The Clan suffered their eighth loss of the season last Saturday to the Azusa Pacific (APU) Cougars.
The Cougars are ranked first in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC): they haven’t lost a conference game, and have only lost one in non-conference action, garnering them the 23rd spot in the national rankings. SFU lost to Azusa earlier this season by score of 32-24; in that game, the Clan played a weak first half, but dominated the second half, falling just short of a victory. Slow starts such as this have plagued the Clan for most of their season.
All things considered, SFU played a solid game against the first in the conference rushing offence, playing a tight defensive game. During the first quarter, the Clan did not allow Azusa onto the scoreboard once.
“We did some very good things, the guys played really hard, I thought we contained their defence pretty good,” said head coach Jacques Chapdelaine.
However, their offensive game left much to be desired — they were unable to put up a single point until late in the third quarter, and were held scoreless otherwise.
The Clan currently rank last in the GNAC for total offence (though only by four yards). A running theme in recent games has been missed opportunities by the Clan offence — they’ll make it to the goal line only to throw an interception, and have nothing to show for the drive.
Right after a missed field goal attempt by Azusa, SFU actually had the chance to put the first points on the board on the back of running back Stephen Spagnuolo, who notched 77 yards in one drive. However, in the first of the aforementioned missed opportunities, quarterback Ryan Stanford threw an interception trying to connect with Spagnuolo for the touchdown.
The Cougars would score for the first time at the beginning of the second quarter off of a five-yard rush by Azusa’s star running back Terrell Watson, to take a 7-0 lead. The Clan nearly answered back, making it to the APU 11-yard line, however their 28-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Azusa’s special teams.
The Clan appeared to be on the right track, forcing an Azusa fumble, which — although recovered by the Cougars — led to a turnover on downs. However, Stanford threw another interception to give Azusa their second touchdown of the game.
SFU would finally put up their first touchdown 4:45 into the third quarter on a nine-yard pass to tight end Phillipe D’Entremont. They took a false start penalty on the extra point kick, however, losing five yards and eventually missing the kick, taking the score to 14-6.
The Clan would be given the chance to rectify the blunder moments later when defensive back Matt Isherwood forced an Azusa fumble, giving SFU the ball. Once again though, the Clan’s offence would fall short, unable to make a single yard on the drive.
The final nail in SFU’s coffin came after the defence’s only real blunder of the game. They allowed Azusa’s Watson — who finished with 135 rushing yards — to run in for a 55-yard touchdown, effectively sealing the game at 21-6.
In the end, this game told the same story as those of weeks past: the Clan’s defence once again held their own, playing a great game minus one play, while the offence was unable to provide any support.
Jordan Herdman once again led the team defensively with 19 total tackles, while Spagnuolo put in another high-flying offensive effort with 146 all-purpose yards.
“I think there’s promise out there. You can be disappointed, and you should be disappointed after a game like this, but you certainly can’t be discouraged,” said coach Chapdelaine. “The thing is how you rebound.”
SFU will look to win their final game of the season this coming Saturday against the Central Washington Wildcats — who previously crushed the Clan 63-7 in the Battle for the Border — to wrap things up on a positive note.
It will be the last time many players will suit up for the team, including Spagnuolo, Isherwood, Bobby Pospischil, Cole Tudor, and Chris Tolbert.
“It’s seniors day next week, so if there hasn’t been a motivation to want to send those guys off on a positive note, I don’t know what else,” said Chapdelaine.
Honoured at the game:
The Clan honoured the 2004 SFU football team, which included current BC Lions offensive lineman Dean Valli at halftime. In attendance were Valli, Brendan Mahoney, Darcy Grant, Conrad Deugau, Ryan Christie, Luke Parm, and Aaron Hargreaves, along with former head coach Chris Beaton, and offensive coordinator Terry Bailey. Hargreaves also went on to have a career in the CFL, currently playing with the Ottawa Redblacks.
