Box Score ORANGE, Calif. --- Facing a power team from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the second time this year, the George Fox Bruins came up just short against the 17th-ranked team in NCAA Division III, losing 23-21 to the Chapman Panthers at Wilson Field Saturday night. 

How It Happened

The night couldn't have started much better for the Bruins against the defending SCIAC champs. After the George Fox defense forced a three-and-out on Chapman's first drive, Leon Johnson III blocked the Panther punt, setting the Bruins up at Chapman's 25-yard line. But a goal line setback proved costly for the second straight game as Bruin quarterback Haiden Schaan tried to squeeze a pass into double-coverage and was picked off by Chris Tsirtsis, who returned the ball 72 yards into Bruin territory, leading to a Chapman field goal. On Chapman's next possession, Reed Vettel connected with dynamic slot receiver Nico Ragas on a 55-yard touchdown. Before halftime, the Panthers scored again, but a missed PAT resulted in a 16-0 lead at the break. A 4th-down goal line stand by George Fox on the final play of the half signalled a change in the Bruins' fortunes.

"Our defense played very physical football and their goal line stand to end the first half gave us a lot of momentum going into the 2nd half," said head coach Chris Casey. "Our special teams played fast and were sound as always. The first quarter blocked punt was a great way to start the game."  

With the ball to start the second half, the Bruins were able to drive to midfield, benefiting from a costly substitution foul on the Panthers after they had stuffed Ethan Kassebaum at the line of scrimmage on a 3rd-down run. Three plays later, Schaan tossed a screen pass to Kassebaum on the left sideline and, with a bevy of blockers in front, he rambled 50 yards to the end zone, a trip that ended up at the pylon on the other side of the field. Wide receiver Adam Hawker made a block on the left sideline, then hustled all the way across the field to provide the final block that paved Kassebaum's way to paydirt. 

The George Fox defense blanked the Panthers in the third period, then gave the ball back to the offense early in the fourth when Lucas Schwin picked off a Jonston MacIntyre pass, setting up the Bruins at the Chapman 45. Hawker came up big again with a 25-yard reception on 4th-and-2 to keep the drive alive, then hauled in a 3-yard TD pass from Schaan to make it 16-14 Chapman early in the final period. The Panthers responded with a long drive, getting a key 3rd-and-7 conversion early in the march, before a Tanner Mendoza 9-yard TD run gave the home team a 23-14 lead.

The Bruins got deep into Panther territory on the ensuing drive, but Chapman senior linebacker Dillon Keefe showed why he will likely be in an NFL camp next year. The reigning SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year sacked Schaan for the second time on the night, forcing a fumble that the Bruins were able to cover. Three plays later, with the Bruins at the Panther 18-yard line, Keefe deflected Schaan's pass high in the air and Kade Jordan picked it off to snuff the Bruin scoring threat. 

Down 23-14, the Bruins were far from finished, though. After forcing a Chapman punt, Schaan completed passes to three different receivers, then raced 25 yards to the Panther five on a 4th-and-2 read-option keeper. On the next play he found Johnson III in the end zone to pull the Bruins to within 23-21 with a little under two minutes remaining in the contest.

With two timeouts left, the Bruins opted to kick onside, getting a chance to utilize both kickers Ethan Hoffman and Jason Santoni on a decoy play, keeping the Panthers guessing as to who would actually kick the ball. The deceit nearly worked as Santoni executed the kick beautifully toward the right sideline, but the Bruins were unable to recover before it went out of bounds. Still, with two time outs remaining, Chapman had to pick up a first down to finally seal the game, which they did when Ragas took a handoff out of the slot on 3rd-and-9 and got just enough for a new set of downs, allowing the Panthers to kneel out the rest of the game.

Top Performers

Schaan finished with three touchdowns, completing 18-of-33 for 201 yards, while rushing for 25 yards on nine carries, while pulling in his first pass reception of the year. Kassebaum rushed for 52 yards on just eight carries to go with his 50-yard TD reception. Hawker had a fine all-around performance with three catches for 45 yards and a score, a 25 yard pass completion to Schaan and exemplary hustle with his sideline-to-sideline blocking on Kassebaum's touchdown.

"Ethan Kassebaum had some big plays both rushing and receiving to help get us back in the game," said Casey. "These plays always begin with blocking, which always begins with our offensive line."

Johnson III was a focal point of Chapman's pass coverage, but still led the Bruins with four receptions for 33 yards and a TD to go with his first-quarter punt block. Kobe Andrews paced the Bruin defense with seven solo tackles. Joe James had five stops, including two behind the line of scrimmage. 

Coach's Thoughts

"We are very proud of our team." said Casey. "The way they continued to overcome adversity early-on and then battled back in the second half to the point where we were in position to win the game...just again very proud of them and their fight, toughness, and togetherness."

What It Means

The Bruins fell to 0-2 on the season, but after two very competitive games against nationally-ranked teams expected to contend for the SCIAC championship, George Fox is primed to begin NWC competition in two weeks. If not for being turned away at the goal line on early drives in each contest, George Fox could be looking at a 2-0 record and a national ranking for themselves.

Up Next

The Bruins get another week off, then it's off to Puyallup to take on the Pacific Lutheran Lutes in their NWC opener on Sat., Oct. 2. The Bruins return home the following Saturday, Oct. 9 to take on the Willamette Bearcats at 1:00 p.m.