Azusa Shoots Down Chapman in Finale

Neo Aoga passed for 334 yards and five touchdowns to lead Azusa Pacific to a 42-21 victory over host Chapman in a college football game Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars (7-2) clinched a playoff berth with the victory, earning the right to defend their NAIA national championship.

Aoga completed 25 of 37 passes, and Azusa Pacific gained 519 yards against the overmatched Panthers, who finished their season 5-4.

“They’re a great team,” Chapman Coach Ken Visser said. “We should have played a lot better. I’m very happy with the overall performance this year, but I hate to end it with this one.”

Aoga threw touchdown passes on the Cougars’ first four possessions, but Azusa led only 28-14 at halftime, as Chapman gained momentum late in the half.

Philip Cruz capped a 13-play, 66-yard drive with an acrobatic leap over two defenders into the end zone from four yards out to cut the margin to 14 points. Stanley Villanueva’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Qualls on a fourth-and-one play early in the third quarter pulled Chapman within a touchdown.

That was as close as the Panthers would come. Azusa Pacific scored early in the fourth quarter when Aoga hit DeAngelo Gossett in the flat, and the running back went 31 yards for the score.

Mike Steenbergen, an Azusa cornerback, stopped the next Chapman drive when he intercepted a Villanueva pass in the end zone. Chapman’s last hope faded when Villanueva had a screen pass intercepted by linebacker Joel Sanchez, who returned it 65 yards for a touchdown with just over five minutes remaining.

Qualls became the first player in Chapman history to have 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He went over 1,000 yards with his third-quarter touchdown reception, and finished the game with eight catches for 130 yards, and a season total of 1,028 yards.