Turnovers costly as Panthers lose 23-8 at Whitworth

SPOKANE, Wash. - The offense has yet to get on track in the 2009 season for the Chapman University football team, and the struggles continued on Saturday afternoon against Whitworth University as the Panthers committed four turnovers and totaled just 148 total yards in a 23-8 loss at the Pine Bowl in Spokane.

Despite Whitworth (2-2) controlling the ball for much of the first half, the game remained close as neither team could find the end zone. The only score of the half came with 10:24 left in the second quarter when Chapman junior QB Eric Willcockson was sacked by Pirates junior OLB Paul Werhane and junior DE Nick Ashley forcing a fumble that was recovered by Chapman in the end zone. Whitworth senior MLB Nate Hadley then tackled the Panther who recovered the ball for the safety.

For two and a half quarters, Chapman (1-1) held Whitworth's offense scoreless. Then mid-way through the third quarter the Pirates put together a 12-play, 70-yard drive, ending in a 4-yard touchdown run by sophomore RB Sean Scott to take a 9-0 lead. Scott and senior RB Milton Nelson combined for 181-yards rushing in the absence of the Whitworth's senior All-American tailback Adam Anderson.  

Capitalizing on good field position after a Chapman turnover, the Pirates pushed the lead to 16-0 when sophomore QB Andrew Durant and senior WR Eric Entel connected on a 12-yard pass play with 1:36 remaining in the third quarter.

Whitworth put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter when Durant and senior WR Andy Largent connected on a 54-yard touchdown pass to take a commanding 23-0 lead. Durant finished the day 17-26 for 221 yards and two touchdowns.

The lone Chapman touchdown of the day came four minutes later when junior WR Mike Lambesis caught a five-yard fade pass on fourth down from Willcockson capping an 11-play, 70-yard drive which accounted for nearly half of the Panthers total offense.

Chapman's 148 yards of total offense is its lowest total since last year's 16-7 loss at Cal Lutheran, when the Panthers totaled just 139 yards of offense. Junior RB Akio Lloyd accounted for nearly half of the Panthers' total offense against the stingy Pirates' defense with 69 yards rushing on 18 carries.

Defensively, the Panthers did force four fumbles, recovering two. Senior SS Collin Hoyer finished the afternoon with a game-high 13 tackles, 10 solo and two forced fumbles. Junior OLB Andrew Carcova and junior CB Pat McFadden had 11 and 10 tackles, respectively.

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