Azusa Pacific Is Gearing Up for a Shootout

Points probably won’t be at a premium when Georgetown of Kentucky plays at Azusa Pacific tonight at 6 in a National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics semifinal football game.

With the teams averaging nearly 88 points and 1,100 yards a game, the winner probably won’t be the one whose defense can stop the opposing offense. More likely, the loser will be the team whose offense can’t keep up with the other’s.

Azusa Coach Peter Shinnick expects that.

“I don’t know if you can sit down and say to the defense, ‘You’ve got to shut those guys down,’ ” the first-year coach said. “Our offensive goal is to score every time we have the ball. We might have to.”

Georgetown (12-0) has been ranked No. 1 since September and has the most productive offense in NAIA history, averaging more than 595 yards and 51 points a game.

But Azusa Pacific has plenty of firepower. The defending-champion Cougars (9-2) average nearly 480 yards a game.

Running back Jack Williams, last season’s NAIA player of the year, has 614 yards and six touchdowns his last four games, and 285-pound quarterback Neo Aoga has thrown 11 touchdown passes the last three games.