Junior running back Terrell Watson broke three Azusa Pacific rushing records in a memorable Homecoming game Saturday against the Simon Fraser Clan. Facing a 23-3 deficit at halftime, the Cougars came back in the second half and earned the 44-36 win in front of a home crowd of 5,476.
In the first half, the Cougars’ offense was struggling. Receivers were dropping passes and the Clan held Watson to only 28 rushing yards off 11 attempts, two of them being seven-yard rushes.
The Cougars began their comeback in the opening drive of the third quarter. This drive resulted in a fumble by Watson on Simon Fraser’s 1-yard line that was recovered by the Clan. During the following play, the Clan fumbled the ball back to the Cougars. After the next few snaps, Watson ran the ball into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game for the Cougars.
Excluding the Cougars’ closing drive, they scored in each of their five final possessions of the game — four touchdowns and one field goal. APU scored five times in the fourth quarter for a total of 31 points.
“I know this team has a lot of heart. This is where you love each other; this is where you play for each other, and you do that one play at a time,” head coach Victor Santa Cruz said. “You can’t set up a line of victories; you have to work hard for them. That’s what we talked about. Our coordinators made some really good corrections.”
Watson ran the ball 29 times for 299 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He broke the APU single-game rushing record, matched the single-game record for rushing touchdowns, and now sits at the No. 1 spot for the most rushing touchdowns in APU history.
He broke the record with three of APU’s top all-time rushers at the game: former NFL running back Christian Okoye, Ben Buys, and John van den Raadt. All of the Cougars’ touchdowns came from Watson and two of his three final touchdown runs were bursts through the middle and down field, one for 68 yards and the other for 70. The final touchdown of the night was a 13-yard touchdown run that was set up by a 56-yard burst.
“Tonight shows a lot of who Terrell is as a person; he will do whatever it takes for this team to win,” Santa Cruz said. “We talked about sacrifice at halftime and he took it to heart — he gave everything.”
Watson refused to take credit for his plays and instead gave it to his offensive line for setting up his big plays with good blocking.
“My role is really small,” Watson said. “The [offensive] linemen did a great job; they’re the ones who sprang off the big runs and allowed us to score. All of my yards come from the linemen. My job is much easier than theirs. I’m just thankful for them.”
With the victory, the Cougars sit atop the GNAC rankings, tied for first with Central Washington (4-2, 4-1). This win is memorable for the Cougars and according to Santa Cruz, one of the best games in which he’s been a part.
“It goes down to one of my top two, with the game against Central Washington last year being No. 1. It’s just a great win,” he said. “To come back that way and see our guys, the heart, it was awesome. They could have folded if they wanted to, but they’re champions and I believe that.”
Azusa Pacific’s next matchup is on the road Saturday, Oct. 19 against Humboldt State (0-6, 0-5) at 6 p.m.