Football celebrates Senior Day vs. APU

Ten players say farewell to Hansen Stadium faithful

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Football vs. Azusa Pacific - 1 PM MST (Hansen Stadium)
Live Radio: SportsRadio ESPN 1210AM, 107.3/102.3 FM
Live Online Audio/Video (DSC): Dixie State All-Access
Live Stats: Dixie State Live Stats
Game Notes: Dixie State Azusa Pacific

Dixie State will play host to GNAC newcomer Azusa Pacific on Saturday in the final home game of the 2012 season. Saturday's game will also honor Dixie State's ten seniors who will play on the turf at Hansen Stadium for the final time in their careers.

• Saturday will mark all-time meeting number seven with the Cougars, with the teams splitting the previous six meetings. Dixie State has won two of three meeting at APU, including this year's earlier meeting, 24-22. The Cougars have returned the favor to win two of three at Hansen. In their last year of NAIA competition, APU rolled into St. George and defeated Dixie State, 48-19.
• Ten men will be honored prior to kickoff – the senior class of the 2012 Dixie State Football Team. Being honored is – FB Kamuela Alisa (Laie, HI/Kahuku), DB Ray Chapman (Compton, CA/Compton), DL Ryan Cogdill (Chesterton, IN/West Valley), OL Joe Cowan (Escalon, CA/Escalon), WR Zack Fox (Spanish Fork. UT/Spanish Fork HS), OL Nick Garibay (Wilmington, CA/Banning), S Cameron Greene (Brigham CIty. UT/Box Elder), S Cache Morgan (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan), DB Nick Porrazzo (Rescue. CA/Ponderosa) and DL Kris Williams (Hazlehurst, MS/Hazlehurst).

• With a 3-5 record in the GNAC, the Red Storm sit in a fourth place tie with Simon Fraser. Humboldt State took sole possession of first place defeating Central Washington at home, 14-10 while Western Oregon dropped a rainy contest to APU, 19-3.

• Dixie State posted 180 yards of team rushing last week to eclipse the 100-yard mark for the seventh time this season. The running game has seen an improvement over a season ago. DSC posted only five games over 100 yards in 11 tries in 2011.

• In two of the three DSC wins, the Storm has erased double-digit fourth quarter deficits to win. One instance was the APU game in week three – the Storm was down 22-12 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter before coming back for victory.

• Azusa Pacific enters the game on the heels of winning the first two games of their official NCAA/GNAC tenures. Two weeks ago, the Cougars knocked off Central Washington at home. APU picked off three passes and used four field goals from Jamie Cacciatore for a 16-point win at Western Oregon last Saturday.

A WIN BY DIXIE STATE WOULD...
• Match the highest win total for any DSC team in the D2 era with four - DSC went 4-7 in 2009.
• Put the Red Storm over the .500-mark at home in a season for the first time since the 2009 season (4-1)

KICK IT AWAY FROM CACHE:
Dixie State ranks first in the GNAC and 16th in the NCAA in Kickoff Return Yards at an average of 24.28. Last week vs. Simon Fraser, Cache Morgan (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) returned his second kickoff for a touchdown (97 yards) this season en route to 169 total return yards on the day.

THE FIRST SIX GAMES VS. THE LAST THREE:
If you are asked this week during a trivia contest if Dixie State College has allowed more points over the last three games compared to the first six of the season, your answer should be fact. The Red Storm has allowed 181 points (60.3 avg.) in losses at Western Oregon, at Humboldt State and versus Simon Fraser. In the previous six games, a stout DSC defense surrendered only 160 points (26.6 avg). If asked if the total allowed yardage fits the same mold, the answer would be fiction – but not by much. Dixie State allowed 2,063 yards in the first six games and 1,956 in the last three.

ROOKIE STORM NO MORE:
Through nine games, 16 freshmen have seen game action for the Red Storm. Three have seen spots in the starting lineup - K Michael Meyers (St. George, UT/Dixie), K Austin Haslam (Philomath, OR/Philomath), OL Paul Toala (Redwood City, CA/Highline).

NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Oct. 28): Team (Top 30): Scoring Defense – 30. Central Washington 19.3. Total Defense – 30. Humboldt State 332.2. Rushing Defense – 23. Western Oregon 111.4. Passing Offense – 12. Simon Fraser 315.2. Passing Defense – 14. Humboldt State 168.2. Pass Efficiency Defense – 6. Humboldt State 94.8; 24. Western Oregon 107.3. Punting – 17. Central Washington 36.9. Kickoff Returns – 16. Dixie State 24.3; 30. Central Washington 22.7. Punt Returns – 10. Simon Fraser 17.4. Turnover Margin – 28. Simon Fraser 0.78. Individuals (Top 30): Total Offense – 21. Trey Wheeler, SFU, 298.2. All-Purpose – 12. Nick Ricciardulli, HSU, 167.6. Rushing – 4. Nick Ricciardulli, HSU, 146.8; 21. Demetrius Sumler, CWU, 114.6. Scoring – 3. Demetrius Sumler, CWU, 11.3; 18. Lemar Durant, SFU, 9.6; 29. Nick Ricciardulli, HSU, and Bo Palmer, SFU, 8.7. Receptions – 5. Bobby Pospischil, SFU, 8.4; 6. Lemar Durant, SFU, 8.3. Receiving Yards – 5. Lemar Durant, SFU, 121,8. Punting – 9. Alexander Bradt, WOU, 43.0; 21. Matt Burke, CWU, 41.2. Field Goals – 30. Kelly Morgan, WOU, 1.0. Kick Returns – 14. Cache Morgan (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan), DSC, 26.0. Punt Returns – 25, Tavoy Moore, CWU, 12.3; 29. Victor Spencer, HSU, 11.5. Interceptions – 16. Bryce Peila, WOU, 0.56. Sacks – 6. Andrew Marshall, SFU, 1.14.

STELLAR GAMES: 200 Yards Passing: 7 – Trey Wheeler, SFU. 5 – Griff Robles (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork), DSC. 4 - Cody VonAppen, WOU; Ryan Robertson, CWU. 3 - Alex Rump, HSU. 2 – Kaleo Nawahine (Fruitland, ID/Fruitland), DSC; Nick Owens, APU; Casey Mintz, HSU. 100 Yards Rushing: 7 – Nick Ricciardulli, HSU. 4 - Demetrius Sumler, CWU. 3 - Bo Palmer, SFU; Terrell Watson, APU. 2 – Johri Fogerson, CWU; Joe Harris, WOU. 1 – Jordan Todd, CWU; A.J. Johnson (Chino Hills, CA/Chino Hills), DSC; Cody VonAppen, WOU. 100 Yards Receiving: 7 – Lemar Durant, SFU. 2 – Zack Fox (Spanish Fork. UT/Spanish Fork HS), DSC; Tyrell Williams, WOU; Bobby Pospischil, SFU; Victor Spencer, HSU. 1 - Bo Palmer, SFU; Royce Spencer, WOU; Randon Willlard, DSC; Nick Perez, APU; Mitch Frei (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon), DSC; Tyler Davis, WOU; Kyle Dravis, APU; Anthony Spain, CWU.

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