Late rally not enough for Leopards
Campus Times
October 23, 1998
Junior quarterback Kyle Spielbuhler rushes past the defense for a
first down in last week's game against Azusa Pacific. La Verne battled the
Cougars to no avail, ending the game with a 42-22 loss. The Leopards dropped
to 2-3 overall.
The blur that was just out of reach for the University of La Verne football
team last Saturday has now been confirmed as Azusa Pacific University's
senior wide receiver Dexter Davis.
Davis caught four passes for touchdowns -- one for 92 yards -- in the
Cougars' 42-22 victory over the visiting Leopards.
"They have a couple of outstanding players," Don Morel, ULV
head coach, said. "Dexter Davis beat us by himself. That is the way
it goes."
Davis scored once in the first quarter and two more times in the second,
as APU took a 35-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.
"We came out flat as a pancake and stunk it up in the first quarter,"
Morel said. "We are not good enough to do that, [because] we are a
very average team. We have the ability to win games though, and we can't
do that.
"We were flat on defense and we had guys in positions to make tackles,
[but] they weren't getting made."
"We thought we were ready, but we came out real flat," senior
linebacker Thomas Penegar said.
The La Verne defense showed how flat it was by the final APU statistics,
as the Cougars complied 425 yards passing and 209 yards rushing on 38 attempts.
In comparison, the Leopards passed for a total of 108 yards and ran for
164 yards.
The only points ULV scored through the first three quarters came in
the first 15 minutes off the foot of junior quarterback/kicker Dan Blahy.
He booted a 33-yard field goal with 2:43 remaining in the quarter.
The Leopards did not score again until the fourth quarter, when they
trailed 42-3. With many of the starters on the bench for both sides, La
Verne was able to put some points on the board.
After APU was forced to punt by the ULV defense, junior quarterback
Kyle Spielbuhler capped a seven-play, 38-yard drive with a 3-yard run around
the left end with 9:39 left in the fourth quarter.
The Cougars fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving the ball to the Leopards
at the APU 29-yard line. On second down, Spielbuhler hooked up with junior
wide receiver Andrew Woolsey for a 29-yard score.
The Cougars again were forced to punt, and the Leopards marched down
the field APU-style, as junior running back William Kwan ran for a gain
of 48 yards, setting up Woolsey's second touchdown catch, an 11-yard grab,
from Spielbuhler.
"The way I see it is the best way to spark a team or put some inspiration
into some teammates is to go out there and play as hard as I can,"
said Woolsey, who has caught three touchdowns in the last two games for
the Leopards.
"I try to go out there and do what I can do. I guess I get lucky
sometimes. Lately things have been going real good for me, and I have been
hooking up with quarterbacks real well."
The Leopards dominated the fourth quarter and did make the game-at least
on the scoreboard-respectable.
Spielbuhler completed five-of-14 passes for 53 yards and two touchdowns
in limited action. Woolsey, who caught those two Spielbuhler touchdown passes,
finished the night with five receptions for 100 yards.
"It [scoring the late fourth quarter points] was a bright spot,
nobody quit and that is a real positive," Morel said. "We have
a lot of work ahead of us."
La Verne continues its work against Redlands tomorrow, as the Leopards
kickoff Homecoming at 1 p.m.
Redlands arrives at Ortmayer Stadium sporting a 4-1 record overall and
1-0 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The
Bulldogs are 23rd in the nation in Division III defense, allowing 237.8
yards per game. Redlands also comes in averaging 264.8 yards per game in
passing offense (24th in the nation) and will be led by quarterback Danny
Ragsdale, who has thrown for 969 yards and 11 touchdowns.
