In the 2012 Great Northwest Athletic Conference week five, APU is still winless.
On Sept. 29 the Cougars who are now 0-5 were defeated by Western Oregon University. The final score of the game was 20-7.
Even though the Wolves got the win, star plays were lacking from both teams.
APU and WOU have played each other in the past. The last time they met, APU managed to tie with WOU with a score of 17-17 in the fourth quarter. In the end, the Wolves took the win by adding 21 points to the scoreboard and beating the Cougars 38-17.
Despite the fact that they lost the last game, APU had more yards of total offense and more first downs than WOU. The Cougars did, however,hand the ball to the Wolves five times and gave them five turnovers.
Saturday’s game was no different. WOU had 15 first downs, whereas APU only had 12.
In the first quarter, WOU had possession of the ball for 8:01. At the time of 11:38 into the first quarter, senior WOU quarterback Cody VonAppen made a 35-yard pass to senior Raymond Williams for the first touchdown of the game.
Junior Nick Owens was the starting quarterback for APU. Throughout the game, Owens was trying to gain first downs and yards by rushing the ball. Of the 36 passes Owens attempted, he only committed 22 passes.
In the first quarter, Owens gained 21 yards and lost zero. Owens did complete a 6-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Erik Johnson. Even though the Cougars had possession of the ball for almost seven minutes, they were not able to put any points on the board.
Sophomore running back Terrell Watson rushed the ball but was not able to gain any yards; he also fumbled the ball, but was able to recover it at the 21-yard line in APU territory.
After the recovery of the fumble, Owens made an incomplete pass to freshman wide receiver Mike Martens.
Cougars again were unable to put any points on the board, which led junior Sean Barber to kick a 49-yard punt to WOU’s 30-yard line.
After the punt, WOU’s senior wide receiver Tyler Davis fumbled the ball, but was able to recover it.
During the first quarter, APU’s defense was trying to hold down the Wolves. VonAppen threw two incomplete passes due to being rushed by freshman Talaisi Taueli and senior Spencer Danielson.
This, however, was not enough in the second quarter.
WOU was able to get a 36-yard rushed touchdown by VonAppen after only two plays. Senior Kelly Morgan’s kick was good, WOU lead by 14.
Before halftime, APU had only completed four first downs.
In the third quarter, WOU was able to complete a good field goal from the 37-yard line. The score now was 0-17.
Also in this quarter, each team had possession of the ball for almost 23 minutes and neither team was able to complete much outside of the field goal made by WOU.
In the fourth quarter, even though APU was down 17-0, the players did not give up hope. They were encouraging the APU fans to still stick by them. The cheerleaders, band, students, faculty and fans still kept on cheering for the Cougars because the game was not over yet.
WOU did get another field goal of 23-yards by Morgan, but after the field goal the Cougars were not going to have a complete shutout.
The cheering did help. With 1:35 left in the game, APU finally got a touchdown.
Owens threw a 20-yard pass to senior wide receiver Wade Struiksma and freshman Jamie Cacciatore kick was good. The final score of the game was 7-20.
In 1969, the Cougars started off their season 0-6. Hopefully, the Cougars will not follow in their footsteps and they will gain a win against Simon Fraser at Burnaby, British Colombia on Oct. 6.