Chapman Offers No Excuses in 36-20 Loss to St. Mary’s

Chapman refused to offer any convenient excuses or seek solace after another one-sided blowout loss, this one to St. Mary’s (Calif.), 36-20, in a nonconference football game Saturday at Chapman in front of 1,725.

St. Mary’s (3-4), a Division I-AA school, scored two touchdowns in a two-minute span early in the fourth quarter to take a 33-6 lead with 12 minutes 43 seconds remaining.

Chapman (1-5) has been devastated by injuries. The Panthers were missing starters at quarterback, linebacker, punter and running back.

The Panthers have lost so many running backs to injury that converted defensive back Sandy Smith started at tailback. He struggled to a team-high 18 yards in 13 carries and the team mustered only 43 yards rushing.

Add to that the off-field problems of reserve defensive lineman Brady Willmon. His arrest on drug possession charges and subsequent team suspension last week also could have been a distraction.

“I’m not going to comment on that,” Chapman Coach Ken Visser said. “About the game, I don’t like excuses. We needed to play a flawless game to beat St. Mary’s. Obviously, we didn’t do that.”

Chapman, which plays Division III, stayed within striking distance of St. Mary’s, trailing by 10 at the half and, 19-6, after three quarters. But the Panthers weren’t looking for any little victories.

“It’s always frustrating when you lose,” said Chapman linebacker Fred Romo, who had a sack, a fumble recovery and a team-high nine tackles. “You shouldn’t take any satisfaction from just playing a team close.”

The final numbers weren’t close. St. Mary’s outgained Chapman, 457-204. Chapman gained 135 of those yards in the final 8:37 after falling behind by 33 points.

Chapman quarterback Greg Hyland, who suffered a concussion in last week’s victory over Menlo, threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, five yards to Dave Vaccaro and 25 yards to Terry Noice. Mike Cancelleri started in place of Hyland, who missed the entire week of practice, and threw a four-yard scoring pass to Joaquin Gonsalves in the second quarter.