Azusa Pacific Finds Winning Touch

Four years ago, Vic Shealy was hired to turn Azusa Pacific’s football team into a national championship contender in the NAIA. Now, the Cougars are one of eight teams remaining in the national tournament.

The Cougars (9-2) defeated Taylor of Upland, Ind., in the first round Saturday, 30-27. They play host to Central Washington this Saturday in the quarterfinals.

It is the first playoff appearance in the 34-year history of Azusa Pacific football and that’s what Shealy has been striving for since he arrived.

“We wanted to recruit guys that would understand how to make a transition to the point where you’re good enough to be playing for the national championship,” said Shealy, who is 24-14-1 as coach of the Cougars.

“The last three or four years before we came in, a lot of the players lost the expectation for winning,” he said.

Now, the Cougars can’t stop winning. Riding a seven-game winning streak, Azusa Pacific turned a 2-2 start into a No. 8 ranking.

“After we dropped those two games, I challenged my team and told them to look at this season as a boxing match,” Shealy said. “If we could win each round the rest of the way out, then we would be back in the driver’s seat as far as a playoff spot.”

The Cougars are led by two of the biggest offensive threats in the NAIA.

Senior receiver Dexter Davis is second in the NAIA with a school-record 82 receptions and 1,047 yards receiving and leads the team with 14 touchdowns.

Junior running back Jack Williams, also the team’s best cornerback, is 12th in the NAIA with 1,192 yards in 191 carries.

But Williams gives the Cougars more than yardage. He brings with him Division I experience.

A transfer from Brigham Young, Williams has been in bigger games and seen better opponents at Provo, Utah, than at Azusa Pacific. But that doesn’t mean he regrets leaving BYU.

“Here, they treat players a lot better,” said Williams, who left BYU so his wife could be closer to her family at Long Beach. “The coaches actually know your name. [At BYU] it’s just like you’re a number.”

That, Williams, said, has helped make the Cougars a close team.

Azusa Pacific has a tough assignment Saturday. On Sept. 19, the Cougars were beaten by Central Washington, 51-17.

The football team isn’t the only one in the playoffs for Azusa Pacific. The women’s soccer team is one of the favorites after going 21-0 in the regular season and earning a No. 2 ranking.

In the first round Monday, the Cougars defeated Lindsey Wilson of Columbia, Ky., 2-0, at Mobile, Ala.

They play Houghton College of Houghton, N.Y., today at 10 a.m..

Cougar Coach Christian Johnson said he knew his team would be good, but an undefeated season?

“Our goals were to beat Westmont, win the conference and make the playoffs,” Johnson said. “But 21-0, no one could’ve imagined that.”

If the Cougars defeat Houghton, they will play Friday in the semifinals.

Westmont of Santa Barbara also made the tournament and defeated St. Thomas of Opa Locka, Fla., on Tuesday, 6-1. Westmont (15-4-1) will play Simon Fraser of British Columbia today at 3 and can lock up a semifinal berth with a victory.

The Westmont men’s soccer team went 1-1 in the opening round of the NAIA tournament, losing Monday to William Carey of Hattiesburg, Miss., 1-0, and defeating National American University of Rapid City, S.D., on Tuesday, 5-1. Westmont will learn today if it advances to Friday’s semifinals. . . . Also in the NAIA, Biola and Westmont made the national women’s volleyball tournament, held at Kankakee, Ill., early in December. In last weekend’s Golden State Athletic Conference tournament, Biola (23-4) defeated Westmont (21-12) in the consolation match, and both received at-large berths in the national tournament.

Juan Rodriguez of Whittier College and Leah Barnes of Pomona-Pitzer finished in the top third at the Division III cross-country meet at Carlisle, Pa. Rodriguez finished 61st, running the five-mile course in 26 minutes 13 seconds. Barnes ran 19:01 over five kilometers, finishing 53rd. There were 184 runners in each race. . . . Donna Mills and Araceli Martinez of Cal State Dominguez Hills finished sixth and seventh, respectively, Monday in the Division II cross-country meet at Lawrence, Kan.

After leading the Cal Lutheran women’s volleyball team to a 20-2 record and its fourth consecutive national tournament appearance, James Park was chosen the Division III West Region coach of the year by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. . . . Pomona-Pitzer’s Andrea Bustamante and Claremont-Mudd’s Leanne Knight and Regina Saulsbury were selected to the Division III All-West Region team in women’s volleyball. . . . Cal State Bakersfield’s Jennifer Carr and John Price were chosen California Collegiate Athletic Assn. women’s volleyball player and coach of the year, respectively. The Roadrunners won the CCAA title with a 22-7 record, 19-3 in conference play.