SURPRISE, Ariz. – In a game over a year in the making, the OUAZ football team delivered a memorable performance in its inaugural game as the Spirit defeated Cetys Universidad, 51-19, on Saturday night at Spirit Field.
Playing in front of a standing room only crowd, OUAZ wasted no time rewarding them. On the team's second offensive play, quarterback
Jack Graham found Brandon McLoughlin on an 86-yard touchdown pass that set the tone for the evening.
The next offensive possession ended with
Marcelous Chester-Riley scampering 19 yards for a score on the fourth play from scrimmage. That had OUAZ leading 14-0 on four plays and 50 second of possession.
It wasn't just the offense that was dominating in the first quarter. The Spirit defense held Cetys to 26 total yards in the quarter while recording three sacks. The visitors totaled 39 of the yards in the opening quarter on the team's first drive.
OUAZ would run the lead to 23-0 midway through the second quarter on the stretch of a blocked punt for a safety by
Da'Shawn Holcombe and a 36-yard rushing score from
Shamar Moreland. Cetys got a touchdown late in the half, but failed on the 2-point conversion attempt to make it 23-6 at intermission.
Moreland would excite the home crowd again to start the second half when he took the kickoff back 75 yards to setup a 24-yard touchdown pass from Graham to
Ronnie Martin on the first scrimmage play of the half.
After the Spirit defense forced another Cetys punt, Moreland struck again with a 79-yard punt return touchdown. Just like that, OUAZ had 14 points in the third quarter on only one offensive snap and their lead had ballooned to 37-6.
Cetys would generate a pair of scoring drives over the end of the third quarter and into the fourth. They then started a drive at the OUAZ 6-yardline with 13:02 to play and trailing 37-19. That drive resulted in negative-10 yards of offense and ended with a
Kenneth Steele Jr. sack.
OUAZ sealed the victory on the ensuing drive when Graham capped a 10-play, 84-yard drive with a 7-yard scoring toss to
Jeremiah Greylock as the clock read 7:04 remaining.
OUAZ now has two weeks to prepare for the Sooner Athletic Conference opener on September 8 at Langston. That game will kickoff at noon MST from W.E. Anderson Stadium in Langston, Okla.
