Last minute touchdown drops panthers in home opener
ORANGE, Calif. - Trailing by eight points, visiting Whitworth University scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter including the game-winning score with 51 seconds remaining to escape with a 41-35 victory over the Chapman University football team Saturday night at Wilson Field.
With Chapman leading 35-33, senior TE Jimmy Hill recovered a fumble by junior RB Adam Anderson in the end zone for the winning score.
"It's hard to say what happened on that play," Panthers head coach Bob Owens said. "We had some opportunities to recover it and it slipped out of our hands too."
Whitworth (2-1) took advantage of three Panther turnovers and Anderson ran for 144 yards and scored four touchdowns to give the Pirates the victory in front of 2,103 fans who witnessed the first football in Chapman's new Ernie Chapman Stadium.
"We had two fumbles and a penalty that killed drives and we can't do that to win," Owens said. "We can't make mistakes and give up easy touchdowns and have to battle back from adversity all night which is what we constantly had to do tonight and expect to win."
Anderson, the reigning Northwest Conference Player of the Year put Whitworth on the board first with a 1-yard run to take a 7-0 lead. Chapman quickly tied the score at 7-7 on a 4-yard run by senior RB Mike Christensen. However, Anderson returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to push the Pirates lead back to seven. Junior RB Milton Nelson's 1-yard second quarter touchdown gave the Pirates a 20-7 edge early in the second quarter.
Chapman (1-1) scored on its next two possessions with touchdowns by sophomore RB Akio Lloyd, a 2-yard run and a 19-yard touchdown reception from senior QB Eric Marty. Marty finished the game 18-of-25 passing for 221 yards and two touchdowns.
Chapman trailed 27-21 at the half but refused to back down scoring two third quarter touchdowns - a 3-yard run by Lloyd and a 16-yard touchdown reception by junior WR Kaleo Perez - to take a 35-27 lead into the fourth quarter. Lloyd finished the game with three touchdowns and 99 all-purpose yards while Perez had six catches for 84 yards.
Already with touchdowns on special teams and in the running attack, Anderson struck again for the Pirates in the fourth quarter, this time with an 8-yard touchdown reception from junior QB Mike Peck. Then with 51 seconds remaining Hill recovered the fumble and the Pirates tacked on a two-point conversion to escape with the 41-35 victory.