In the second quarter, Davis had a 16-yard return to the WOU 44 which led to a 5 play-44 yard drive and a 14-yard Nelson pass to Kent McKinney for a 14-7 CWU halftime lead … In the third quarter Davis’ interception at the WOU 39 set up a 39-yard Sean McDonald field goal … After McDonald’s field goal made it 17-7, Western Oregon tied the game within a span of 81 seconds as Correa kicked a 29-yard field goal and Ryan Bergman tossed a 89-yard TD pass to Tyrell Williams … Bergman completed 24 of 41 for 412 yards. He was picked off three times. CWU’s Nelson, who had three TD passes, completed 29 of 48 for 264 yards … WOU’s Paul Revis had nine receptions for 161 yards – his league-leading fourth 100-yard game of the season.  Williams had five catches for 171 yards, recording his third 100-yard game this fall,  Revis also had 99 yards on four kickoffs finishing with 261 all-purpose yards … Zalk had 11 catches for 85 yards and McKinney had 10 for 104 yards.  Davis finished the game with five punt returns for 88 yards, including a long of 27 … Three players had 10 tackles – DBs Breeon Moreno and Austin Spencer for the Wolves and CWU linebacker Kevin Hayes … The game featured 20 tackles for losses – 11 by WOU (linebacker Shane Kuenzi had 3 ½) and nine by CWU (4 ½ by defensive end Tovar Sanchez for losses of 20 yards).   There were four interceptions – one each by Roger Garrett of Western Oregon and by Blake Williams-Miller,  DeAndre Baines and Davis for the Wildcats.

Simon Fraser 53, South Dakota Mines 31 (at Burnaby, BC):  Trailing 31-20 in the final minute of the first half, Simon Fraser scored 33 unanswered points to defeat South Dakota Mines 53-31 and improve its conference record to 2-1 … Ryan Stanford tossed three second-half touchdowns and Lemar Durant scored on a 14-yard run to finish off a 7-play, 80-yard drive.  Durant scored three touchdowns, two on passes from Stanford, who completed 28 of 36 passes for 372 yards and four touchdowns and wasn’t intercepted … Justin Buren had two of the TD receptions catching nine for 123 yards.  Bobby Pospischil had eight for 110 yards and Durant had six for 58 yards … Cole Tudor rushed for two touchdowns on the day, scoring from 12 and three yards in the opening two quarters.  He finished the day with 93 yards on 18 rushes.  Stephen Spagnuolo had 83 yards on 10 carries .. Trent McKinney had four total offense touchdowns sparking the Hardrockers to the early lead.   He had TD passes of 13 yards to Xavier Matthews in the first quarter and of 5 and 35 yards to Marcus Sanchez and Patrick Berke in the second period.  He also scored on an 11-yard run in the second stanza … McKinney finished the game completing 19 of 28 passes for 210 yards and also rushed for 50 yards.  Sanchez had 80 yards on five receptions ….SD Mines, however, couldn’t slow down the Clan offense which finished with 621 yards (240 rushing) and outgained Mines 357-85 in the second half.  The Hardrockers finished the game with 351 yards, 263 passing …. SFU linebacker Jordan Herdman had 15 tackles, including 10 solos.  He also had three tackles for losses of  18 and forced and recovered a fumble.  Herdman had  26.8 percent of SFU’s 56 tackles as no one else had more than four … Linebacker Jake Hepp had 12 stops and linebacker Daniel Duarte had 11 for SD Mines …. Neither team had an interception and both recovered two fumbles in the contest.  SFU finished the contest with a 37:38 to 22:22 advantage in time of possession and converted on 11 of 15 third down plays.

GNAC Football Players of the Week

Offense – Ryan Stanford, Simon Fraser (QB, 6-3, 210, Jr., Phoenix, AZ) and Terrell Watson, Azusa Pacific (RB, 6-2, 240, Sr., Oxnard, CA) ... Stanford completed 28 of 36 passes for 372 yards and four touchdowns and wasn’t intercepted rallying the Clan from a pair of second-quarter 11-point deficits to a 53-31 win over South Dakota Mines.  Stanford threw TD passes of 10 and 4 yards to Lemar Durant and 6 and 35 to Justin Buren.  He also netted  14 yards on four rushes to finish with 386 yards in total offense as the Clan improved to 2-1 in GNAC contests ... Watson rushed for 198 yards and tied his own school and GNAC record by scoring five touchdowns as the Cougars defeated Dixie State 49-27. Watson now has 52 touchdowns in three seasons in the GNAC, two shy of the conference career record.  He has also rushed for 1,279 yards this season and is college football’s current all-division national leader.

Defense – Steven Fanua, Azusa Pacific (LB, 6-1, 225, Sr., Milpitas, CA) had 19 tackles, including 10 solos as the Cougars ran their record to 6-1 with their fifth straight victory.  Fanua participated in one-third of the plays in which tackles were credited to the APU defense.  Two of his tackles were for losses of eight yards.  He also broke up a pass.

Special Teams - Isaiah Davis, Central Washington (DB/KR, 5-10, 186, Jr., Bremerton, WA – South Kitsap/Eastern Washington) set up three of the Wildcats’ four scores, including the game-winner in a 24-20 Homecoming win over Western Oregon.  With the score tied 17-17 in the fourth quarter, he returned a 41-yard punt  19 yards to the 29 after a sack by James Fakkema had pinned the Wolves’ at their own seven.  Five plays later Jake Nelson completed a 14-yard TD pass to Jesse Zalk. In the second quarter, he had a 16-yard return to the WOU 44 which led to a 5 play-44 yard drive and a 14-yard Nelson pass to Kent McKinney for a 14-7 CWU halftime lead  In the third quarter his interception at the WOU 39 set up a 39-yard Sean McDonald field goal, Davis finished the game with five punt returns for 88 yards, including a long of 27.