SURPRISE, Ariz. – The OUAZ football team returned to Spirit Field on Saturday night and for the second week in a row saw their effort to rally for a win fall short as Oklahoma Panhandle State kicked a field goal on the final play of the game to earn a 38-35 win in Sooner Athletic Conference action.
 
OUAZ (1-2, 0-2 SAC) never led on Saturday and twice trailed by 14 points. They rallied back to tie the game at 35-35 with 5:15 to play in the game, but Panhandle State (1-2, 1-0) went 67 yards on 12 plays to kick a field goal as time expired to escape Surprise with a victory.
 
The Spirit trailed 28-21 at halftime and were driving on the first possession of the third quarter when Austin McCullough fumbled and OPSU took it back 50 yards for a score. OUAZ got back within seven later in the third quarter when Marcelous Chester-Riley took a short pass 37 yards for a score.
 
After allowing four touchdowns on six OPSU possessions in the first half, the OUAZ defense forced four punts and had an interception on the Aggies first five possessions of the second half. That allowed the Spirit to tie the game on a Shemar Moreland 1-yards touchdown run at the 5:15 mark of the fourth before the game-winning drive by OPSU.
 
McCullough – making his first career start – finished the game with 320 yards passing and three touchdowns. He completed passed to nine different receivers and had two interceptions. Brandon McLaughlin led the team with four catches for 117 yards and scoring grabs of 49 and 29 yards.
 
Chester-Riley led the OUAZ rusher with 80 yards on 14 carries to go with three catches for 57 yards. Moreland scored two touchdowns and had 31 yards on the ground.
 
OUAZ ended the night with 431 yards of total offense. They allowed OPSU to gain 427 yards and the Spirit were negative-1 in the turnover game.
 
Kenneth Steele Jr. ended the game with nine tackles (four solo) and 3.5 sacks for 21 yards lost. Da'Shawn Holcombe led the team with 12 tackles and Jevan Hogan added eight tackles and two pass breakups. Aaron Mullins recorded the first interception in team history and Justin Barnett recovered a fumble.
 
OUAZ will look to snap a two-game slide next Saturday, September 22, when they host Lyon College for Military Appreciation Day. The game begins at 7 p.m. from Spirit Field with ticket information available at OUAZSpirit.com/tickets.