Omari Land
42
Winner Western Ore. WOU 1-2 , 1-0
36
Azusa Pacific APU 0-3 , 0-1
Winner
Western Ore. WOU
1-2 , 1-0
42
Final
36
Azusa Pacific APU
0-3 , 0-1
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
WOU Western Ore. 20 7 7 8 42
APU Azusa Pacific 9 7 7 13 36

Game Recap: Football | | Brian Kortz

Land Rushes for Three Touchdowns as Wolves Win GNAC Opener at Azusa Pacific

AZUSA, Calif. – The Western Oregon University football team led throughout and backed by a trio of touchdowns on the ground from Omari Land, the Wolves picked up the win in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener at Azusa Pacific, 42-36, on Saturday evening.

"They stacked the box for the run and we were still able to have three guys rush for over 100 yards. Defense held them to under 100 yards rushing, so that was the game there and controlling the clock. I thought those two things and the defensive line getting better. They were able to make some plays with poor field position at the end to shut them out," Head Coach Arne Ferguson said. "Their backup quarterback is an athlete and looked really good. That's the biggest deal with picking up the win, help gain some confidence on the road. Playing at Azusa is a tough place to play and now we head to Central Washington next week. We know we can play better and the progress we're making is really good."

The win over Azusa Pacific is the first since 2015 when WOU claimed a 17-14 win in Monmouth and the Wolves snapped a six-game losing streak in the series. It's the first win in Azusa since 2012.

WOU (1-2, 1-0 GNAC) used a dominate performance from the offensive line to rack up 330 yards on the ground and four touchdowns. Three players went for over 100 yards as not only did Land tally a trio of scores but he also rushed for 122 yards on 18 carries. Nico Jackson added 106 yards on 15 carries and Ty Currie rushed for 106 yards as well on 12 attempts. Mack Little added the other rushing touchdown when he punched it in from one-yard out.

"This is just the beginning for us. The offensive line did a great job up front and I was able to find some holes for some big gains. Overall was just a great road win!" Land said.

"The 1-2 punch is only just getting started and this combination is nothing without the power, tenacity and ruthlessness of that offensive line," Jackson said.

"Thought our offensive line and the tight ends played really physical tonight. Our running backs and quarterback ran extremely hard. Our wide receivers did a great job of blocking down field. Overall a great offensive unit effort," Offensive Line Coach Josh Manning said.

Currie completed 6-14 through the air for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Marquis Sampson caught two passes for 53 yards and a touchdown, while Justice Murphy made his one catch big which was a 38-yard strike for a score.

"We played physical for four quarters! We did a great job of keeping our foot on the pedal. We still have a lot of room to grow, but this was a great way to start off GNAC play. Also, a huge shout out to the guys up front, they brought it home for us tonight!" Currie said.

Jaylin Parnell, Joey Sinclair and Tyrell Cummings all led the defense with seven tackles. Cummings had 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack, along with forcing a fumble.

"We can't say enough about the three guys that went for over 100 yards and that our defensive line kept the rushing game down. We gave them some field position with penalties, this game with the emotions got to us a little bit and things didn't bounce our way. But we responded and got our first win in conference," Ferguson added.

WOU struck right away after holding Azusa Pacific (0-3, 0-1 GNAC) to a three-and-out, Currie found Sampson for a 47-yard touchdown for the 7-0 lead not even two minutes in.

The Cougars were able to get on the board following a fumble on a punt return put them at the WOU 29, three plays later they found the end zone but the ensuing extra point missed leaving the Wolves with the 7-6 lead.

It didn't take long for the offense to respond with Currie finding Evander Willingham for 18 yards and after Currie rushed for 10 yards and a personal foul moved the ball to the 11. Jackson rushed the ball down to the one to setup Little's one-yard surge for the score and a 13-6 lead with eight minutes to play in the first quarter as the extra point was missed.

