Kick return sparks Chapman in season-opening win
ORANGE, Calif. - A casual glance at the box score and you might think there was a typo in the final, but it's correct: Chapman University 21, Menlo College 7. That's because despite most of the offensive numbers favoring the visiting Oaks, the Panthers claimed a rather convincing victory in their season opener at Wilson Field on Saturday night - defeating the Oaks for the third consecutive year.
Menlo out-gained Chapman 310-200; earned more first downs than the Panthers 18-14; converted 10 of 18 third downs; and were forced to punt just three times (to Chapman's eight punts).
So how did the Oaks get out-scored 21-0 over the final 42:35 in the game? Chapman was actually quite opportunistic, capitalizing on four Menlo turnovers, nearly 100 yards in penalties and turning away three Oaks drives inside the Chapman 10 yard line. In fact, score a huge victory for the Panthers' defense which made one big play after another and big stops when it needed to most.
Two of those big plays came from Chapman senior LB Brian Kaltenecker. In the first quarter, Kaltenecker kept the game scoreless by blocking a 28-yard field goal attempt and foiling a 17-play, 77-yard Menlo drive that chewed over seven and a half minutes off the clock. On the Oaks' third drive of the game it was Kaltenecker again who recovered a fumble on the Chapman 49 yard line leading to the Panthers' second touchdown.
The Chapman defense also received key interceptions from senior DB Collin Hoyer and junior LB Andrew Carcova with the latter returned for 31 yards and eventually leading to another Panther touchdown. The Panthers also recorded four sacks and nine tackles for losses totaling 25 yards. Senior LB Steve Downs was extremely active for Chapman, tallying 13 tackles, one for a loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Junior DB Peter Antone also had 10 tackles and a breakup to lead the Panther secondary.
Yet the key play in the game may have come from junior RB/KR Akio Lloyd who returned a Menlo kick 80 yards for a touchdown - the first time a Panther has returned a kick for a six points since Ben Alvarado in 2003. Lloyd's quick strike came at 12:22 in the second quarter, just 13 seconds after Menlo had taken a 7-0 lead and appeared to be a game changer.
Following Kaltenecker's fumble recovery, Chapman (1-0) scored on its next drive with Lloyd capping a six-play, 51-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run at 7:39 in the second quarter. That gave the Panthers a 14-7 lead it would not relinquish. Lloyd was the central figure of the Chapman offense on the night, rushing for 104 yards - a career-high.
For good measure, sophomore QB Blake Vanderweil led the Panthers on a short 22-yard drive following Carcova's interception, scoring on a 7-yard touchdown pass to sophomore WR Preston Oklejas for a 21-7 lead with 12:03 left in the third quarter. Sophomore QB Eric Wilcockson split time with Vanderweil under center and connected with senior WR Dan Delahoussaye on a 39-yard pass that led to Lloyd's rushing TD.
Chapman improved to 6-2 in its past eight season openers, including 3-1 under head coach Bob Owens. The Panthers are also 10-4 at Wilson Field since it was completed in 2006.
Box score: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/fball/2009-10/stats/mc-cu.htm