GLENDORA — Humboldt State rallied from an early deficit to claim a 49-32 victory over Azusa Pacific on Saturday, spoiling the Cougars' homecoming celebration.
Humboldt State improved to 5-1 overall with the non-conference victory. Azusa Pacific, ranked No. 18 in the latest NAIA national poll, dropped its second straight game, falling to 4-2 overall.
After staking the Cougars to a 14-0 lead, Humboldt State had to rally to cut the Cougars' lead to 17-14 at halftime. But as much pressure as the Jacks' offense felt, the defense was faced with containing a team averaging 38.4 points and 456 yards of offense per game.
"The trips that we take aren't easy," HSU head coach
Rob Smith said. "We came out a little sluggish for whatever reason. We finally got it going in that second quarter and started doing what we thought we could all along."
Humboldt State owned the second half, putting up 35 points while employing a variety of offensive weapons. Lyndon Rowells sent the message that the Jacks were ready to take control, breaking loose for a 54-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half and giving the Jacks their first lead at 21-17.
Another big play – Jordan McGowan-Smith's 87-yard punt return for a touchdown – kept momentum on HSU's side, providing a 28-17 Lumberjack lead with 12 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
"Getting a special teams score is another sign of a good football team," Smith said. "We're making big plays at critical times in the game, and that's another indication of progress."
Azusa Pacific wasn't ready to concede the game, especially with a homecoming crowd of 5,132 looking on. The Cougars countered with a 34-yard scoring pass from quarterback Jordan van den Raadt to Aaron Wall, cutting HSU's lead to 28-24 with 3:41 left to play in the third quarter.
But the Jacks answered just as quickly, finishing an 8-play, 42-yard drive with Rowell's 9-yard scoring scamper to open the fourth quarter. It was the third touchdown of the night for the junior running back, who also added points with a 15-yard pass reception in the opening half.
Humboldt State made the margin more comfortable seven minutes later when quarterback Mike Proulx connected with wide receiver Pat Gondkoff on a 22-yard touchdown pass that put the Jacks ahead, 42-24. Proulx completed the evening 14-of-20, passing for 168 yards and three touchdowns. Gondkoff was on the receiving end of two of those TD passes.
Azusa Pacific didn't quit, moving the ball 64 yards in 14 plays to score again on van den Raadt's 5-yard run. Humboldt State iced the win when Daniel Wyatt broke through for a 10-yard touchdown run with 2:57 remaining on the clock.
Humboldt State amassed 405 offensive yards in the game, but was out-gained by Azusa Pacific's 435 yards. Rowells led the Jacks' ground game with 157 yards on 21 carries, while APU's van den Raadt carried the ball 15 times for 130 yards rushing.
"This was a tough victory, and you have to give a lot of credit to Azusa Pacific," Smith said. "Our defense had their hands full today with that offense they run, and the efficiency which they run it."
Homecoming and all of its festivities is up next for the Lumberjacks, who host Dixie State at 6 p.m. Saturday in Redwood Bowl. HSU heads into the contest unbeaten in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, leading the league with a 3-0 record.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score ----------------- -- -- -- -- ----- Humboldt State...... 0 14 14 21 - 49 Record: (5-1) Azusa Pacific....... 7 10 7 8 - 32 Record: (4-2) Scoring Summary: 1st 03:54 APU - J van den Raadt 18 yd run (Chris Duke kick), 12-76 4:32, HSU 0 - APU 7 2nd 13:55 APU - Aaron Wall 15 yd pass from J van den Raadt (Chris Duke kick), 9-80 2:41, HSU 0 - APU 14 05:16 HSU - Gondkoff 13 yd pass from Proulx (Bruder kick), 11-92 4:45, HSU 7 - APU 14 01:42 APU - Chris Duke 37 yd field goal, 8-56 3:28, HSU 7 - APU 17 00:24 HSU - Rowells 15 yd pass from Proulx (Bruder kick), 6-52 1:13, HSU 14 - APU 17 3rd 14:41 HSU - Rowells 54 yd run (Bruder kick), 1-54 0:10, HSU 21 - APU 17 12:00 HSU - McGowan-Smith 87 yd punt return (Bruder kick), , HSU 28 - APU 17 03:41 APU - Aaron Wall 34 yd pass from J van den Raadt (Chris Duke kick), 4-39 1:37, HSU 28 - APU 24 4th 14:52 HSU - Rowells 9 yd run (Bruder kick), 8-42 3:39, HSU 35 - APU 24 08:11 HSU - Gondkoff 22 yd pass from Proulx (Bruder kick), 9-71 4:52, HSU 42 - APU 24 05:08 APU - J van den Raadt 5 yd run (Tyson Hetzer pass from J van den Raadt), 14-64 2:55, HSU 42 - APU 32 02:57 HSU - Wyatt 10 yd run (Bruder kick), 6-40 2:10, HSU 49 - APU 32 FIRST DOWNS................... 23 27RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 42-237 36-222PASSING YDS (NET)............. 168 213TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 62-405 77-435RUSHING: Humboldt State-Rowells 21-157; Wyatt 11-37; Proulx 6-36; Allen 1-9; Vallier 1-7; TEAM 1-minus 2; Bolt 1-minus 7. Azusa Pacific-J van den Raadt 15-130; Johnell Murphy 17-78; D. Trifeletti 3-13; Oliver Petty 1-1. PASSING: Humboldt State-Proulx 14-20-0-168. Azusa Pacific-J van den Raadt 20-40-0-213; TEAM 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING: Humboldt State-Bolt 4-44; Rowells 4-37; Gondkoff 3-63; Devlin 2-11; Dallas 1-13. Azusa Pacific-Aaron Wall 7-121; Cory Besch 6-63; D. Trifeletti 2-13; Ryan Chamberlin 2-7; Lionel Fujioka 1-9; Josh Anderson 1-2; Johnell Murphy 1-minus 2. INTERCEPTIONS: Humboldt State-None. Azusa Pacific-None. FUMBLES: Humboldt State-Proulx 1-0. Azusa Pacific-J van den Raadt 1-0. Stadium: Citrus Stadium Attendance: 5132 Kickoff time: 6 pm End of Game: 9 pm Total elapsed time: 3:00 Officials: Referee: Jim Osborn; Umpire: Ali Shetula; Linesman: Rod Ammari; Line judge: Orlando Chavarr; Back judge: David Bautista; Field judge: Jeff Young; Side judge: Paul Caldera; Scorer: Nikole Pearch; Temperature: 83 Wind: 7 WNW Weather: clear HSU APU Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 20-14-0 41-20-0 Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0 Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-94 0-0 Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-149 8-151 Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 0-0 Punts (Number-Avg)............ 3-40.7 5-42.0 Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-0 1-0 Penalties-Yards............... 8-84 10-107 Possession Time............... 29:21 30:39 Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 12 6 of 15 Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 3 of 4 Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 4-5 4-4 Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-5 0-0
