SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions to start the third quarter, turning a shootout with visiting Chapman into a rout on Saturday afternoon at the Pine Bowl.
The Panthers (1-1) came away with the 49-34 non-conference victory to pick up their first win in Spokane over the Pirates (3-1) in four tries.
Chapman QB Michael Lahey accounted for 400 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. He threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for 98 yards and another score to lead the visitors, who ran up 589 yards of total offense. The Panthers scored on seven of their first eight possessions, thanks in large part to Whitworth turnovers, to open up a 49-20 lead through three quarters.
Whitworth and Chapman traded touchdowns through an entertaining first half as each team scored the first three times it had the ball. Kean Stancil caught two touchdowns for two of the Panthers' scores and Cody Chapple ran for another.
Meanwhile Bryan Peterson ran for Whitworth's first touchdown and Duke Degaetano ran for the second from 15 yards away. Peterson's four-yard touchdown pass to Nick Kiourkas with 8:44 left in the second quarter pulled the Pirates within 21-20 (the Bucs had their first PAT blocked).
"I thought our offense had a great first half," said Pirate head coach Rod Sandberg. "The defense played hard in first half, but couldn't get stops on third down. Chapman did a great job on offense showing some formations we had not seen."
Whitworth held Chapman for the first time in the game at the Pirate 25 yard line after JT Phelan recovered a fumble. The Pirates drove to the Panthers' 17-yard line with a chance to take the lead, but missed a field goal when the ball hit the upright.
Chapman took advantage and went 80 yards in 12 plays, scoring on Lahey's one-yard run on fourth down with three seconds to play. He initially appeared stopped short of the goal line, but reached the ball across for the score that gave the Panthers a 28-20 lead at the break.
"There were a lot of plays that could have gone our way in the game like an onsides kick attempt that was a yard short, a field goal that hit the upright and being inches from a fourth down stop, that would have radically changed the complexion of the game," Sandberg said. "We have to make those plays against great opponents."
Then the roof caved in on the Pirates. Drew DeMarco intercepted a pass on Whitworth's second play of the third quarter at the 30 yard line and returned the ball to the 15. Four plays later Jeremiah McKibbins gave Chapman a 35-20 lead.
Whitworth moved the ball effectively on its next possession, getting to the Chapman 35, but Conner Larkin intercepted Peterson at the four to stymie the Pirates. The Panthers moved the ball out to midfield and then Lahey threw his longest pass of the day, 48 yards to Austin Schaefer for a touchdown that extended the lead to 42-20.
Brett Moser's 50-yard kickoff return set up the Pirates at midfield and fired up his team. But the first snap from scrimmage got away from Peterson and the Panthers recovered at the Pirates' 42. Four plays later McKibbins ran in from eight yards with 6:58 to play to give Chapman an insurmountable 49-20 lead with 6:58 to play in the third quarter.
With Peterson hobbled by an injured hip, Michael McCune took over as Whitworth's QB at the start of the fourth quarter. He engineered two late scores for the Bucs. First he found Connor Williams for a 40-yard score. Then Alvin Welch turned a short pass into a 16-yard score with 40 seconds to play.
"Our team felt confident coming out of halftime but those turnovers on offense and some breakdowns on defense led to big plays for Chapman," Sandberg said. "I learned a lot about team's character in the fourth quarter when the guys refused to quit and kept fighting to the end. We can learn a lot about where we need to improve from playing this quality of an opponent."
One week after setting NCAA and Whitworth team passing records in the Pirates' win at La Verne, Peterson finished 37 of 59 for 280 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. McCune was 10 of 16 for 167 yards with two scores. The Pirates finished with 447 yards passing out of 535 total yards.
Williams led Whitworth receivers with 14 catches for 186 yards and one touchdown. Drew Clausen added ten grabs, while Anthony Fullman had eight catches for 114 yards. Degaetano picked up 55 yards on the ground.
Lahey's favorite targets on Saturday were Sean Meyers and Blayr Jimmerson, who each had six catches for 83 and 73 yards, respectively. Stancil had two touchdowns among his five receptions. Chapple finished with 74 rushing yards to back Lahey's ground game.
Paul Miller had a career-high 14 tackles for the Pirates, while Kelvin Mackey added nine stops.
Sean Davey led Chapman with 11 tackles, including ten solos. Greg Johnson had nine tackles and recovered a fumble. The Panthers sacked Peterson three times in the game.
Whitworth will return to Northwest Conference play next Saturday at Pacific. The Pirates opened the season with an NWC win over Lewis & Clark.