Glendale, AZ- With SAGU 13 yards away from a potential tying score and under two minutes to play, the ACU defense held for four downs to seal a 27-20 Arizona Christian victory on Saturday night.  The win sent ACU to 2-0 in Sooner Athletic Conference play.

Defensively, the Firestorm recorded ten tackles for loss highlighted by sacks from Sophomore Dezmon Dean and Senior Jaron Green.  Green's strip sack in the second quarter move him atop the all-time sacks list at ACU.  The Firestorm were credited with 11 pass breaks topped by Sophomore Alex Morgan with three.

Special teams played a big role on Saturday with a punt returned for a touchdown by Freshman Anthony Nicastro and two more field goals from Freshman Nestor Higuera.

Offensively, Freshman Tyler Duncan delivered 201 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Game Info

• Game score: Arizona Christian 27, Southwestern Assemblies of God 20
• Records: Arizona Christian- 2-2, 2-0 SAC, Southwestern Assemblies of God- 0-3, 0-1 SAC
• NAIA Top 25 Rank: Arizona Christian – not ranked, Southwestern Assemblies of God – not ranked
• Location: Cactus High School, Glendale, AZ

Offensive Stars

• Tyler Duncan - 14-27, 201 passing yards, 2 touchdowns
• Alias Sturges - 5 catches, 60 receiving yards, touchdown
• Bailey Ehrlich – 1 catch, 49 yards, touchdown
• Nestor Higuera – 2-2 field goals, 3-3 extra points

Defensive Stars

• Jacob Hernandez - 9 tackles
• Dezmon Dean - 8 tackles, sack
• Deonsaye Dean- 7 tackles
• Jaron Green - 5 tackles, sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, forced fumble

Inside The Numbers

• Down 10-3 with 31 seconds left in the first half, a 49 yard bomb from Duncan to Ehrlich and Higuera extra point tied the game at 10-10
• Behind 17-13 in the fourth, Sturges grabbed a TD and Nicastro picked up a loose punt and maneuvered 65 yards for the game winning TD
• Teams combined for five turnovers

Thoughts from Coach Bowen

"We are proud of the guy's ability to stay in the game.  Showed some mental toughness on both sides of the ball.  And the defense got to stop when we needed to.  So we are proud of our guys and that we are 2-0 in league. It is a great way to head into the bye on the win."

Up Next

Thanks to a bye week, the Firestorm will have two weeks to prepare for No. 18 Langston.  ACU will head to Langston, OK, on October 12 for a 12:00 pm (Arizona)/ 2:00 pm (Central).