Following a field goal by the Cougars, the offense needed just one play to score thanks to a 63-yard kickoff return by Curtis Anderson that had WOU at the Azusa Pacific 31. On the next snap, Land went the rest of the 31 yards to the end zone to push the lead to 20-9 with still three minutes to play in the first quarter.

The teams traded possessions throughout the second quarter until Azusa Pacific got back to within four when they went 44 yards in seven plays to leave the WOU lead at 20-16.

With still over four minutes to play before the half, that was plenty of time for the Wolves to answer right back. The ground game again took over with Jackson rushing for 10, Currie rushing ffor 12 and after Currie found Tyler Reid for a 10-yard pass, Jackson went back to the ground for a 20-yard pickup down to the 29. Another Currie rush netted 15 yards and then Land capped off the drive with a 19-yard scamper down the sidelines to give WOU the 27-16 lead at halftime.

WOU got the ball to start the second half and the offense went right back to where they left off in the first half. Currie picked up a big first down on third-and-six with an 11-yard run. Land then picked up 10 yards on the ground before a pass from Currie to Murphy found the end zone on a 38-yard play that left the Wolves with a 34-16 lead.

Azusa Pacific then started to comeback after switching quarterbacks when Anthony Catalano led a drive that had the Cougars back to within 11 at 34-23 late in the third quarter. The momentum continued for Azusa Pacific as they held the Wolves and then went on another long drive of 68 yards in eight plays to get back to within five at 34-29 after the two-point try failed.

When WOU needed a drive, they were ready to answer with Currie picking up a big 49-yard down into the red zone at the APU 15. Two plays later, it was Land finding the end zone for the third time on the night when he went in from 10 yards out for the 42-29 lead with still 9:43 to play in the game. WOU elected to go for two and the try was successful when Currie found Reid.

The Cougars refused to go away answering with a 63-yard drive that ended with a rushing touchdown and had the WOU lead down to six at 42-36.

With almost seven minutes still to play, the Wolves started to chew up the clock. Faced with a nearly third-and-three, Currie found Sampson for a big six yards and a first down. A run by Jackson and then another by Land netted 11 yards and another first down. Two more Land rushes picked up another first down. With the clock hovering around two minutes, the Cougars were able to stop WOU out near midfield, but had to use their final two timeouts in the process.
On fourth down, WOU went to punt, but the ball slipped out of Andrew Gross' hands and he just had to fall on the ball at the WOU 36.

With Azusa Pacific starting in good field position and still 1:13 to play, the WOU defense came up with the play of the game. After a first down pass down to the WOU 25, a combo sack by Blayne Burnett and Cummings pushed the Cougars back eight yards and more importantly kept the clock running. A false start followed, which made for a 10 second runoff. After a seven-yard completion kept the clock moving again, the Cougars missed on a pass that was nearly intercepted on third down. Azusa Pacific was faced with a fourth-and-16 at the WOU 31 with nine seconds left and they tried to hit Grandison near the sideline, but he couldn't bring the ball in which turned the ball over on downs.

WOU was then able to take a knee to run out the final three seconds of the game and preserve the wild victory.

Overall numbers WOU held the 448-363 edge in total yards, including a big 330-70 advantage on the ground. Of the 25 first downs that the Wolves picked up, 19 were gained on the ground. WOU averaged 6.6 yards per carry and threw for over 7.9 yards per attempt.

Catalano completed 10-19 for 130 yards and two touchdowns, while Tyrone Williams, Jr., completed 12-31 for 163 yards and a score to lead the Cougars. Darrell Adams, Jr., caught five passes for 82 yards and a score. Both Shane Hursh and Jasiah Richard-Lewis each went for over 70 yards and a touchdown.

Ulysses Pickett and Micah Roth led the defense with nine tackles apiece.

WOU will continue GNAC play next Saturday when they will play at Central Washington starting at 6 p.m. in Ellensburg, Wash. The Wildcats picked up their first win of the season earlier on Saturday at Western New Mexico.
 
 
 
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