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OUAZ Athletics

Jonah Alicea -- October 1, 2022
Richard Martinez
38
OUAZ OUAZ 4-1 , 4-1
40
Winner Arizona Christian ACU 3-2 , 2-2
OUAZ OUAZ
4-1 , 4-1
38
Final
40
Arizona Christian ACU
3-2 , 2-2
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
OUAZ OUAZ 7 17 7 7 38
ACU Arizona Christian 6 3 14 17 40

Game Recap: Football |

Season Reset with Result in Glendale

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The seventh-ranked OUAZ football team dropped its first game of the season 40-38 at Arizona Christian on Saturday night at the ACU Football Field.

OUAZ (4-1, 4-1 SAC) finished the game with 458 yards of total offense and 26first downs, but the Spirit committed five turnovers and had a stretch in the second half where they struggled to move the ball that kept Arizona Christian (3-2, 2-2) in the game.

Marcelous Chester-Riley scored on a 9-yard run to open the scoring in the first quarter, and then Roman Sahagun caught a 9-yard pass from Isaiah Randalle that gave the Spirit a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter.

With the lead 14-9, OUAZ closed the first half with a TD pass to Devone Humphrey and a 36-yard field goal from Landon Reeves to make the score 24-9 at halftime.

After ACU scored the first two touchdowns of the third quarter, Kristopher Ewens capped a 12-play, 92 yards drive with a 12-yard rushing touchdown to push the Spirit lead back to 31-23.

Everything changed for the Spirit in the fourth quarter. ACU converted a fourth and 10 with a fake punt on the quarter's first play and then hit a 32-yard touchdown pass and 2-point conversion to tie the game.

OUAZ then punted on its next possession and saw the Firestorm drive the field to the Spirit 1-yard line, only to have Seth Ham force a fumble that Scott Bonham Jr. recovered to stop the drive. However, taking over at the goal line, Chester-Riley was stopped in the endzone for a safety that put ACU in front for the first time.

ACU extended its lead to 40-31 with a 5-yard touchdown after an OUAZ fumble deep in its territory. The Spirit countered with a 78-yard drive ending in a 43-yard touchdown from Randalle to Jonah Alicea with 3:50 on the clock.

The Spirit defense got a stop, and the offense took over down two with 3:28 to play. They moved to the ACU 39 before three straight incompletions, including on fourth down in the end zone, ended any thoughts of a comeback.

Randalle finished with 300 yards passing and three touchdowns, and two interceptions. He completed passes to eight different receivers, with Alicea leading the group with 96 yards on five receptions. Chester-Riley ran for 80 yards on 15 carriers, and Ewens gained 78 yards on his 26 attempts.

ACU totaled 395 yards of offense, with 272 coming from the passing game. The Spirit defense forced three Firestorm turnovers via fumbles. OUAZ was 10 of 17 on third down and 30 minutes, 13 seconds of possession.

Brandon Tomerlin Jr. led the Spirit defense with nine tackles while making one tackle-for-loss. David Sow and James Randolph III made seven tackles apiece.

Despite the loss, OUAZ remains in control of their opportunity to win a second straight Sooner title with four games to play. That stretch begins on Saturday when they host Texas College in the Orange Crush game at Spirit Field at 7 p.m.
 
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