The Cougar football team traveled to Arcata, Calif., Saturday night to take on the Lumberjacks of Humboldt State. The game marked the second consecutive week that junior running back Terrell Watson rushed for more than 270 yards. On a career-high 37 carries, Watson led the Cougars to a 21-13 road victory.
With the game tied 7-7 at the half, Watson began to gash the Jacks’ defense, rushing for 199 yards, which included 118 on 12 fourth-quarter carries. Watson now joins Christian Okoye as the only Cougars to rush for more than 3,000 career yards, becoming the second-best running back in APU history.
With four games remaining, Watson trails Okoye by 463 yards for the single-season rushing record of 1,680 yards.
The Cougar defense continued to impress, holding the Jacks to just one touchdown and a pair of field goals. Junior free safety Tyler Thornton led the way with the team-high 13 tackles with senior linebacker Marcus Mendillo adding 10 of his own. Junior free safety Mark Neely forced the only turnover of the game with a second-quarter interception. With the interception, the Cougars have now won the turnover battle in 11 consecutive GNAC contests.
Quarterback Dasmen Stewart completed six of nine passes for 70 yards and two scores while adding 59 rushing yards. Ronald Douglas added 19 yards on the ground, which gave the Cougars a total of 357 yards rushing, their second consecutive 300-yard rushing performance.
The final score of the game came with 8:47 remaining when Watson rushed for a seven-yard touchdown to put the Cougars up 21-13. The score ended a 10-play, 67-yard drive.
With the win, the Cougars improved their record to 5-2overall and 5-1 in GNAC play while Humboldt State remains winless at 0-7. Azusa Pacific visits Central Washington for a 1 p.m. matchup next week in Ellensburg, Wash.