ARCATA — Leading from start to finish, Humboldt State controlled the pace with a stellar running game and big-play defense in a 31-10 victory over Azusa Pacific on Saturday.
Four different running backs led the Jacks to 201 yards on the ground, led by
Bobby Thomas' 81 yards on 16 carries. Humboldt State's defense did its part, picking off three passes and recovering a fumble while holding Azusa Pacific to 242 yards of total offense.
The victory finished off a stretch of three straight road games, improving Humboldt State's record to 3-2 overall heading into Saturday's home game against Great Northwest Athletic Conference leader Central Washington. Azusa Pacific fell to 1-5 on the season.
"We're tired of traveling, and ready for a home game," HSU head coach
Rob Smith said. "It's nice to finish this road stretch with a very solid win in a game we controlled from start to finish."
Mike Proulx and
Chris Bolt split time at quarterback for the Lumberjacks, Proulx finishing 7-of-17 for 110 yards and a touchdown. Bolt completed 2-of-3 passes, but added 45 yards on the ground.
Humboldt State's ball control offense was indicated by the unbalanced first down and time of possession numbers. The Jacks achieved 22 first downs to APU's 14, while possessing the ball 35 minutes and 54 seconds to the Cougars' 24:06.
HSU moved the ball crisply on its second drive of the game, moving all the way down to the APU 4-yard-line before the Cougars held. Kyle Shierholt's 20-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Shane Henry, however, keeping the scoreboard blank.
It didn't take long for the Jacks to get the ball back, Mike Lynch intercepting a John van dan Raadt pass three plays after the Cougars had taken possession. He returned it to the 4-yard line, and
Nick Ricciardulli carried on consecutive plays to find the endzone and give HSU a 7-0 lead.
Ben Hansen converted a 26-yard field goal early in the second quarter, allowing Azusa to cut the lead to 7-3. HSU bounced back with a 10-play, 72 yard drive – all of it on the ground – finishing with Bolt's 1-yard touchdown run.
Humboldt State extended its lead to 28-3 with two touchdowns in the third quarter, the first on
Matt Devlin's 25-yard reception from Proulx and the second when Proulx rushed across from two yards out. Azusa Pacific found the endzone when van den Raadt hit Matt Davis with a 10-yard touchdown pass with 3:13 left in the third period.
Schierholt booted a 32-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
Defensively,
Justin Price and and
Guy Ricciardulli joined Lynch to give the Jacks three interceptions. Linebacker
Bubba Reynolds topped the team with 12 tackles.
"We made some plays when we needed to, and when they got close our defense turned them away," Smith said. "We're a team that's learning and part of that is how to close out a game. We made a step forward in that tonight."
Humboldt State 31, Azusa Pacific 10
Saturday at Azusa
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Humboldt State...... 7 7 14 3 - 31 Record: (3-2)
Azusa Pacific....... 0 3 7 0 - 10 Record: (1-5)
Scoring Summary:
1st 01:40 HSU - Ricciardulli, Nick 1 yd run (Schierholt, Kyle kick), 2-4 0:51, HSU 7 - APU 0
2nd 12:57 APU - Ben Hansen 26 yd field goal, 7-56 3:41, HSU 7 - APU 3
05:54 HSU - Bolt, Chris 1 yd run (Schierholt, Kyle kick), 10-72 6:56, HSU 14 - APU 3
3rd 14:33 HSU - Devlin, Matt 25 yd pass from Proulx, Mike (Schierholt, Kyle kick), 1-25 0:06, HSU 21 - APU 3
05:01 HSU - Proulx, Mike 2 yd run (Schierholt, Kyle kick), 6-48 4:05, HSU 28 - APU 3
03:13 APU - Matt Davis 10 yd pass from John van den Raadt (Ben Hansen kick), 4-58 1:39, HSU 28 - APU 10
4th 12:28 HSU - Schierholt, Kyle 32 yd field goal, 6-35 2:16, HSU 31 - APU 10
HSU APU
FIRST DOWNS................... 22 14
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 46-201 23-139
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 141 103
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 20-9-1 27-15-3
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 66-342 50-242
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 0-0 2--1
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 1-22 5-110
Interception Returns-Yards.... 3-34 1-10
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 5-42.4 4-37.8
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-0 3-1
Penalties-Yards............... 10-124 8-78
Possession Time............... 35:54 24:06
Third-Down Conversions........ 3 of 12 3 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 4-5 2-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 2-8
RUSHING: Humboldt State-Thomas, Bobby 16-81; Bolt, Chris 7-45;
Stollmeyer, Corey 9-39; Wyatt, Daniel 3-17; Ricciardulli, Nick 7-9; Henry, Edwin
1-6; Proulx, Mike 3-4. Azusa Pacific-John van den Raadt 10-88; Oliver Petty
5-45; Chris Brown 7-5; Justin Jones 1-1.
PASSING: Humboldt State-Proulx, Mike 7-17-0-110; Bolt, Chris 2-3-1-31.
Azusa Pacific-John van den Raadt 15-27-3-103.
RECEIVING: Humboldt State-Devlin, Matt 2-39; Dallas, Dirk 2-35; Smith,
Matt 2-22; Ricciardulli, Nick 1-18; Stollmeyer, Corey 1-17; Hiebert, Alex 1-10.
Azusa Pacific-Matt Davis 8-89; Justin Jones 4-1; Aaron Wall 2-15; Oliver Petty
1-minus 2.
INTERCEPTIONS: Humboldt State-Lynch, Michael 1-18; Ricciardulli, Guy
1-16; Price, Justin 1-0. Azusa Pacific-Henry, Shane 1-10.
FUMBLES: Humboldt State-Bolt, Chris 1-0. Azusa Pacific-John van den Raadt
1-0; Justin Jones 1-1; Chad Rusinkovich 1-0.
Stadium: Cougar Stadium Attendance: 2009
Kickoff time: 6 pm End of Game: 8:48 pm Total elapsed time: 2:48
Officials: Referee: Pete Gautreau; Umpire: Al Cory; Linesman: Kelvin Porter;
Line judge: Don Douglass; Back judge: Steve Steichen; Field judge: Vern Sparling;
Side judge: Bill Agopian; Scorer: Nikole Pearce;
Temperature: 74 Wind: 7MPH SW Weather: clear skies
