Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
FOREST GROVE, Ore. – The freshmen ran wild. The defense forced five turnovers. The Chapman University football team opened its season with a 45-14 road win at Pacific on Friday.
The Panthers (1-0) rushed for 395 yards in the rout, led by freshman Isaiah Woods 139 yards on just 13 attempts while fellow freshman Marcos Reyes scored twice and ran the ball nine times for 78 yards as the two rookies spearheaded the breakout night on the ground. Junior quarterback Jonston MacIntyre ran for a touchdown and 65 yards on eight attempts.
MacIntyre also threw for 84 yards and a touchdown on 9-of-15 passing. Sophomore Reed Vettel completed 6-of-11 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown.
In total, the Panthers amassed 590 total yards of offense while the defense held Pacific to just 296 yards of offense – only 10 of those yards coming on the ground. The Boxers fumbled seven times in the game and the Panthers jumped on four of them while junior Chris Tsirtsis grabbed an interception in the end zone to end Pacific's first drive of the third quarter.
Chapman scored first on a leaping grab from senior Trevor Vill but the Boxers picked up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown just three minutes later to even the score. On their next drive, Nick Bower connected with Kobe Williams for a 71-yard touchdown catch – accounting for nearly a quarter of Pacific's offense on one play – to take a 14-7 lead.
The Panthers did not allow another score from the hosts as the offense rattled off 38 unanswered points to end the game. Chapman scored 21 points in the second quarter, sparked by an impressive 43-yard touchdown run from Woods that capped a 97-yard drive. MacIntyre ended a 93-yard drive when he burst into the end zone from two yards out to give Chapman a 21-14 lead. Reyes finished off the quarter with a 19-yard TD run.
The defense continued to dominate after Tsirtsis' interception in the third quarter. Junior Dillon Keefe led the Panthers with six tackles, which included three tackles for loss and two sacks. He also had one of the Panthers five forced fumbles. The Panthers sacked the Boxer QBs five times in the game and stopped two more runs in the backfield.
For the second straight year the Boxers could not get any run game going against the Panthers. They managed just five yards in 2018 and only 10 yards on Friday.
Reyes scored once in the third quarter and Vettel hit sophomore Zach Shorts for a 31-yard TD strike to cap the scoring. Freshman Ken Baierl hit a 22-yard field goal, ending the Panthers 12-game streak without a made field goal.
Shorts needed to catch just three passes for 95 yards. Vill caught five passes for 33 yards and the touchdown.
The Panthers are off next week but host No. 12 Whitworth on Sep. 21 in their home-opener at 7 p.m.