GOODWELL, Okla. — On a night where Oklahoma Panhandle State University Athletics honored its three newest Hall of Famers, Craig Latham, Adrian Jackson and Scott Dunnam, the Aggie football team took on No. 18 Ottawa University Arizona (3-0, 3-0 SAC) for its home opener and was defeated 56-10.
 
A banged-up OPSU team (1-2, 0-1) fell behind 14-0 early in the evening as OUAZ's top-ranked SAC offense put together a methodical touchdown drive before converting on a 63-yard touchdown pass from last year's SAC Offensive Player of the Year Luke Giron.
 
Panhandle State got on the board with a drive that began late in the first quarter and was headlined by a pair of completions from Chance Guadiz to Dillon Laurer, including a 43-yarder. The drive stalled out and forced a field goal by Carlos Vazquez, who kicked it through the uprights to make it 14-3.
 
Another big offensive play from the Spirit made it 21-3, but OPSU's defense was able to step up and force two punts in the second quarter. Unfortunately, the halftime scoreboard read 28-3 as OUAZ's defense recovered a fumble and returned it for a score early in the period.
 
The Aggies' defense continued to remain stout, forcing another punt and a turnover-on-downs to start the second half, but the offense could not give the hosts the momentum they needed.
 
Midway through the third quarter, however, running back Jacob Chavez strung together several decent gains, and quarterback Tach Brewer followed with three rushes of his own for 18 total yards, ending in OPSU's second touchdown run of the season.
 
Despite Panhandle State coming away with another defensive stop to open the final 15 minutes, a pick-six and two more touchdowns by the Spirit led to the lopsided result.
 
As a team, OPSU more than doubled its rushing output for 2025 with a season-high 140 net yards on the ground. That number was led by Chavez (12 carries, 47 yards) and an evenly distributed combination of Jerry Martin, Guadiz, Eric Barlow and Brewer who went for nearly 90 yards altogether.
 
Guadiz threw for a career-high 102 yards on 12 completions as he made his first collegiate start. Laurer led the receivers with 66 yards, while William Rodriguez III and Maddox Ellis each caught three passes.
 
Defensively, Logan Anderson, Loren Snead and Nate Orta all had eight tackles to their credit, while Charles Holmes III had a game-high four pass breakups as the defense held Giron to under 50% completion percentage. Orta and Hector Zamora also combined for one sack.
 
Snead had a strong day punting the ball, with three of his six kicks ending inside the 20-yard line and two going for 50-plus yards.
 
What's up next: OPSU looks to get healthy and pick up its first conference win next Saturday at Homecoming when it hosts Louisiana Christian (2-2. 2-0) at 6 p.m.