By: Burke De Boer Sports Editor
Wolves football got trounced 2-31 at home on Oct. 1 at the hands of Azusa Pacific University. The Wolves had more yards, more first downs and a greater time of possession but couldn’t finish against a tough APU team. Penalties and missed opportunities stacked up to keep Western from threatening in the game.
Quarterback Philip Fenumiai passed for 307 yards and rushed for another 72, emerging as the rushing leader of the game. He also took five sacks and threw two interceptions.
The game began with a promising start. APU came into the game ranked and undefeated, but were held scoreless through the first quarter. Rushes by Fenumiai and running back Malik Braxton, as well as pass completions to Keoni Piceno and Paul Revis, marched the Wolves down the field. In the opening drive, a 20-yard rush from Braxton and a 25-yard pass to Piceno were among the plays that put the Wolves into the red zone.
However, penalties pushed the Wolves back. Holding and false start calls put the Wolves out of range for kicker Jacob Bannister, whose kick went wide of the goalposts.
A forced fumble by linebacker Tafatolu Tafai, recovered by the Wolves on their own goalline, stopped APU’s first score threat and gave the ball back to the Wolves offense to start the second quarter.
Three and outs ended the half for the Wolves while the defense held APU to 10 points. The game was still in hand as the Wolves received to start the second half. A false start penalty added five yards to Bannister’s kick attempt, which went wide left.
APU piled on 14 points in a minute with a rushing touchdown and a pick six and began to pull away. The Wolves were then able to strike into the red zone before a sack, a tripping penalty and a false start lead to another long field goal try, this one missing from 42 yards.
Defensive back Austin Spencer and lineman George Swartzlander split a tackle for a safety in the fourth quarter to get the Wolves’ only points.
With the loss, the Wolves fall to 2-3 on the season. They host Simon Fraser for a chance to break .500 on Oct. 9. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
