PHOENIX, AZ – The Arizona Christian University Firestorm football team fell in their regular season finale on Saturday night to Menlo College, by a final of 52-24 at Shadow Mountain High School, in front of 1,586 fans.

With the loss, the Firestorm close their inaugural season with a record of 2-7, while Menlo College improves to 3-6 on the season.

The Firestorm got on the board first Saturday night, when quarterback Ryan Esslinger hooked up with Dakota Ferch for a 26 yard touchdown pass just four minutes into the game.

Menlo Responded on the following kick-off, taking it 100 yards for the score; tying the game at seven.

The Firestorm then responded a minute later with a 63 yard touchdown pass from Ryan Esslinger to LaRon Barnes to make it 14-7 in favor of ACU. The fireworks kept coming, as Menlo scored a minute later on a Josh Neal to Brandon Soohoo 67 yard touchdown pass and catch. Menlo would add two more scores following that to take a 28-14 lead after a quarter of play.

In the second quarter, ACU got on the board less than a minute later on a Ryan Esslinger to Weston Diehl 22 yard pass and catch TD. Menlo would then tack on a safety and a touchdown to take a 37-21 lead into halftime.

Three and a half minutes into the second half, ACU got a 28 yard field goal by Michael Costello to make it 37-24. But Menlo would get another touchdown late in the third and another early in the fourth quarter to earn the 52-24 victory.

Ryan Esslinger ended his night going 20-35 for 266 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. LaRon Barnes led the ACU receivers with five catches for 104 yards and a touchdown.

Seniors Mike Munsil and Mason Dacanay were both honored before the game, as it was the last time either would suit up for the Firestorm.

The Firestorm season has now come to a close, after a successful first year. Make sure to stay up-to-date with the Firestorm Football team, by visiting acufirestorm.com and our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates all offseason long. The 2015 campaign will begin in late August, with the release of next year's schedule coming soon!