ORANGE, Calif. – The defense continued its dominant stretch as the Chapman University football team defeated Cal Lutheran 38-10 in a SCIAC Surf Division matchup. Seven sacks, five forced turnovers and a defensive score led the Panthers to avenge their early season loss to the Kingsmen.
With the win, the Panthers set up a crucial matchup against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in their final Surf Division matchup of the season that will put one team in the driver's seat to represent the division in the SCIAC Championship game.
The Panthers ended the first two drives of the game with an interception to set the tone for a five turnover game. Hunter Headlee picked off JP Andrade near midfield just six plays into the game near midfield. Four plays into the next drive, Collin Keefe took his turn with another pick near midfield to set up Chapman's first touchdown drive.
Isaiah Woods accounted for all 48 yards of the scoring drive, including a 37-yard run to set up his 9-yard TD sprint up the middle on the next play. Woods ended the game with 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns on just 16 carries. Gio Ursino scored a touchdown in the second quarter and gained 49 yards on 11 carries.
Renick Martin went on to grab another on of the Panthers' four interceptions in the game and Mason Kubichek took back his interception of James McNamara 14 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarters.
With the handful of turnovers and seven sacks, the Panthers held Cal Lutheran to just three points over the first three quarters. The Panthers scored 14 points in the second quarter with Quentin Biebel adding a six-yard touchdown catch from Luke Peterman just before halftime.
In his first career start, Peterman was 11-of-16 for 152 yards and a touchdown and was not sacked. He added four rushes for seven yards. Peterman is the third quarterback to start for Chapman this year due to injuries.
Woods added a 23-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Ken Baierl hit a 41-yard field goal for a 31-3 lead heading into the fourth. The Kingsmen were able to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter, becoming the first team to score a TD on the Panther defense in eight quarters, dating back to CMS' third quarter TD on Oct. 7.
Evan Greve and Alphonso Barmore, Jr. led the Panthers with 1.5 sacks each as eight different players for Chapman at least split a sack in the game. Alexander Terriquez led the defense with seven tackles, including one sack. Harrison Donato forced the fumble that Zach Collins picked up.
The Panthers held the Kingsmen to just 261 yards of total offense and just 32 yards on the ground. Chapman rushed for 167 yards as a team, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
Chapman heads to Claremont, Calif. next week to take on CMS in the final Surf Division matchup of the year. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
