APU suffers first loss to Simon Fraser since 2012
Five years. 48 consecutive games. That’s how long it had been since Simon Fraser University had won a Division II football game. That streak came to an end last night as Azusa Pacific’s football team put together another disappointing performance, this time in front of their home fans. The 24-17 loss drops the Cougars to 1-5 on the season.
Injuries have plagued this team all season, and week after week each contest has been a new learning experience for this young group. Despite this narrative, SFU was a team who APU had already beaten 38-12 this season, and dropping a home game to this same squad is, as head coach Victor Santa Cruz described it, “a tough pill to swallow.”
“We gave them a lot of opportunities to score. Offense didn’t do much with the ball. Defense, unfortunately, began breaking down which allowed them to keep swinging at us. We just weren’t able to put the game away, and we let them back into it,” said Santa Cruz.
If you were only able to watch the first half, you would think the Cougars had the game in the bag. It was a 10-0 first-half lead for the Cougars, one in which a long rushing touchdown from quarterback Anthony Catalano highlighted their sequences of plays. Nevertheless, the strongest component of the Cougars’ first-half play was their defensive front who continuously stuffed the line of scrimmage and sacked SFU quarterback Brandon Niksich three times in the first 30 minutes.
In the second half, however, those good fortunes for the Cougars quickly flipped to the other sideline. The third quarter was a breakdown for the Cougars on both sides of the football. Offensively the team couldn’t generate plays that led to yardage. In the third quarter, they only accumulated 42 yards.
SFU eventually took advantage of the missed opportunities from APU and scored two touchdowns by the end of the third, one of them being an incredible grab from Rysen John who was able to corral Niksich’s pass in between three Cougar defenders. John had a phenomenal performance, scoring three touchdowns and acquiring 109 yards during the game.
“I give a lot of respect to Simon Fraser, I always have. Those guys over there are hungry,” said Santa Cruz. “They were eager to leave with the win tonight. And that receiver 19 (John) is the real deal. He had a phenomenal game and he should have some strong opportunities ahead of him in football.”
In the fourth quarter, SFU continued to chew the clock, while the Cougars were still unable to move the football. A quick three and out for APU led to yet another touchdown for Simon Fraser, this time a deep ball towards the sideline that was once again caught by John. APU responded to the score with another three and out, this time only earning a single yard.
Bryce Grandison scored a short touchdown run with 1:16 left in the contest, leaving the door open for a possible comeback. However, the comeback was halted after a failed onside kick attempt by the Cougars, sealing the win for Simon Fraser.
The teams met in the middle, giving each other the traditional handshakes as a sign of respect. However, once the group of men split, it was Santa Cruz’s team who met under the goal post taking a knee in an eerie silence, while SFU met on the other side of the field in joyous celebration.
After a tough 1-3 road trip to start their season, it was essential for the Cougars to come back to Citrus Stadium and beat the former winless Simon Fraser to help build momentum for the season moving forward. Now this team is stuck in a hole, one in which they might be unable to escape. With the team being mainly constructed of lowerclassmen players, this season has had a big learning curve.
“The bottom line is it is a football loss. We didn’t execute the way we wanted to, but that shouldn’t lead to us losing our heart,” said Santa Cruz. “We’re going to come back and prepare the way we always do, and we’re going to develop a game plan that we hope will allow us to find success next week.”
APU will hope to shift their luck by acquiring a win against the Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, Oct. 26. It will be the Homecoming matchup for these Cougars. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.