Panthers clinch playoff berth and first place in SCIAC

ORANGE, Calif. - The No. 21-ranked Chapman University football team made program history on Saturday clinching the SCIAC Championship and its first NCAA playoff berth. The Panthers defeated host University of Redlands for the first time since 2008, by a final score of a 31-27 and remain undefeated in conference play. 

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, highlighted by a seven-play 84-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore RB Devin Appleton.

The Panthers responded by going 55 yards on 10 plays, before junior RB Jeremiah McKibbins punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 10-7 Bulldogs, his first of three scores on the night.

Chapman and Redlands then traded touchdowns bringing the score to 17-14 Bulldogs. Redlands drove down the field, deep into the Panthers' red zone, but the Chapman defense was able to hold Redlands to a field goal as time expired, giving the Bulldogs a 20-14 lead going into the half.

The Panthers set the tone for the second half, when McKibbins broke a 55-yard touchdown run up the middle on the first play from scrimmage to give the Panthers their first lead of the game at 21-20. A Markus Trujillo field goal and a two-yard touchdown pass from senior QB Michael Lahey to junior TE Louis Volk on a bootleg made it 17 unanswered points for the Panthers and a 31-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Redlands showed no signs of quitting however as the Bulldogs marched 65-yards in six plays culminating in a 3-yard touchdown run by senior RB Bobby Brown, making it 31-27 Panthers.

Chapman would finish off the game with two long drives that took a total of 12:16 off the clock, and earned the Panthers a 31-27 victory, a SCIAC championship, and a NCAA playoff berth for the first time in the program's 20-year history.

The offense was led by McKibbins who rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns bringing him to over 2,000 yards in his career (2,039), while sophomore DB Conner Larkin and junior LB Garrett Frediani led the defense with seven tackles each.

Chapman will travel to Whittier College on Saturday for their last game of the regular season at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. The Poets (2-6 overall, 1-5 SCIAC) are coming off a 40-3 loss at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday.

by Raquel Rinauro & Mike Schwartz
Sports Information Assistant

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