Box Score Surprise, Ariz.- In Saturday's crosstown rival game between Arizona Christian and OUAZ, the Firestorm were unable to slow the offense of the No. 12 Spirit. Despite their 52-34 loss, ACU manage to break or tie three individual game records.
On the offensive front, Junior Tyler Duncan completed 35 of 56 passes for 369 yards while running for 98 yards. The 35 completions tied the ACU single game record. Duncan's favorite target Senior Jon Cole hauled in 15 receptions- a new game record. All five touchdowns came on the ground with Seniors Aidan Quinn and Cole Davis both finding the endzone twice.
Defensively, Senior Jacob Hernandez produced a game high 15 tackles and a forced fumble. Hernandez ties for the most tackles in one ACU contest. Sophomore Craig Martin IV added eight tackles.
Game Info
- Game score: OUAZ - 52, Arizona Christian - 34
- Records: Arizona Christian- 3-2, 2-2 SAC, OUAZ - 5-0, 5-0 SAC
- NAIA Top 25 Rank: Arizona Christian - RV, OUAZ - 12
- Location: Spirit Field, Ottawa University, Surprise, AZ
Offensive Stars
- Duncan- 35-56, 369 passing yards, 98 yards rushing, touchdown
- Cole- 15 catches, 185 receiving yards
- Turnbull-Frazier- 6 catches, 69 receiving yards
- Quinn- 54 yards, 2 rushing touchdowns
- Davis- 2 rushing touchdowns
Defensive Stars
Inside The Numbers
- Quinn started the scoring with a 12 yard run off the left side
- Unfortunately, OUAZ countered with the next 24 points
- Duncan called his own number on a four yard TD
- The Spirit added one TD just before the half for a 31-14 edge
- Three touchdowns by both teams basically kept the same point spread in the final 30 minutes of play
- Davis twice dove over the pile from one yard out
- Quinn's 15 yard cut on dime and race to the pylon TD was sandwiched in between the Davis TDs
- ACU out passed OUAZ 369-312 but the Spirit outgained the Firestorm 270-171 on the ground
- The Firestorm ran a season best 91 plays offensively
- Arizona Christian went 5-5 scoring touchdowns in the red zone
Thoughts from Coach Bowen
"It was a tough loss for the Firestorm… our guys gave a solid effort. But you cannot confuse effort with results, we made too many mistakes to win the football game. All three phases of the game could have been better. Back to the drawing board, time to get better as a team. That is the beauty of football."
Up Next
After their shortest trip of the season, the Firestorm will make their longest trip of the season when they travel to Batesville, AR, to play Lyon College on Saturday. Kick-off will come at 1:00 pm (AZ)/ 3:00 pm (Central).
