Chapman rains on La Verne's parade
Campus Times
November 7, 1997
Head football coach Don Morel paces the sidelines during a time-out
in the second quarter of last Saturday's game. Quarterback Gary Tessitore
gathers last minute advice from the coaching staff in the press box and
reevaluates the rest of the series with co-quarterback Brent Meier (#12).
The Leopards went into the locker room at halftime with a 13-10 lead over
Chapman but could not put a win on the board, losing 24-20.
After dropping two straight games and watching its record plummet to
2-4, the University of La Verne football team was seeking to make its third
game a charm at Ortmayer Stadium Saturday.
The stage was set when La Verne squared off with rival Chapman, but
the Leopards would once again find the short end of the stick when they
lost a nail-biter, 24-20, in the closing minutes of the game.
Both teams made a few major mistakes throughout the game, which allowed
for the other to stay within scoring range.
Unfortunately for La Verne, it was the offense that stumbled again,
despite great performances from junior running back Ordell Williams, who
amassed 134 rushing yards on 40 carries, and senior wide receiver Matt Durant,
who caught five passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
"When my number gets called, I try to make a play," said Durant.
"I have to give credit to the guys around me."
On their first possession of the game, the Chapman Panthers fumbled
the ball to La Verne on the Leopards 35-yard line. This threw the home crowd
into a frenzy, and put the ULV team in a good position to take advantage
of the early mistake made by its opponent.
The Leopards would eventually light-up the scoreboard first with a field
goal from senior Tom Moreland, when La Verne marched down the field on a
critical 25-yard run and fourth down quarterback dive by Williams and sophomore
quarterback Gary Tessitore, respectively.
With less than two minutes left in the first quarter, the Leopards returned
the Panthers' gift-fumble favor, when their defense let them down on an
78-yard touchdown pass from Chapman's quarterback, junior Greg Hyland, to
wide open junior tight end David Vaccaro.
"If we would have closed down the long passes and big plays, then
we would have had a much greater day," said senior defensive tackle
Ronnie Daniels.
Following a quarterback change from Tessitore to junior quarterback
Brent Meier in the first quarter intermission, La Verne would strike back
offensively on a 50-yard touchdown bomb from Meier to Durant.
The touchdown pass from Meier to Durant put La Verne ahead 10-7, when
on the ensuing kick-off, the Leopards recovered their own on-side kick at
the 45-yard line. The Leopards were unable to score on the turnover and
came up short on a fourth-and-two situation near the Chapman 35-yard line.
In their last possessions of the first half, both the Leopards and Panthers
were able to manage a field goal each, which gave ULV a 13-10 lead. In the
first half, both teams went to three-and-four wide receiver sets in order
to capitalize on their offensive schemes.
In the first half of play, the Leopards would find much more success
than the Panthers on the ground as Williams was announced to have gathered
119 yards on 26 carries.
"Ordell Williams is our best offensive player," said Morel.
In the third quarter, the Leopards would make another big mistake, when
they fumbled the ball to Chapman on their 45-yard line. The Panthers would
capitalize on La Verne's error, by reaching pay dirt on a 1-yard run from
Hyland with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
Once again the Leopards rose to the occasion, when Meier found Durant
on a 9-yard touchdown strike -- for Meier and Durant's second touchdown
of the day. The touchdown came on La Verne's first possession of the fourth
quarter, following a 76-yard drive from the Leopards 15-yard line.
La Verne was able to capitalize on a great 38-yard pass from Meier to
senior wide receiver Liron Wilson, which proved crucial to the drive and
the 20-17 lead the Leopards took.
With nearly five minutes left in the game, Chapman wide receiver Dan
Emhof fumbled the ball over to La Verne on the 50-yard line. This turnover
seemed to be the icing on the Leopards' victory cake, but that was not the
case, as La Verne could not manage to get a first down and instead ran out
most of the game clock.
In this crucial possession, the Leopards took a rather conservative
approach to their offensive attack, when they ran the ball on all three
downs -- which caused them to punt in failure of reaching a first down.
"The strongest part of our team is the defense [ranked fifth in
the nation], and it kept us in the game," said Morel.
When Chapman started from their 20-yard line, following the Leopard
punt, they went to their aerial attack and picked apart La Verne's defense.
Hyland threw important passes to Emhof and Vaccaro to move down field, before
he threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jason Jefferson
-- with 1:23 left in the game.
La Verne was now facing a 24-20 deficit with 1:23 left in the game,
and a quick passing game was the only realistic way for them to get down
field and score a touchdown.
Unfortunately, the Leopards comeback attempt proved futile, as Chapman
senior defensive lineman Miguel Prieto intercepted a Meier pass on the La
Verne 40-yard line, and the Leopards hope for a victory died.
"I feel that our spirit is really bruised, but not broken,"
said Daniels. "I hate leaving the game feeling like I could have done
something more."
"There isn't a guy on our team that wants to quit, and we are greatly
looking forward to playing Menlo this weekend," said Morel.
Tomorrow, ULV travels to Atherton, Calif., to play Menlo at 1 p.m.
