The win improved the Hornets to 2-4 on the season and gave the team its second victory in as many games. The Cougars evened their record at 3-3 and had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Azusa Pacific scored the game’s first points when David Kim scored from 1-yard out to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead with 6:27 showing in the first quarter. The drive started near midfield after APU forced the Hornets to punt from their own 5-yard line. Sacramento State appeared to stop the drive at the 20-yard line but Brent Webber was called for a late hit which gave the ball back to Azusa and led to the score.

The Hornets answered the score midway through the second quarter when Mole scored his first touchdown on a 5-yard run.

The Cougars, however, needed just three plays to retake the lead when Mike Betancourth made a 52-yard field to give the team a 10-7 lead.

Sacramento State appeared to have its back against the wall when the team accidentally downed the ensuing kickoff on the 1-yard line. Mole took the first play and darted 72 yards to provide a little breathing room. Hurd then connected for a 16-yard pass to Tommy Briggs and later found Mole for a 15-yard completion. The final play of the drive came on 4th-and-2 when Briggs caught a 3-yard touchdown pass in the middle of the end zone. The snap on the extra point was mishandled and Juan Gamboa’s attempt was scooped up by Coba Canales who returned the ball for a defensive 2-point conversion. The defensive PAT was the first scored against Sacramento State since Northern Arizona did it in 1996.

After forcing APU to punt, Mole added a 42-yard touchdown to make the score 20-12 with 2:11 to play in the half. The Hornets tacked on seven more points in the closing seconds of the half when Hurd found Torrell Baker for a 32-yard pass in the corner of the zone for Baker’s first career touchdown.

In the second quarter, Sacramento State set a Div. I-AA program record with 27 points in a quarter. The previous mark of 26 came against Saint Mary’s in 2003. The quarter also saw the Hornets outgain APU 284 yards to 26. That total included 150 yards from Mole.

Sacramento State continued its momentum into the third quarter. Azusa Pacific drove the opening drive into Hornet territory but Mike Brannon blocked a field goal attempt to end the scoring threat. The team proceeded to drive the ball 70 yards on five plays capped by a 37-yard pass from Hurd to a diving Matt Yaklich for the junior’s first career score.

Neither team found the end zone until late in the fourth quarter when APU scored on a 3-yard run from Marcus Lampkin with 3:07 remaining. The Hornets tacked on their final points on the following drive when James Cummings darted 14 yards for his first touchdown of the season.

As a team, Sacramento State amassed 474 yards of total offense comprised of 236 on the ground and 238 through the air. The Hornets outgained Azusa by 174 yards despite having the ball for 10 fewer minutes (35:00-25:00).

Mole’s effort marked his second 200-yard game of his young career. Last season, the Santa Maria, Calif., native rushed for 245 against Montana State. With Saturday’s performance, he became just the third player in school history to have multi-200-yard games. Former All-American Charles Roberts holds the school and Div. I-AA record with 13 career games over 200 yards while Rob Harrison matched Mole with two. Mole now has six career games over the century mark and has performed the feat in back-to-back games after being held under 100 in the season’s first four contests.

Along with Mole and Hurd, Sacramento State also received 21 rushing yards from Cummings and 40 passing yards from Brad Tredway. The team also saw seven different players catch a pass led by Briggs who had four. Ryan Coogler tallied the most yardage with 51 and was one of five players to have at least 37 receiving yards.

Lampkin rushed for 110 yards to lead the APU ground game while quarterback Rudy Carlton threw for 151 and was intercepted once. Micah Staley led all players in the game with eight catches for 115 yards.

The Hornet defense was guided by senior Matt Logue who had a season-high 12 tackles. Sophomore Brett Shelton contributed nine stops and also picked off his first collegiate pass. The Cougars were led by Stephen Holte with 11 total tackles.

Sacramento State, which went 2-1 on its three-game homestand, returns to the road on Saturday, Oct. 15, to face the resurgent Weber State Wildcats. The game is scheduled to kick off at 12:05 p.m. PDT from Ogden, Utah.

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