Late surge propels Panthers to 42-20 win over CMS
ORANGE, Calif. – Five second half touchdowns spurred the Chapman University football team past the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags, 42-20 on Saturday at Wilson Field. The Panthers rallied to notch their seventh win of the season, a benchmark the program has not reached since 1996 (7-2).
After securing a perfect road record (4-0) last week with a win at La Verne, Chapman (7-1 overall, 5-1 SCIAC) returned home and achieved a similar result, improving their home record to 3-1. A win on Saturday over the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen would match the program's best season, when the Panthers went 8-1 in 1995.
A familiar start found the Panthers on a lengthy, game-opening drive orchestrated by junior QB Michael Lahey. The result of the drive was anything but familiar, however, as junior RB Terrell Dolberry was stripped of the ball just before crossing the goal line. The Panthers entered the game as the only team in the nation (all NCAA divisions) to score on all of their red zone opportunities (35-for-35), but the Stags covered up the Dolberry fumble to steal the momentum and put an end to the streak.
The Chapman defense responded well, producing a turnover of their own as sophomore DB Drew DeMarco pulled in his first interception of the season, picking off a pass from Stags QB Trey Reynolds in the end zone.
The two teams exchanged turnovers again in the second quarter as Dolberry fumbled for a second time, losing the ball in Stags territory just to have the defense win it right back as junior DB Osayande Aikhonbare collected his first interception of the season. Aikhonbare's interception in Stags territory proved to be crucial as the Panthers drove a short field and scored the game's first points on a 7-yd. rushing touchdown from junior RB Cody Chapple.
Chapple, who notched his third 100+ yd. performance, was part of a Panthers backfield that tallied 348 yards on the ground on Saturday. Junior RB Kean Stancil finished as the game's leading rusher with 159 yards, but it was Chapple who recorded the highlights, scoring a career-best four touchdowns on the evening.
Try as they might, the Panthers struggled to pull away from Claremont-M-S (2-6 overall, 1-5 SCIAC) in the second half as CMS responded to each scoring drive with points of their own. The Stags managed to keep it a one possession game until just under the three minute mark when Stancil broke loose for a 52-yd. run that set up a 2-yd. Chapple touchdown.
With little time left and their backs against the wall, the Stags failed to get back into the game as Demarco picked off another Reynolds pass and took it back for the score, securing the Panthers' 42-20 victory.
Overshadowed by the Panthers' running attack was Lahey, who was nearly perfect on the evening, completing 19-of-20 passing attempts for 201 yards. The junior is one of the nation's most efficient passers, completing 75.1 percent of his passes for 1,701 yards through eight games.
The Panthers, who boast a 13-3 record at Wilson Field over the last three seasons, will host the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen on Saturday for the regular season finale; kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
by Ryan Cavinder
Sports Information Assistant
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