Victorious Panthers Unsatisfied

The Chapman football team has such high expectations that sometimes even convincing victories can be somewhat unsatisfying. Saturday was a case in point: The Panthers defeated Cal Lutheran, 49-7, in front of 912 at Mt. Clef Stadium for their 12th consecutive victory, but afterward the players were using terms such as sloppy and sluggish to describe their play.

“There were a lot of things that played a part,” quarterback Curtis Robinson said, “but we came out really flat, and it felt like we were playing in slow motion.”

Cal Lutheran (0-4) might beg to differ, but Chapman’s offense didn’t appear to be as effective as usual. Although the Panthers gained 503 yards in total offense, only 31 yards fewer than their season average, they had problems early on sustaining drives against a team that gave up an average of 37 points in its first three games. Penalties were a major factor in the slowdown; Chapman was called for a season-high 18--many of them illegal-procedure and delay-of-game penalties--for 148 yards.

Accustomed to big early leads, Chapman (4-0) led by only 14 points at the half, 21-7, and it could have been closer. The Panthers had to drive only 26 and five yards for their second and third touchdowns and Cal Lutheran had a chance to cut further into the lead late in the half.

But even an inconsistent Chapman offense can be dangerous, and the Panthers proved again they have plenty of firepower in reserve. One reserve, running back Ramsey Byrd, led the Panthers in rushing with 96 yards and three touchdowns in 16 carries.

Byrd took over primary rushing responsibilities after Darnell Morgan strained his Achilles’ tendon on his first carry of the game. On that play Morgan ran 56 yards for a touchdown. He was so elusive on the play that no one could catch him even though he limped the final 25 yards into the end zone.

The absence of Morgan, who averaged 194 yards in the first three games, might have attributed to some of Chapman’s sluggishness. But Robinson said that wasn’t likely. He also said the arrest Monday of two teammates, starting linebacker Carl McRae and reserve running back Dwan London, wasn’t a distraction either. Chapman, he said, was slowed mostly by playing a rare day game and arriving only about an hour before kickoff.

On defense, Chapman forced six fumbles and recovered five. Defensive tackle Robert Nicholl, who had four sacks last week against Chico State, recovered two fumbles and had 1 1/2 sacks. He shared the sack with end Robert Ernster, who had 2 1/2 sacks, including one that forced a fumble. Middle linebacker Keith Dykes recorded several tackles for losses.

With defense like that, it was only a matter of time before Chapman put the game away, and the Panthers did when Byrd scored third-quarter touchdowns on one- and nine-yard runs for a 35-7 lead.