Nick Largent forced a fumble and Ray Chapman scooped it up for the winning score as Dixie State came from behind to defeat Azusa Pacific 24-22 Saturday night in California.

Nursing a 22-18 lead, Cougars quarterback Tyler Tuiasosopo scrambled into the open field on a second and 12 play, only to get nailed by Largent. The hit jarred the ball loose and the alert Chapman picked it up and raced 32 yards for the go-ahead score.

Moments earlier the Red Storm had closed the APU lead from 10 down to four on an impressive 7-play, 82-yard drive that took just barely over two minutes. Griff Roles had a couple of big completions to Zach Fox in the drive, but it was Kaleo Nawahine that got the two biggest plays. Nawahine hit A.J. Johnson on a 34-yard screen pass on a third down to keep the drive alive and then found Fox in the end zone from 14 yards out with exactly five minutes left in the game.

Dixie State then kicked it deep, forcing the Cougars to start at their own 30-yard line. After a sack by DSC’s Matt Tanuvasa forced a second and long, Largent and Chapman went to work on the big defensive play. Chapman’s scoop and score came with 3:54 left on the clock.

After the Dixie State TD, Azusa Pacific drove to the Red Storm 33-yard line over the next 2:22. But Tanavasu came up big again, blocking a field goal attempt by the Cougars Jamie Cacciatore. DSC able to kneel out the final 1:26 to secure the win.

The Red Storm offense was fairly ineffective in the game as Johnson and Robles were bottled up of the night. However, DSC’s defense and special teams came up big. Cache Morgan returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the first half.

Dixie State was out-gained 348-232 in total yards, bu defense forced APU into five field goal tries. Fox led DSC offensively with five receptions for 56 yards and the aforementioned TD. Robles had a 1-yard TD run in the first half.

DSC is now 2-1 and plays next week at Hansen Stadium against Humboldt State. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
—————–    — — — —   —–
Dixie State………  6  6  0 12  – 24       Record: (2-1,2-0)
Azusa Pacific…….  3 13  0  6  – 22       Record: (0-3,0-2)

Scoring Summary:
1st 08:41 APU – Cacciatore 32 yd field goal, 9-50 4:32, DSC 0 – APU 3
02:11 DSC – Robles 39 yd run (Meyers kick blockd), 6-64 2:56, DSC 6 – APU 3
2nd 08:24 APU – Petty 25 yd pass from Tuiasosopo (Cacciatore kick blockd), 8-653:26, DSC 6 – APU 9
08:09 DSC – Morgan 100 yd kickoff return (Meyers kick failed), , DSC 12 – APU 9
03:22 APU – Watson 5 yd run (Cacciatore kick), 9-49 4:45, DSC 12 – APU 16
4th 12:47 APU – Cacciatore 23 yd field goal, 13-66 7:25, DSC 12 – APU 19
07:17 APU – Cacciatore 26 yd field goal, 7-21 3:47, DSC 12 – APU 22
05:00 DSC – Fox 14 yd pass from Nawahine (Meyers kick failed), 7-82 2:12, DSC 18 – APU 22
03:54 DSC – Chapman 32 yd fumble recovery (Meyers kick failed), , DSC 24 – APU 22

DSC      APU
FIRST DOWNS……………….       11       19
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)…………   25-101   55-261
PASSING YDS (NET)………….      131       87
Passes Att-Comp-Int………..  19-11-1   13-7-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS…..   44-232   68-348
Fumble Returns-Yards……….     1-32      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards…………      0-0      4-9
Kickoff Returns-Yards………    4-150     4-52
Interception Returns-Yards….      1-5      1-0
Punts (Number-Avg)…………   5-38.4   2-29.5
Fumbles-Lost………………      2-1      1-1
Penalties-Yards……………     5-60     7-49
Possession Time……………    22:38    37:22
Third-Down Conversions……..  6 of 12  5 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions…….   0 of 0   3 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances…….      1-1      4-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards……..      0-0     4-20

RUSHING: Dixie State-Robles 13-55; Johnson,A 8-40; Nawahine 2-6; TEAM
2-0. Azusa Pacific-Watson 25-87; Petty 10-84; Tuiasosopo 16-74; Douglas 4-16.

PASSING: Dixie State-Robles 8-15-1-74; Nawahine 3-4-0-57. Azusa
Pacific-Tuiasosopo 7-13-1-87.

RECEIVING: Dixie State-Fox 5-56; Johnson,A 2-37; Willard 2-21; Frei,M
1-14; Aron 1-3. Azusa Pacific-Johnson 2-27; Petty 2-22; Perez,N. 1-15; Schick
1-14; Hinke 1-9.

INTERCEPTIONS: Dixie State-Morgan 1-5. Azusa Pacific-Grunsky 1-0.

FUMBLES: Dixie State-Morgan 1-0; Robles 1-1. Azusa Pacific-Tuiasosopo
1-1.

SACKS (UA-A): Dixie State-None. Azusa Pacific-Adams 1-1; Taueli 1-0;
Danielson,E. 1-0; Tuifua 0-1.

TACKLES (UA-A): Dixie State-Moffett 9-1; Largent 6-3; Tanuvasa 7-1;
Duncan,Ja 4-3; Gibson 2-5; Greene 5-1; Chapman 3-2; Porrazzo,N 3-0;
Loveless 2-1; Woodard 1-2; Williams,K 1-2; Morgan 4-2; Raethke 1-2; Boyer 2-0;
Tuiasosopo 1-0; Pututau 1-0; McCray 0-1; Meyers 0-1; Townsend 0-1. Azusa
Pacific-Grunsky 4-1; TEAM 4-0; Tuifua 2-2; Barber 2-2; Thornton 2-1;
Danielson,E. 2-1; Lueken 2-0; Taueli 1-1; Watson 1-1; Adams 1-1; Moody 1-1; Goma
1-1; Wilson 0-2; Danielson,S. 0-2; Mendillo 1-0; Crutchfield 1-0; Mittel 1-0;
Dillihunt 1-0; Villalobos 1-0; Henderson 0-1; Douglas 0-1; Mouton 0-1; Bones
0-1.

Stadium: Citrus Stadium        Attendance: 2850
Kickoff time: 6:00 pm   End of Game: 8:41 pm   Total elapsed time: 2:42
Officials: Referee: Scott Root; Umpire: James Sillik; Linesman: Don Cory;
Line judge: C. Barrett; Back judge: Randall Mora; Field judge: Eric Cheatley;
Side judge: Brian Burns; Scorer: Chris Baker;
Temperature: 90 F      Wind: 8mph WSW  Weather: Clear

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