Chaffey Dominates Santa Ana 38-9 in Football Home Opener
By Aaron Rogers
The Chaffey Panthers came into Saturday night looking to bounce back at home against Santa Ana after losing week one on the road to Citrus College 33-20. The Panthers had a strong performance on defense as they set the tone early and went on to score the first 38 points of the game.
The Panthers' defense got them out to a quick 10 point lead in the first quarter. Starting the game with back to back three and outs. Chaffey's defensive lineman Taylor Chapple-Love recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
The defense also kept them in great field position all night long. The Panthers' offense capitalized on the great field position as quarterback Francisco (Frankie) Villalbazo found wide receiver Nehemiah Harrison on a 27 yard pass to extend the lead to 17-0.
Right before halftime, the Panthers' defense scored again with Donovan Brown's 68 yard interception return extending the lead to 24-0.
"I feel like the defense played lights out.... offensively we had a lot of turnovers. We got huge areas of growth. Even with a loss last week to me we have been the most physical team on the field." said Coach Ben Buys.
Chaffey's offense scored 14 points in the third quarter. Villalbazo connected with wide receiver Jordan woods for a 50 yard touchdown and later in the quarter Villalbazo threw a 9 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Justin Benson to extend the lead to 38-0.
Santa Ana did not find the end zone until there were 9 minutes left in the game making the score 38-7.
With 3 minutes left in the game Santa Ana capitalized on Chaffey being backed up to their own end zone, registering a sack to bring the score to 38-9.
The Panthers' defense held Santa Ana to 167 total yards, taking the ball away 7 times with 4 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 4 sacks and 2 defensive touchdowns.
The Panthers' offense had 418 total yards, with 226 yards in the air and 192 yards on the ground. Chaffey QB Francisco (Frankie) Villalbazo was 7-13 for 155 yards with 3 touchdowns an interception. QB Evan Powell was 9-22 for 71 yards but rushed for 6 carries and 71 yards. RB Hakim Halliburton rushed 12 times for 49 yards.
Next week 9/13 Chaffey College (1-1) will play MoorPark College (0-2) at home at 6 p.m. PDT.