Menlo at Chapman - Game Stats
Menlo Season Stats

ORANGE, Calif. - Another stellar defensive effort couldn't make up for four turnovers and a pair of special teams miscues as Menlo College lost a hard-fought contest 21-7 at Chapman on Saturday evening.

On a night when the Oaks outgained their opponent by 110 yards, it was Chapman's ability to take the ball away from Menlo that proved to be the big difference. Menlo totaled 310 yards of total offense to the Panthers' 200, but supplied the home offense with a short field to work with on each of its scoring drives.

Right off the bat it was the Oaks, however, that had a scoring opportunity. After the Menlo defense forced a punt on the game's opening possession, quarterback Nick Ruhl and the rest of the Oaks offense went to work, moving the ball 77 yards on 17 plays over seven minutes, 32 seconds. Menlo stalled at the nine yard line and promptly missed a short field goal, though.

On its second chance of the game, the Oaks offense came through. Menlo went another 61 yards on 11 plays to put its first points of the season up on 14-yard scoring strike from Ruhl to senior receiver James Bassett.

It was a short-lived lead for the visiting Oaks as Chapman's Akio Lloyd took the ensuing kickoff and returned it 80 yards for a game-tying touchdown. It was 7-7 with 12 minutes, 22 seconds left in the first half.

Things got messy for Menlo from there as it turned the ball over on four of its next five possessions. The Oaks first turnover, a fumble following Lloyd's kickoff return, lead to a six-play, 51 yard Panthers drive that Lloyd capped with a one-yard plunge into the endzone.

Ruhl was intercepted on Menlo's next offensive play and, after the Oaks defense held strong, the offense was forced to punt just before halftime. Another interception on the second play of the third quarter gifted Chapman's offense with the ball at the Menlo 22 yard line and the Panthers didn't waste the opportunity. Four plays later Blake Vanderweil found Preston Oklejas in the endzone from seven yards out for the game's final score.

Despite fumbling the ball away while already facing a 21-7 deficit, Menlo's offense came agonizingly close to turning the game on its head late. It turned the ball over on downs inside the Chapman 10 yard line twice in its final four possessions. On the night the Oaks had four drives of 10 plays or more, totaling 256 yards on the possessions, but scoring just the seven points.

Ruhl completed 29-of-45 passes for 206 yards and spread the wealth with four players catching at least five passes. Freshman Kenny Cavness led the Oaks with six catches for 52 yards while Angel Molina ran the ball 16 times for 38 yards.

Beau Bussani had a team-high six tackles for Menlo while Boo Molinary had five. Both defensive backs broke up a pass while Molinary made a tackle for a loss. Freshman Greig O'Connor had two and half tackles for loss and a sack, Matt Staack had one of each, and Shawn Winters was involved in a pair of tackles in the Panthers backfield.

Menlo, 0-2, returns home on Saturday to take on a rare Northern California foe in NCAA Div. II Humboldt State at 12 p.m. Chapman is now 1-0.