ARCATA — From the opening play to the final possession, big plays on both sides of the ball were Humboldt State's best weapons in a 24-17 homecoming win over Azusa Pacific on Saturday.

Looming largest  was a critical turnover on the Cougars' last drive attempt, which ended when Guy Ricciardulli, who has been the Jacks' turnover king all season, smothered James Burke's fumble on the HSU 33-yard line. Earlier in the game, Ricciardulli had made his fifth interception of the season, stopping another Cougar drive, this time at the HSU 11-yard line.

"A lot of credit goes to our defense again," HSU head coach Rob Smith said. "All season long we've been preaching about how one play can make a difference. That's what happened with the interception and fumble recovery."

Ricciardulli's pick and recovery contributed to a defense that once again bent but didn't break in holding off the Cougars after the HSU offense had built an early 21-7 lead. Redshirt freshman Mike Proulx completed 11-of-22 passing for 163 yards, including several big connections with Matt Smith and Devin Stearns, while Brian Stuart fueled the running game with 82 yards on 12 carries.

Also supplementing the Jacks' attack were running backs Bobby Thomas and Joevany Cueva, who contributed to HSU's season-high total of 172 yards. Thomas finished with 73 yards on eight carries, while Cueva's runs included two for touchdowns.

"Running the football the way we did gave us nice balance tonight," Smith said. "It allowed us to mix things up. We didn't have to count strictly on the passing game to be successful."

Humboldt State improved its record to 2-4 overall with the non-conference victory, while Azusa Pacific fell to 1-5. The Jacks resume Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Saturday when they travel to face Dixie State in St. George, Utah.

Against the Cougars, the Jacks got off to a quick start when they pulled a surprise on the game's opening play from scrimmage. Proulx threw a lateral pass to wide receiver Kevin MIles, who turned and passed far downfield to Mike Streck-Woodard, who raced into the endzone to complete the 69-yard play and give the Jacks a 7-0 lead.

Humboldt State scored again when Matt Simmons recovered Monti Sutton's fumble on an attempted punt return, initiating a two-play drive that ended with Cueva's two-yard burst around the corrner and into the endzone. The Cougars countered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that featured a 23-yard pass completion from quarterback John van den Raadt to Matt Davis and was finished by Chris Brown's one-yard touchdown plunge.

Van den Raadt ended the night 21-of-36 passing for 282 yards, with one interception and one touchdown. Brown paced the Cougars' running game with 60 yards on 16 carries.

The Lumberjacks extended thier lead to 21-7 before halftime by putting together their longest drive of the evening, an eight-play, 88-yard march. Proulx hit Stearns with a 27-yard connection before connecting with Matt Smith on a 42-yard pass that Smith leaped to pull down and away from a defender at the 1-yard-line. Cueva finished it off with another short burst into the endzone.

Field goals were all either team could muster for most of the second half, Corey Lenaham making a 20-yarder for the Cougars and Kyle Schierholt booting a 37-yarder for the Jacks while subbing in for injured Enrique Leyva.

Azusa Pacific made the game interesting with a seven-play, 72-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter, capped by van den Raadt's 17-yard completion to Jon Davis for the touchdown. Humboldt State's ensuing possession finished with a missed 50-yard field goal, returning the ball to the Cougars, whose hopes were then dashed by Ricciardulli's heroics.

Humboldt STate 24, Azusa Pacific 17
Saturday at Redwood Bowl, Arcata, CA

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Azusa Pacific.......  7  0  3  7  - 17       Record: (1-5)
Humboldt State...... 14  7  0  3  - 24       Record: (2-4)



Scoring Summary:
1st 14:43 HSU - Streck-Woodard 69 yd pass from Miles (Leyva kick), 1-69 0:17, APU 0 - HSU 7
    09:54 HSU - Cueva 2 yd run (Leyva kick), 2-35 0:55, APU 0 - HSU 14
    05:07 APU - Chris Brown 1 yd run (Corey Lenahan kick), 10-75 4:42, APU 7 - HSU 14
2nd 07:40 HSU - Cueva 1 yd run (Leyva kick), 8-88 3:10, APU 7 - HSU 21
3rd 09:10 APU - Corey Lenahan 20 yd field goal, 12-62 5:46, APU 10 - HSU 21
4th 12:20 HSU - Schierholt 37 yd field goal, 6-50 3:13, APU 10 - HSU 24
    06:30 APU - Jon Davis 17 yd pass from J. VanDen Raadt (Corey Lenahan kick), 7-72 2:14, APU 17 - HSU 24



                                    APU      HSU
FIRST DOWNS...................       19       14
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   28-108   38-172
PASSING YDS (NET).............      282      232
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  36-21-1  23-12-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   64-390   61-404
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............     2-16      1-3
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    5-104     4-65
Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0      1-1
Punts (Number-Avg)............   4-33.5   3-41.7
Fumbles-Lost..................      2-2      1-0
Penalties-Yards...............     4-30     5-43
Possession Time...............    29:53    28:51
Third-Down Conversions........   2 of 9  4 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 0   1 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      3-4      3-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     3-17     2-14


RUSHING: Azusa Pacific-Chris Brown 16-60; M. Van Gorden 1-26; J. VanDen
Raadt 11-22. Humboldt State-Stuart 12-82; Thomas 8-73; Cueva 8-37; Miles 1-0;
TEAM 4-minus 3; Proulx 5-minus 17.

PASSING: Azusa Pacific-J. VanDen Raadt 21-36-1-282. Humboldt State-Proulx
11-22-0-163; Miles 1-1-0-69.

RECEIVING: Azusa Pacific-James Burke 7-78; Jon Davis 5-71; Matt Davis
3-43; Rick Myra 2-28; Chris Brown 1-23; Armon De'Launey 1-17; David Trifelett
1-11; Monti Sutton 1-11. Humboldt State-Smith,M. 4-99; Stearns 3-30; Devlin
2-23; Cueva 2-11; Streck-Woodard 1-69.

INTERCEPTIONS: Azusa Pacific-None. Humboldt State-Ricciardulli 1-1.

FUMBLES: Azusa Pacific-Monti Sutton 1-1; James Burke 1-1. Humboldt
State-Proulx 1-0.

Stadium: Redwood Bowl          Attendance: 3100
Kickoff time: 6 pm      End of Game: 8:41      Total elapsed time: 2:41
Officials: Referee: Bret MacRae; Umpire: Mike Reilly; Linesman: Bryan Keatley;
Line judge: Larry Staab; Back judge: James Bruno; Field judge: Kurt Corey;
Side judge: Stephen Irving; Scorer: Ed Matthews;
Temperature: 51        Wind: w 10 mph  Weather: partly cloudy