Karina Rodriguez
Editor-In-Chief
The La Verne Leopards beat the Azusa Pacific Cougars, 30-3, on Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium in the Leopards’ season opener.
La Verne held the lead throughout the entire game and defended the end zone fiercely. Offensive coordinator John Roberts credits head coach Richard Sanchez for the victory.
“The culture that our head coach, Richard Sanchez, has fostered since he’s been here… has completely changed the mindset,” Roberts said. “This program struggles to find wins and it’s the culmination of the work that, No. 1, the players have done.”
La Verne gained a three-point advantage at 2:58 of the first quarter.
Junior kicker Jacob Cuevas scored a field goal at the 23-yard line to put La Verne on the board.
“I just see the ball from my peripheral and from there it’s honestly just blank… it’s a one to two second operation,” Cuevas said. “I would say though, it was hugging the post a bit… I need to get a little better on my accuracy.”
During the second quarter, Cuevas successfully completed two more field goals to bring La Verne’s lead to 9-0. Both were for 27 yards.
In the third quarter at 10:52, APU redshirt freshman kicker Tyler Nolan kicked a field goal from the 20-yard line to give the Cougars their only offense of the game, making the score 9-3.
In the fourth quarter, La Verne senior wide receiver Jimmy Rumsey caught a 23-yard pass from senior quarterback Jordan Hernandez to complete a touchdown.
“I already knew the ball was coming for me… and then the ball was in the air and I seen it floating in my hands,” Rumsey said.
An extra point kick by Cuevas was successful, bringing the score to 16-3.
At 8:18 in the fourth quarter senior defensive back Trevon Kenney intercepted a pass by Azusa Pacific sophomore quarterback Brandon Valencia.
“The QB wanted to give me another one, gave me it, gave me a scene wide and open green,” Kenney said. “Just took it for the score, perfect.”
Kenney returned the ball 49 yards to give La Verne another touchdown, and a successful extra point kick by Cuevas gave La Verne seven more points.
With only 3:13 left in the game, senior running back Tyler McCown ran 12 yards for La Verne’s final touchdown. A successful extra point kick by Cuevas brought the final score to 30-3.
“Just got in there, made one spin move then danced around the endzone afterwards,” McCown said.
McCown admits that, at first, he wanted to help the linemen out and not let Azusa Pacific get the ball, but then saw an opportunity for a touchdown.
“Honestly I wasn’t even thinking touchdown,” McCown said. “I was thinking ‘get the clock down’ and help our defense so that way they don’t get the ball.”
The Leopards will next face the Willamette Bearcats at noon Sept. 19 in Salem, Oregon, at McCulloch Stadium. They will open Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at Chapman on Sept. 26 and their next home game will be Oct. 10 against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Karina Rodriguez can be reached at karina.rodriguez3@laverne.edu.
Karina Rodriguez is a senior journalism major with a concentration in broadcast journalism, and editor-in-chief of the Campus Times. She has previously served as sports editor, social media editor, arts editor and a staff writer.
Isabella Huerta is a sophomore journalism major with a concentration in broadcast journalism and a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine. She is also a staff writer for La Verne Magazine and a former staff writer for the Campus Times.
