Panthers can't breakthrough against No. 18 Occidental

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Although Occidental College has won five in a row in its series against Chapman University, one thing is certain: Chapman has earned the respect of the perennial top-25-ranked Tigers. This after a third consecutive game decided by a touchdown or less between the two teams as host Occidental defeated Chapman 20-14 at Patterson Field on Saturday night.

It was a story of two stingy defenses which, for two and a half quarters went back-and-forth without scoring a single point. No. 18 Occidental (4-1) finally snapped the scoring drought with an 80-yard scoring drive on just six plays and 3:32 off the clock. The Tigers opened up what had been a 12-6 game with a 3-yard touchdown run by Jason Haller with 6:32 left in the fourth quarter that gave Occidental a little breathing room at 20-6.

They needed it. On the ensuing kickoff, Chapman sophomore RB Kevin Krail returned the ball 91 yards for the Panthers' second kick return touchdown of the season. The Panthers had entered the game ranked No. 5 in the nation in kick return. Krail's touchdown brought Chapman (2-3) within six points after sophomore QB Blake Vanderweil ran in a fake PAT attempt for two points making the score 20-14 in favor of Occidental.

That would turn out to be the final score however. The Tigers ran down enough of the clock on their next possession and pinned Chapman inside its own 10 with under 2 minutes to play and the Panthers were unable to muster one final drive. In desperation, junior QB Eric Willcockson was intercepted on fourth down and 18 seconds remaining to end Chapman's threat.

Willcockson threw for 244 yards, completing 21 of 41 passes, including a touchdown to senior WR Dan Delahoussaye at 4:52 in the first quarter which gave the Panthers a brief 6-3 lead. It soon turned into an unusual 6-5 lead when Chapman K Jimmy Adranly's PAT kick was blocked and returned 90-plus yards by the Tigers' Nick Saraceni for two points.

The Tigers closed out the quarter with a 69-yard scoring drive, capped by a 42-yard touchdown pass from Scott Saunders to Jordan Washington. That gave Occidental a 12-6 lead which it would maintain until midway through the fourth quarter.

Delahoussaye led the Panthers with nine catches and had 91 yards receiving. Meanwhile, junior WR Chris Langstaff caught for 101 yards and seven receptions.

Both teams did a good job of hanging onto the ball as expected from two of the top-20 teams ranked in turnover margin. Besides the closing-seconds interception thrown by Willcockson, Occidental had just one other pick in the third quarter that it could not capitalize on. The big defensive play for Chapman came in the second quarter when senior LB Steve Downs forced an Oxy fumble on the Chapman 2 yard line denying the Tigers of a golden scoring opportunity. Downs also had a sack and two more tackles for loss in the game.

Chapman fell below .500 for the first time this season and has lost back-to-back games for the first time since last October.

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/fball/2009-10/stats/cu-oxy.htm