Heartbreaking loss for Clan at Homecoming (VIDEO)

BURNABY, BC – Simon Fraser University suffered a heart-breaking 16-10 loss to two-time defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Azusa Pacific, spoiling the Clan’s homecoming game Saturday evening at Swangard Stadium.

“I am very proud of my guys because they played their hearts out against a team that was ranked No. 17,” said Bates. “Our effort was tremendous tonight and we fought to the very end and that’s a great building block.”

The Cougars (2-1) were ranked No. 17 nationally in NCAA Div. 2 before losing 62-41 to Humboldt State last week. Saturday at Swangard Stadium, Azusa Pacific forced a pair of second-half turnovers and shut out Simon Fraser in the second half to claim a road win over the Clan. Both turnovers ended SFU drives in Cougar territory.

Simon Fraser QB Ryan Stanford was picked off by Josh Atkinson at the Azusa Pacific 15-yard line on the Clan’s first drive of the second half. On the only other SFU drive of the third quarter Stanford fumbled the ball at the Azusa 22-yard line.

Azusa sophomore QB Chad Jeffries converted the second turnover into a 10-play, 69-yard scoring drive that resulted in a 12-yard touchdown pass to TE Josiah Thropay, pushing Azusa Pacific in front, 16-10, with 12:11 to play.

Simon Fraser (0-2) managed just 30 yards on a 10-play possession that stalled just past midfield, and the Cougar offense bled the final 5:45 off the clock by converting four first downs while marching 58 yards on 11 plays to put the game away.

Azusa Pacific freshman RB Kurt Scoby ran for 56 of his game-high 164 yards on the final drive, rushing for three of the Cougars’ four first downs in the game-ending drive.

“Although Azusa is a great team I feel like we let them off the hook tonight,” said Bates. “We are very undisciplined right now; taking penalties that are extending drives for them and killing drives for our offence and that has to change.”

The Clan was penalized nine times for 55-yards.

APU’s Scoby opened the scoring for the Cougars before the game was three minutes old. Scoby’s second carry of the game appeared to be a short gain, but he was never tackled to the ground. Instead, he rolled across the top of a would-be Clan tackler before he popped back up to his feet for an 84-yard touchdown run on the Cougars’ second play from scrimmage.

Azusa added a field goal in the first quarter for a 10-0 lead before Stanford marched the Clan 65 yards on 12 plays, throwing a five-yard strike to Sam Nadon for the Clan’s only touchdown.

Tiernan Docherty added a 20-yard field goal, capping an 11-play 74-yard drive late in the first half.

Senior DE Charles Burks blocked a Clan punt late in the second quarter, giving the Cougar offense the ball at its own 43-yard line with just over a minute to play in the half. Jeffries completed passes of 18 and 12 yards to Robertson, and a roughing the passer penalty set up a 37-yard field goal attempt with one second left. However, APU’s attempt was blocked by SFU’s Jordan Herdman, keeping the score tied at 10-10 heading into halftime.

Simon Fraser finished with 284 yards of offence compared to 428 by Azusa.

Stanford was 21 of 32 for 248 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Running back John Hayden rushed for 47 yards on 15 carries and caught six passes for 65 yards. Jason Buren caught three passes for 77 yards, including a 44 yard catch, Stanford’s longest throw of the night.

APU’s Jeffries completed 23-of-32 passes (including 13-of-16 after halftime) for 245 yards and one TD, and he connected with WR Blake Robertson 12 times for 123 yards.

Source: Steve Frost, Simon Fraser Clan Sports Information