Box Score Glendale, Ariz.- As advertised, No. 24 Arizona Christian and SAGU went down to the final play as ACU held off SAGU 52-45 in a Saturday afternoon thriller. Junior Tyler Duncan led the Firestorm in passing and rushing while accounting for four touchdowns. The ACU offense amassed a season high 591 yards of total offense.
Duncan delivered two touchdown strikes to Senior Jon Cole and another to Senior Sid Turnbull-Frazier. On the ground, Senior Aidan Quinn rushed for two touchdowns. Duncan and Senior Cole Davis found the endzone with a run for six points each.
Junior D'Marcus Jones topped the defensive with 12 tackles. But the play of the game came with SAGU on the ACU eight for one last play and Senior Deonsaye Dean and Sophomore Maurice Powell dropped the Lion QB for a sack to end the contest.
Game Info
- Game score: Arizona Christian - 52, SAGU - 45
- Records: Arizona Christian- 3-1, 2-1 SAC, SAGU - 2-2, 1-2 SAC
- NAIA Top 25 Rank: Arizona Christian - 24, SAGU - not ranked
- Location: ACU Football Field, Arizona Christian University, Glendale, AZ
Offensive Stars
- Duncan- 23-39, 429 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 47 yards rushing, touchdown
- Cole- 8 catches, 198 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns
- Turnbull-Frazier- 4 catches, 123 receiving yards, touchdown
- Derek Anderson- 5 catches, 37 yards
- Darrin Baker- 1 catch, 46 yards
- Quinn- 2 rushing touchdowns
- Davis- touchdown
Defensive Stars
Inside The Numbers
- ACU scored on their first drive (Quinn from a yard out) followed by SAGU scoring on their second drive
- The Firestorm countered with a 16 play drive that resulted in another Quinn TD and a 14-7 ACU edge after one quarter
- SAGU earned new life when their punt deflected off an ACU player and three plays later tied the game at 14-14
- On the next offensive play, Duncan hooked up with Cole on an 86 yard catch and run TD
- Nestor Higuera capped a ten play drive with a 44 yard field goal
- Following a SAGU three and out, Duncan found daylight from nine yards away to complete a 72 drive
- SAGU's Kieran Woodley made his presence known with 52 yard field goal as time expired in the half
- A Cole TD grab was followed by two SAGU scores
- Davis and Turnbull-Frazier scored to give ACU a 21 point advantage
- But SAGU closed the cap to seven with a pair of touchdowns
- After a recovered onside kick, the nailing biting 24 second finish was on before Dean and Powell sealed the deal
- Six of the eight meetings between ACU and SAGU have been decided by seven points or less
- Both teams converted six third down conversions, three fourth down conversions, and five scores in the red zone
Thoughts from Coach Bowen
"We know every time that we play SAGU it is going to be a tough game. They have a lot of talent and are well coached. Our guys really performed at a high-level today. Offensively, we made a lot of plays and put a lot of points on the board. And the defense got stops when we needed to get stops. Our goal is to get better each week and win the week."
Up Next
No.24 Arizona Christian will now face crosstown rival No. 16 OUAZ on Saturday in Surprise. The Firestorm and the Spirit will play at 7:00 pm- the only night game on the schedule for ACU this season.
