Tournament Notes: NCAA Second Round
No. 8 Saint John's at No. 12 Chapman
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Ernie Chapman Stadium (Orange, Calif.)
12 p.m.
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THE MATCHUP
No. 12 Chapman hosts No. 8 Saint John's in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Football Championship. Kickoff is scheduled for noon Pacific time in the first matchup between the two programs. The two teams have no common opponents this year. Chapman has never faced a program from the MIAC but Saint John's is 3-1 against three SCIAC teams. The Johnnies beat La Verne in the First Round in 1994 at home and did the same to Redlands in 2002 and 2007. Their lone loss to a SCIAC school came in the NCAA Tournament in 1985 when the Johnnies made their only trip to California and fell at Occidental.
A HISTORIC YEAR KEEPS ON ROLLING
A year full of program firsts continued to roll in dramatic fashion. The Panthers' first-ever postseason win came after a record-breaking 68-65 triple overtime win over Linfield. Chapman's first-ever undefeated regular season has rolled into its first-ever 10-win season. The Panthers hosted a postseason game for the first time ever last week and are now hosting their first-ever second round game. This will be the first time Chapman has played 11 games in a single season.
LOOKING BACK AT A RECORD-BREAKING GAME
Chapman's 68-65 triple overtime win led to one of the highest-scoring games in Division III history. The Panthers and Wildcats were nine points short of the all-time combined scoring record. While not an official record kept in the NCAA record book, research was confirmed by the NCAA that the 133 points were the most in the history of the Division III Tournament. With 577 yards of offense, the Panthers surpassed the school record for yards in a season – previously at 4,592 yards. Chapman has totaled 4,736 yards on offense this year. The Panthers are just three touchdowns and exactly 21 points shy of single-season scoring records.
KEEFE DOES IT ALL
Three and a half hours before Tanner Mendoza ran into the end zone for the game-winning score, Dillon Keefe picked up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown to add to his dominant season stat line. It was just the beginning of a historic afternoon for the SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year. Keefe led the team with 10 tackles, he dragged down Wyatt Smith for a sack and he blocked a PAT. Then he started playing offense. He carried the ball twice for 10 yards and a touchdown, he caught an eight-yard pass out of the backfield and he threw for a 25-yard touchdown in the second overtime. Back to defense, Keefe's 16 tackles for loss ranks third in Chapman history while his 9.5 sacks rank fourth and are the most by any Chapman player since 1995.
PARTY IN THE BACKFIELD
The party in the backfield continued with four sacks, including a strip sack, and one more tackle for loss. The Panthers are just the fifth team in their 26-year history to get to 70 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Their 39 sacks this year ranks second in program history and are eight shy of the inaugural team's 47 sacks in 1994. In addition to Keefe's sack, Noah Kjos picked up his seventh sack of the season. Duncan Heger ran his total to 6.5 sacks and Ricky Medeiros picked up his fifth sack and a second forced fumble.
PARKIN AT IT AGAIN
Nathan Parkin is back at it. After four interceptions and a forced fumble in a two-game span, Parkin did not have a takeaway in the finale against La Verne. He picked up his hot streak again against Linfield with his sixth pick of the season (tied for the second-most in school history) while also getting another strip-and-recover fumble. His eight takeaways lead Chapman.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
The Panther defense remained in the top-10 in Division III. Chapman's rushing defense ranks ninth in Division III in giving up just 68.8 rushing yards per game. It also ranks ninth with 28 takeaways this season. The Panthers' 3.9 sacks per game ranks eighth in Division III.
OWENS LOOKING FOR TRIPLE DIGITS
While head coach Bob Owens has led his team to the deepest playoff run of his career as well as in program history, he has quickly approached a milestone win. Saturday's wild win over Linfield was the 99th of his career. The all-time winningest coach in Chapman history has won 79 games in 14 years on the Panthers' sidelines. A win on Saturday would put him at 100 in his 21 years as a head coach.
RAGAS ON THE RETURN
No active player has more kick returns for touchdowns in Division III than junior Nico Ragas. With two more TD returns this season, Ragas has run his school record total to four for his career. He leads all active DIII players with four returns for TDs and is tied for the eighth-most in all divisions of the NCAA. He is one of 10 players in Division III to have two touchdown returns this season.