Chapman Hopes History Repeats

ORANGE â€”  The last team unlucky enough to run into Chapman after a loss was Menlo. The result: Panthers 62, Menlo 0.

Tonight at 7, Pomona-Pitzer will meet the Panthers at Chapman and it could be more of the same. Pomona-Pitzer has lost its last six after winning its first game of the season.

Last week, the Sagehens lost to Cal Lutheran, 17-16, when they missed a 36-yard field-goal attempt with seven seconds remaining. Pomona had led, 16-3, with 9 minutes 53 second left before Cal Lutheran rallied.

Chapman Coach Ken Visser said the Sagehens have a strong team but are hampered because they have a roster of fewer than 40 players.

“They play with a lot of courage, but sometimes they just run out of bodies,� Visser said.

Chapman (4-2-1) lost to La Verne, 36-33, last Saturday, but Visser said it wasn’t as frustrating as the Panthers’ first loss of the season, 30-20 to Occidental Oct. 15.

“Against Occidental,� Visser said, “we just didn’t show up the same way we usually show up. We all felt we didn’t play with the same intensity we usually play with and we learned something from that.�

The Panthers put their learning into practice against Menlo, a vastly overmatched team that was playing without three defensive starters because of disciplinary reasons.

Visser said his team regained its intensity against Menlo and maintained it against La Verne, ranked third in the NCAA Division III West Region.

That could spell trouble for the Sagehens.

Notes

Tonight is Chapman’s homecoming and final home game of the season. The Panthers will finish their season next Saturday at Cal Lutheran. . . . Darnell Rubin, one of Chapman’s most dangerous offensive weapons, has been ruled academically ineligible for the final two games. Rubin, a junior from Los Angeles Westchester High and Rio Hondo College, started the season as a receiver and kick and punt returner and played some tailback in the last few games. He scored on an 85-yard run--the Panthers longest of the season--against Menlo. He averaged 14.8 yards per carry and 20.3 yards per catch. He is ranked fifth in the nation in kickoff return average (30 yards per return) and seventh in punt returns (14.3). . . . Roger Caron, Pomona-Pitzer’s first-year coach, was a fifth-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 1985. He was an offensive lineman at Harvard.