No comeback this time; La Verne defeats Chapman 30-21
LA VERNE, Calif. – The rally magic the Chapman University football team had displayed in the first half of the season vanished into thin air on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers were unable to overcome another deficit and lost to host University of La Verne 30-21 at Ortmayer Stadium.
Chapman (4-2) saw an early 7-0 lead disappear when La Verne (2-4) scored 23 straight points and led 23-7 midway through the third quarter. The Panthers, who had overcome second half deficits in three of their four wins, were unable to muster yet another comeback and in the process saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.
The Panthers wasted no time getting on the board scoring on their first play from scrimmage just 17 seconds into the game. Chapman senior QB Bret Visciglia connected with junior WR Kali'i Kunitomo on a 77-yard touchdown pass to put the Panthers up 7-0 in the early going.
That lead didn't last long. The Leopards scored on each of their first three possessions – two touchdowns and a field goal – to take a 16-7 lead into halftime. Junior RB Josh Jones capped the first-half scoring with the first of his two rushing touchdowns for La Verne with 5:23 remaining in the second quarter.
The Leopards ran the ball with great success against the Chapman offense, totaling 208 yards on the ground, including 154 from sophomore RB Matthew Biggers. La Verne had almost as many first downs rushing (15) as the Panthers had overall (18) and the Leopards dominated time of possession by almost a 2:1 ratio.
La Verne opened the second half with another touchdown from Jones to pad its lead at 23-7.
Undaunted by the 16-point disadvantage, Chapman had been there before. The Panthers responded with two more touchdowns by the end of the third quarter. First, junior RB Chad Milburn got loose on a 68-yard touchdown run with 8:26 remaining. Two drives later the Panthers went 63 yards on five plays and Milburn punched it from 9 yards out for his second touchdown of the game at 1:27 in the third. That made the score 23-21 in favor of La Verne and it looked as though another Chapman comeback was being orchestrated.
Chapman had no fourth-quarter magic, however. La Verne would score on its next possession, a lengthy drive that ate more than 7 minutes off the clock, and went up 30-21 on a 9-yard touchdown pass from senior QB Thomas Arguello to senior WR Matt Griffin. The Leopards' defense held the Panthers from there to earn the win in their homecoming game.
For Chapman, Milburn finished with 100 yards rushing – his second consecutive 100-yard performance. And Visciglia passed for 238 yards despite facing defensive pressure he had been unaccustomed to seeing this year. The senior was sacked four times on Saturday after only being sacked once in Chapman's first five games. Kunitomo finished with three catches for 95 yards.
Junior LB Mike Mehlhaff had another big game for the Panthers defensively, leading the team with 15 tackles, including a pair of quarterback sacks. Sophomore LB Wade Minshew also added 14 tackles for Chapman.
by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director
Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/fball/2011-12/boxscores/20111022_o0l0.xml
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