Azusa Is Dethroned as Champ

Azusa Pacific’s comeback magic ran out Saturday night.

The Cougars, who trailed in seven of their nine victories this season, fell behind late in the first half, then could only trade touchdowns with Georgetown of Kentucky in a wild second half and lost, 66-35, in the semifinals of the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics football playoffs before 2,831 at Azusa.

The 66 points are the most defending NAIA champion Azusa Pacific (9-3) has surrendered to a four-year school.

Georgetown (13-0) led, 24-14, at halftime. Deon Jordan fumbled the second-half kickoff and the Tigers’ B.J. Mattingly recovered at the Azusa Pacific 29. Two plays later, Josh Cairns scored from six yards out for a 31-14 lead.

“When you come out in the second half and put the ball on the ground and give them a short field, that obviously didn’t help,” first-year Cougar Coach Peter Shinnick said.

The Cougars answered with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Neo Aoga to Caleb Willis.

Georgetown running back Corey Taylor, who had 130 yards and four touchdown runs, scored from 29 and two yards. Aoga hit Jordan from 10 yards out to make it 45-28 at the end of the third.

“We knew they could score points. We knew they were productive,” Shinnick said of the Tigers. “They just overpowered us in the end.”

The 66-point, 619-yard performance was old hat for the top-ranked Tigers, who averaged 595.8 yards and 51.5 points entering the game. They have 7,768 yards on the season, an NAIA record.

The Cougars, who were 6-0 in their postseason history entering Saturday, looked good early.

Aoga hit Jordan from seven yards out to tie the score, 7-7, midway through the first quarter. Aoga’s two-yard run made it 14-7 but Georgetown scored the next 24 points and never trailed. The Tigers will meet No. 2 Northwestern Oklahoma, a 21-6 winner over Mary, N.D., in the championship game Dec. 18.