Box Score

GLENDORA, Calif. – Southern Oregon fell behind early and the No. 11 Azusa Pacific offense rushed for nearly 300 yards as the Cougars defeated the Raiders 51-28 in nonconference football Saturday night at Citrus Stadium.

With the loss, SOU falls to 4-5 this season. Azusa improves to 7-2 with the win. The Raiders have a bye week next week before closing out the 2011 season with a home game against Menlo, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. at Raider Stadium.

Azusa Pacific controlled the ball for more than 20 minutes first half, helping the Cougars build an early 17-0 lead. Southern Oregon got on the board midway through the second quarter when Mike McDonald (Burbank, Calif./Burbank) connected with Patrick Donahue (Los Angeles, Calif./Franklin) on a 19-yard pass on a trick play.

The Cougars responded with a quick five-play, 68-yard drive that ended with Terrel Watson's second touchdown run of the night to make it 24-7 at halftime. Southern Oregon pulled back within two scores in its opening drive of the second half. Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview) drove the offense 72 yards down the field on eight plays and tossed a 12-yard scoring pass to Donahue to make it 24-13.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, the APU offense continued to put points on the board. John van den Raadt hit Matt Davis for a 31-yard scoring play less than two minutes after SOU's touchdown to push the lead to 18 at 31-13. Following a Tyler Crowley (Palo Cedro, Calif./Bishop Quinn) field goal for the Raiders, van den Raadt rushed for the first of his two touchdowns to again stretch the lead, making it a 37-16 advantage.

Dodge found Cole McKenzie (Red Bluff, Calif./Red Bluff) for a 35-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter to again make it a two-possesion game at 37-22, but van den Raadt's six-yard run gave Azusa Pacific the 44-22 lead. Donahue closed out his three-score day with an eight-yard touchdown run with 5:25 remaining to give SOU 28 points, and the Cougars' Johnell Murphy scored the final touchdown a couple minutes later on a 21-yard run.

Dodge finished with 271 yards passing with two touchdown passes. Donahue led SOU with 10 catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns and added 36 rushing yards on three attempts with a score. Marshawn Friloux (Bellflower, Calif./Bellflower) picked up 94 yards on the ground on only 12 carries for the Raiders.

For Azusa Pacific, van den Raadt threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns and added 172 yards rushing and a pair of scores on 19 attempts. Davis' 101 receiving yards were a game-high on six catches with one touchdown.

Defensively, Justin Akau (Makawao, Hawaii/King Kekualike) and Austin Cantrell (Redding, Calif./Foothill) tied for the SOU lead with 10 tackles each. Sean Barber posted 14 tackles for Azusa Pacific in a game that featured no sacks and only one tackle-for-loss.

The final yardage totals were fairly even between the teams, with Azusa Pacific posting 512 total yards and the Raiders picking up 476. The Cougars gained 296 yards on the ground and 216 through the air, while the Raiders had 186 rushing and 290 passing yards.