ORANGE, Calif. – For the 100th time, the Chapman University football team captured a victory for head coach Bob Owens. The Panthers rolled to a 43-23 win over Pacific, pulling away late for the season-opening victory.
Luke Peterman threw for five touchdowns and 375 yards. He hit Amir Adams seven times for 148 times with three of those passes ending in the end zone. Gian Lagemann caught six passes for 104 yards and Jason Bruce hauled in four catches for 86 yards. Both caught a touchdown pass as well.
Gio Ursino ran the ball 28 times for a career-best 137 yards, averaging near five yards per carry..
The defense picked off three of Braeden Titus' passes and allowed the Boxers to complete just 15 of 31 passes for 153 yards. They sacked Titus four times and forced a fumble. JT Clarke accounted for two of those sacks – both coming in the fourth quarter as Chapman pulled away – and caused the Titus fumble.
The Panthers never trailed as Adams caught a 58-yard TD pass on the opening drive of season, capping nearly a four-minute drive. The teams traded the first four touchdowns as Pacific always had an answer to the Panthers' leads. However, Adams caught his second touchdown pass – a 23-yard grab on fourth-and-nine – to put the Panthers out in front for good.
The Boxers responded with just a field goal right before halftime and Chapman outscored the visitors 22-6 in the second half to secure the victory.
Brody Bantolina spearheaded a tough run game for the Boxers. He ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, including a 62-yard sprint to tie the game at 14-14. The defense forced a pair of fumbles and forced Peterman into his first interception.
Both teams suffered from some early season turnover woes as the Panthers fumbled three times and threw an interception while the Boxers fumbled once and threw three picks. Devin Cobb grabbed a second quarter interception for the Panthers while Jacob Gaudi and Seth Holbrook both picked off passes in the third quarter.
Three Chapman takeaways turned into touchdown drives while the fourth brought out the victory formation in the waning moments of the game. Zion Booker accounted for Pacific's only points off turnovers and only points in the second half as he ripped away a fumble and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown.
The Panthers head into an early bye week before heading up to Spokane, Wash. to take on Whitworth on Sep. 21 in a rematch of last year's NCAA First Round game
