by John Cusick
The Mavericks certainly love do or die situations. This past Saturday proved no different as the football team welcomed the no. 13 Azusa Pacific Cougars to Stocker Stadium.
With a playoff berth on the line the Mavericks knew it was a must win game.
The Mavericks up ended the Cougars 33-24 as they all but clinched themselves a playoff spot this year.
“We’re just trying to go 1-0 every week. Now that the regular season is over everything just resets and now we’re focused on this one team, ” quarterback Sean Rubalcaba said. “I think the seniors and the leaders of this team hit the nail on the head that you don’t know how much you have left. You win or go home, playoff mentality, all that stuff. If we go out and do our business we’ll be playing next week.”
With the Cougars differing after winning the coin toss, Rubalcaba wasted no time in getting the Mavericks on the board as he connected with his receiver Josh Brown for a 47-yard touchdown.
Kicker Ryan Sheehan added a 40-yard field goal midway through the 1st quarter and capped off the scoring both teams with the Mavericks up 10-0.
Cougars’ quarterback Josh Elffers connected with Weston Carr for 34-yards to bring the the ball down to the Mavericks’ four yard line. The next play resulted in Elffers running in for a touchdown to bring the Cougars back within three at 10-7.
After the Cougars forced a fumble on a sack of Rubalcaba they took over on the 27-yard line of the Mavericks. After a defensive stop and some miscommunication from the Cougars they attempted a 48-yard field goal. However the Mavericks weren’t having any of that as junior lineman Blake Nelson was able to get his hands on the ball and block it.
“Coach Mac [Alexander] always preaches give effort. There’s some teams who don’t really come off on a field goal block but we come off every time and it opens up holes,” Nelson said.
The next play for the Mavericks was nothing short of stellar. Running back David Tann received a handoff and looked to be down for a five yard loss. But he reversed field and found a couple of blocks and went 70-yards for a touchdown that put the Mavericks up 20-7.
“Nothing was play side. I saw a lane back side and all I saw was two or three receivers blocking downfield and they thought the ball was going the other way,” Tann said. “I knew once I got through people were [going to] have angles on me so I tried to cut id something different, switch it up on them so they couldn’t predict where I was going.”
The Cougars next drive ended quickly as Efflers was hit hard and his pass flew errant. Senior Cody Daniels was able get underneath it just in time to make a play and intercepted to give the offense a short field.
The ensuing drive stalled out at the eight yard line and ended with a Sheehan kick from 25 yards out giving the Mavericks a 23-7 lead.
The half ended with both teams taking two drives and ending in three and outs.
The Cougars came out of halftime and found their stride early. Their first possession went 65-yards and lasted more than five and a half minutes. Efflers found his way into the endzone on a 17-yard rush bringing the Cougars back to within nine at 23-14.
The Mavericks were forced to a three and out which gave the ball back to the Cougars. After a forced fumble recovered by Efflers the Cougars were forced to punt. Brown waited for the kick and as it took a bounce towards the end zone he tried to pick it up and give the offense some breathing room but instead it bounced off of him and was recovered by the Cougars on the Mavericks one yard line.
The next play Cougars running back Kurt Scoby was able run in from one yard out to cut the score to 23-21 in favor of the Mavericks.
The next drive Rubalcaba was picked off at the Cougars 42-yard line giving them a chance to put points on the board before heading into the fourth quarter. After 10 plays and just under four minutes kicker Jacob Hall attempted his second field goal of the game and this time connected from 33 yards out to give the Cougars their first lead of the game 24-23.
The fourth quarter began and the Mavericks forced a punt from the Cougars. Starting on the 20-yard line the Maverick offense put together a 10 play, 53-yard drive down to the Cougars 27-yard line for a field goal attempt by Sheehan from 44 yards out. Azusa Pacific called a timeout as Sheehan’s first attempt flew through the uprights.
With a second attempt coming the animosity could be felt throughout the stadium. The snap was good. The placement was good. And the kick was good. Sheehan had given the Mavericks the lead at 26-24 with just under nine minutes to go in the game.
The next drive for the Cougars was something Maverick fans had seen before. A huge play for 55-yards by Scoby set the Cougars up in prime position to retake the lead. A sack by Nelson and an incomplete pass forced the Cougars into another field goal attempt.
Hall came out for a 23-yard attempt. In an all too familiar feeling it felt like the Mavericks needed to come up with a big play once again. Look no further than the man named Dustin Rivas. For the second straight week Rivas came off the edge to block a field goal at a critical time. And the man on the spot was Antonio Clark who picked it up once again and took off down the sideline. After making one man miss, Clark pretty much walked into the end zone to put the Mavericks up 33-24.
A last ditch effort by Efflers and the Cougars came up short as Efflers was stopped short on fourth and three.
“The strength of this team is the spirit and the heart of this football team,” head coach Russ Martin said. “Our guys have just done a great job all year of finding ways to get it done.”
The Mavericks earned a five seed in the playoffs and will travel to Texas to take on the four seed Texas A&M Commerce Lions 10-1 (8-1 LSC).
