ORANGE, Calif. – Another nailbiter kept the Chapman University football team undefeated in the SCIAC as the Panthers defeated Pomona-Pitzer 22-14. The victory capped off a celebratory night that began with honoring 21 seniors.
Jackson Muzzy had a career night with both touchdown catches for the Panthers and Carson Nichols made three field goals to seal the victory. Muzzy put the Panthers up 6-0 with a first quarter TD grab and Nichols capped the next drive with a 25-yard field goal to make it 9-0. The Panthers never trailed although the Sagehens would close the gap to a two-point deficit multiple times.
Chapman ran for 210 yards, passed for 171 while the defense held the Sagehens to 243 total yards. The Panthers had pressure on Pomona-Pitzer's rotating quarterbacks and caused a pair of interceptions. Joey Bustos hauled in a tipped pass and Jacob Gaudi stepped in front of a deep pass. Caleb Padrid nearly had a game-sealing interception as he broke up a pass in the end zone on the Dagehen's final drive.
Kelton Jones led the defense with seven tackles while Tyler Boynton and Aiden Yates each got to the quarterback for a sack. Fischer Huss led the rushing attack with 77 rushing yards and Tyler Pacheco ran for 54 before exiting with an injury in the second quarter. Kade Zimmerman caught six passes for 74 yards.
Brady McKelheer took over for Pacheco, throwing for 75 yards and running for 43. He had the longest play of the night with a 37-yard run down the far sideline.
After Chapman jumped out to a 9-0 lead, Nick Kim completed a 37-yard touchdown pass to get the Sagehens on the board. Muzzy's second touchdown grab followed just before halftime for a 16-7 lead. The Sagehens once again responded in the third quarter but Nichols hit a pair of field goals in the fourth to seal the victory.
The defense held strong in the fourth quarter with a couple of red zone stops to end Pomona-Pitzer's upset hopes. A long kick return set up the Panthers deep in Chapman territory, allowing just eight yards to force a turnover on downs.
After forcing a Chapman punt with just over one minute left, the Sagehens drove down to the 10. However, an offensive pass interference and a couple of broken up passes ended the threat and brought out the Panthers in victory formation.
Chapman wraps up the regular season at La Verne next weekend and will host the SCIAC Championship on Nov. 15 at 1 p.m.
