Chapman football starts the season at full throttle

Illustration by Zoe Wren Arntsen, Illustrator.

The Chapman Panthers opened the football season with bang.

On Saturday, Sept. 16, you could feel the buzz grow around the school as the team prepped to take the field against the Linfield University Wildcats.

Panthers vs. Wildcats truly proved to be a head-to-head game. However, the Panthers in red and black held on to upset the then-ranked 16th best Division III team in college football, 24-21 at Wilson Field. 

The game was close, with both teams having long stretches where they controlled the momentum. Chapman found big plays on special teams, offense and defense to ensure the win. 

For Eli Brandt, Saturday was his first full game as quarterback. After splitting time in Chapman’s season opener the week before against Hardin-Simmons University in Texas, Brandt took over against Linfield and helped lead the Panthers to the win. 

Linfield fell behind in the second quarter as Wide Receiver Jason Bruce gave the Panthers their first points of the game. With Linfield punting from its own end zone, Bruce blocked the punt and recovered it for a touchdown, putting the Panthers up 7-0.

Linfield answered with two touchdowns of their own to take a 14-7 lead, but Chapman tied the game before halftime. 

Quarterback Eli Brandt found junior Wide Receiver Kash Henjum for an 11-yard touchdown with less than a minute left in the second quarter, sending the teams into halftime tied 14-14.

Head Coach Casey Shine said the slow start was partly because both teams were still figuring each other out.

“Both defenses are really good, and so that will help with a slow start on both sides,” Shine said.

The Panthers came out of halftime and maintained the lead.

Just over a minute into the third quarter, a Linfield fumble gave Chapman the ball at the Wildcats’ 17-yard line. On the very next play, Brandt found Bruce for a touchdown, putting Chapman up 21-14.

Bruce finished his night with seven catches for 84 yards, a receiving touchdown, a blocked punt and a subsequent special teams touchdown.

Shine said Bruce is the type of player who tends to show up when Chapman needs a big play.

“He’s a senior captain and he comes up with plays in his career at just that right moment,” Shine said.

Chapman added a field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it 24-14, but Linfield followed with a touchdown, cutting the lead to three.

The Wildcats continued to move the ball late into the game, including a drive that reached the Chapman four-yard line and ended in an intercepted pass by Caleb Padrid in the end zone to stop the drive.

For Shine, the biggest takeaway from the game was how the team responded when things did not go their way. To put it simply, Coach Shine was proud of his team and pumped for his Panthers.

“You just never know how each team’s going to respond in those moments,” Shine said. “It was fun to see our guys responding in that manner.”

Shine said the team had opportunities to get frustrated during the game, but instead focused on moving forward.

“We could have complained, we could have argued with the refs, we could have made excuses, but the guys found a way to move on to the next play,” Shine said.

That idea of moving on to the next play also applied to Brandt, who was making his first full game at quarterback.

The sophomore finished with 220 passing yards and two touchdowns. But when asked about his performance, he wasn't focused on the numbers.

“I haven’t really proven anything yet,” Brandt said. “Obviously, it was a good win, but it was a team win.”

Brandt said he felt comfortable during the game; he knew what he wanted and what the team needed and literally ran with it. “I felt like the game was moving in slow motion,” Brandt said. “I felt super comfortable and like everything was where I wanted it to be.”

That confidence was something Shine had been trying to get Brandt to find before Saturday. And after his performance, it’s safe to say he found it. 

The day before the game, Shine brought Brandt in to watch some of his high school film. Instead of focusing on what Brandt needed to change, Shine wanted him to remember what he could already do.

Shine said watching the film was meant to remind Brandt that he was capable of making plays and didn't need to put extra pressure on himself.

“He’s good enough,” Shine said. “And just hearing that as a young player, I think just builds the confidence.”

For Brandt, the film was a reminder to stop putting so much pressure on himself.

“I feel like last year I was so nervous and worried about how I perform and practice every day,” Brandt said. “At the end of the day, I’m just here to play football and have fun.”

That mindset carried into Saturday and helped secure the win.Even after the win, Brandt said there were things he could have done better.

“There’s always mistakes,” he said. “You can’t go to a game without making a mistake.”

Brandt said he could have made better throws and decisions against Linfield, but also talked about learning to move on from mistakes instead of letting them affect the next play.

That has also been part of Brandt’s adjustment to being the quarterback. He said he sees himself more as a “servant leader” than a vocal leader, choosing to lead through his work and how he plays.

“I really try hard to just lead by example,” Brandt said. “I’m still working just as hard as everybody.”

Brandt also said he knows he is still figuring out what his leadership role will look like. With a large senior class and several captains already leading the team, he does not feel like he has to take over everything right away.

“I’m just kind of there doing my job,” Brandt said. “I feel like throughout the season, I’ll settle more into a leadership role, but as of right now, I’m kind of just going out there and playing football.”

For now, that means taking what happened on Saturday, moving on to the next game and coming out with another Chapman University win.

Since their home opener, the Panthers played another game at Wilson Field last Saturday, Sept. 26, dominating against conference rivals La Verne University and ending in a score of 35-10.

As for the next time you can see Chapman's football team take the field, their next game will be at home on Saturday, Oct. 3, against another conference rival, Whittier College.