Chapman’s Fall Is a Hard One

Chapman might have known what kind of day it was going to be when Panther quarterback Stanley Villanueva fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Cal Lutheran’s Adam Wirtz recovered at the Chapman 13-yard line.

Running back Dorian Stitt gave the Kingsmen the lead for good with a touchdown run on the next play.

Cal Lutheran took advantage of numerous mistakes to build a 22-point lead in the first quarter and rolled up a season-high 548 yards in a 59-27 victory Saturday in its home opener in Thousand Oaks.

From the beginning, Chapman (1-3) had difficulty figuring out the Kingsmen’s no-huddle offense.

“We’re not extremely deep and that kind of offense can wear you down,” Chapman Coach Ken Visser said.

Trailing, 25-0, in the second quarter, the Panthers responded with 20 consecutive points over the next two quarters.

After the Kingsmen led, 25-10, at the half, Chapman made it close on a 55-yard field goal by Matthew Deter and a 12-yard touchdown run by Villanueva in the third quarter.

“The defense was what rallied us,” Visser said. “We had it going there for a while.”

Unfortunately for the Panthers, they couldn’t sustain it for long.

Less than two minutes after Villanueva’s touchdown, the Kingsmen (1-2) used another long play--a 60-yard pass from Chris Czernek to Eugene Sullivan--to set up another score, which gave them a 31-20 lead. Chapman never threatened again.